Category: Entertainment

Pakistani actor Saba Faisal keeps on landing in hot waters after saying questionable things during interviews.

Just weeks after igniting outrage on her comments on the clothes brides wear, the actress has shocked social media yet again after advising newly married women to ask their mothers-in-law for permission before taking rest. 

Faisal, who frequently appears on morning shows to discuss marriage and domestic matters, passed the controversial remarks during a recent appearance on a private TV channel’s morning show.

The senior actor said that after marriage, when guests gather at the in-laws’ home, mothers-in-law handle responsibilities including hosting guests and other household tasks, while new brides carry no such obligations.

“If a new bride needs rest, the mother-in-law should tell her herself. But if the mother-in-law doesn’t say anything, the new bride should go to her mother-in-law or married sister-in-law and ask permission to rest,” Faisal said.

She added that communication styles matter in such situations. “If a girl gives direct orders, the in-laws won’t accept it. But if she asks politely, even the strictest mother-in-law won’t refuse and will allow her to rest,” she opined. 

Social media users quickly criticize Faisal’s advice. Maliha Rehman wrote, “She seriously needs to stop giving interviews.”

One user asked, “Can we please cancel her.” Another questioned, “Susral hy ya jail?” (Is it an in-laws’ home or a jail?)

Other users expressed disbelief, with comments including “Oh God” and “Wait whattttt.”

Earlier, she faced backlash for suggesting mothers-in-law should be consulted in selecting brides’ wedding outfits, sparking criticism from fellow celebrities including actors Fiza Ali, Javeria Saud and Hira Khan. 

However, she later apologised on Instagram, acknowledging that she used inappropriate terminology and clarified that she never insisted brides must only wear clothes chosen by their mothers-in-law. “I had no wrong intention. And still, if my words or my interview have hurt you, I want to apologise,” she said at the time.

James Cameron’s science fiction epic Avatar: Fire and Ash has crossed $1 billion in global box office receipts, becoming the director’s fourth film to reach that milestone.

The film, which returns audiences to the visually stunning planet of Pandora, has earned $1.03 billion in worldwide ticket sales, Walt Disney Studios announced on Sunday.

Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends, said the franchise consistently draws audiences to theatres. He noted that the visually spectacular 3D films are “tailor-made” for the cinema experience.

The original Avatar opened in 2009 and generated $2.9 billion in ticket sales worldwide, making it the highest-grossing movie ever in absolute dollars, according to Comscore. 

However, the 1939 classic Gone With the Wind still holds the record even if box office returns account for inflation and average ticket prices over the decades.

Thirteen years later, Avatar: The Way of Water opened in 2022 and grossed more than $2.3 billion globally. The sequel won an Oscar for best achievement in visual effects.

Disney released the latest instalment in time for the holiday season. The film has racked up $306 million in the US and Canada, and $777.1 million internationally, the studio reported.

Cameron’s first billion-dollar blockbuster came with Titanic in 1997, which has earned nearly $2.3 billion worldwide.

Sajjad Mehdi, son of legendary ghazal singer Ustad Mehdi Hassan, has died after suffering a heart attack.

According to reports, family members rushed Sajjad to hospital immediately after the cardiac arrest, but doctors could not save him despite medical intervention.

The deceased served as Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the Police Department and earned recognition for his professional integrity and commitment to public service.

His funeral prayers will take place today after Zuhr in Lahore. The family has requested prayers for the elevation of his soul.

Ustad Mehdi Hassan ranks among the subcontinent’s greatest classical vocalists, a true giant among luminaries. .

Hania Aamir has reacted to her latest hit drama’s original soundtrack being played at a stadium in Bangladesh during the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The actor shared her reaction on Instagram stories as a video from a BPL match showing thousands of fans singing and cheering to the ‘Meri Zindagi Hai Tu’ OST, went viral.

“ilysm [I love you so much],” Hania wrote while reposting the clip.

This isn’t the first time that said OST has gained praise across borders as Indian actor Shehnaaz Gill also recently joined the trend by posting a video of herself dancing to the track.

“Obsessed,” Gill wrote.

The OST for the drama came as Asim Azhar teamed up with Sabri Sisters, ending up dominating Spotify’s top Pakistani songs chart last month. 

The hit drama under Musaddiq Malek’s direction features Hania Aamir and Bilal Abbas Khan in lead roles, supported by Alyy Khan, Adnan Jaffar and Meher Jaffar.

Musician Bilal Maqsood, son of veteran Pakistani writer and comedian Anwar Maqsood, has requested social media users and pages to respect his family’s privacy after pictures from his daughter’s wedding started circulating online without permission over the weekend. 

The singer and producer initially shared a heartwarming photo on Instagram featuring himself, his father Anwar Maqsood, and his two sons, all dressed in matching outfits at the wedding ceremony. The picture quickly went viral, with fans flooding the post with prayers for the newlyweds.

In the caption, Bilal wrote: “Our children and their grandfather are present at our daughter’s wedding.”

However, the situation took an uncomfortable turn when various social media pages began posting private pictures from the event.

Responding to the unauthorized sharing, Bilal posted a message on Instagram urging respect for his family’s privacy. “With love and respect we’ve noticed some private event photos being picked up by pages. Guests shared these in good faith, but we’d like to keep the celebrations private,” he wrote.

He specifically addressed media pages, requesting them to “Please only reshare what I personally post on my socials, and avoid any other pictures/videos. Grateful for your cooperation. Thank you for understanding.”

Bilal Maqsood’s daughter Zehra tied the knot with Artur in a wedding ceremony on Sunday. Close family members and Zehra’s foreign in-laws attended the ceremony.

Actor Alyy Khan has voiced strong concerns about the repetitive nature of drama serials in the country, calling out the industry’s tendency to prioritise commercial appeal over creative storytelling.

In a recent interview, Khan discussed his experience working on three dramas this year, all of which followed nearly identical storylines. The actor, who currently stars alongside Hania Aamir and Bilal Abbas Khan in Meri Zindagi Hai Tu, expressed frustration with how his character, a doctor, rarely engages in anything related to his profession.

“Right now, I’m doing a drama with Hania, I’m playing the father’s role. I’m a doctor and throughout the entire drama, I haven’t even seen my clinic once. The whole drama is just: coming from the kitchen, saying ‘Daughter, I’ll drop you,’ managing household matters.”

The actor questioned whether his character functions as a medical professional or simply a household manager. “So I ask the director, is this a doctor or a baniya [grocery shopkeeper]? He’s only talking about marriage while sitting around. You’ve handed him a diary, and he’s calculating flowers. I mean, it’s nonsense.”

Khan explained that the industry’s reliance on repetitive content stems from marketing strategies. When one drama becomes popular, production houses quickly copy its formula. 

“Our dramas are content-based, but the content mostly highlights the same issues. If one drama becomes popular, then three more dramas are made on the same line. This is because marketing people tell the channels that it is easy to sell, that there is already an audience for it.”

The actor acknowledged the uncomfortable reality that these copy-paste approaches continue to work. “But if that same nonsense is working, and audiences are appreciating it, and appreciating it globally, as you said, then who is right? The writer is right, the writer is right.”

Despite his criticism, Khan called for more innovative storytelling. “Why don’t we reverse this? Instead of parents arranging their children’s marriages, why don’t children arrange their parents’ marriages? Why isn’t a drama made like that?”

He concluded that Pakistani dramas suffer from being made “more for commercial reasons rather than creativity,” a trend that limits the industry’s potential despite its global popularity.

Khan has built a diverse acting portfolio across South Asian entertainment industries. He appeared in multiple Bollywood films including Don 2 (2011), where he played the role of J.K. Diwan alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra in Farhan Akhtar’s action thriller sequel.

After nearly a decade and five seasons, Netflix’s monster hit show Stranger Things has finally wrapped up its story with a two-hour-plus finale that landed on New Year’s Eve. What started in 2016 as a nostalgic ’80s sci-fi adventure in Hawkins, Indiana, has grown into a sprawling tale of friendship, monsters, and alternate dimensions. The series finale attempted to balance a climactic showdown, emotional closure for its characters, and lingering mysteries that fans will debate for years.

The centerpiece of the finale was the battle against Vecna, now fully revealed as Henry Creel, One, and Mr. Whatsit, operating through the Mind Flayer. Inside the Abyss, Eleven faced Vecna directly, while her friends fought the Mind Flayer outside with flamethrowers, guns, and improvised weapons. 

Nancy, with her big baddie energy, and Will, wielding his newfound powers, added memorable moments of heroism. Joyce’s head-on attack on Vecna was a standout sequence, proving that the heart of the story has always been teamwork and loyalty.

Yet, the finale raised more questions than it answered. How did the Mind Flayer, supposedly defeated in previous seasons, return with such immense power, only to be killed in minutes by the kids? 

Much of the lead-up to the battle involved repetitive monologues between characters, like Hopper and Eleven, which slowed the tension rather than heightening it

Where did the demogorgons go? What happened to the pregnant women injected with Kali’s blood, who had been a central subplot earlier in the season? And the mysterious stone Henry carried in the cave, critical to his transformation into Vecna was barely explained, leaving a gap in the lore that fans will debate for years. 

Dr. Kay, played by Linda Hamilton, was hyped as a major threat but ended up underutilized, and her story’s resolution was baffling at best.

Character moments had their share of triumphs and inconsistencies. Max, after being in a coma for two years, suddenly graduates high school alongside her friends, a scene that made us laugh, but also question the timeline. 

Will’s coming-out scene during a world-ending fight felt misplaced. Mike, long considered the safest character in Hawkins, ended the finale without personal closure, leaving a bittersweet note.

Meanwhile, the breakup between Nancy and Jonathan added a touch of realism but also left all of us confused, given how much screen time the finale dedicated to happy resolutions.

Despite these inconsistencies, the finale excelled in emphasizing friendship and emotional connection. The Dungeons & Dragons moments bookended the series perfectly, reminding all of  us that even in adulthood or post-apocalypse these kidsremained a team.

Robin’s careful memorization of everyone’s favorite songs to protect them, Dustin’s tribute to Eddie, and Derek’s surprising transition from dipshit Derek to delightful Derek highlighted the series’ recurring theme: loyalty, ingenuity, and empathy often matter as much as power or strategy.

The balance of spectacle and character arcs definitely deserves some appreciation. While the Mind Flayer was visually terrifying, the finale allowed room for the emotional payoffs: Hopper and Joyce’s long-awaited romance, Eleven choosing her own path, and characters like Murray, Mike’s mom, and Robin receiving meaningful moments, even if brief. 

The finale’s ambiguous ending will likely fuel debate. Eleven disappearing to explore new lands leaves fans questioning whether she is truly alive, and what her absence means for the balance of the Upside Down. Mike’s theory about Eleven’s journey, Kali’s role, and the lingering mysteries of Henry’s transformation keep the door open for speculation or potential spin-offs. And while we all may have expected shocking deaths during the battle with the season’s “world’s scariest monster,” almost everyone survived, leaving the finale on a hopeful, if slightly anticlimactic, note.

Goodbye, Stranger Things.

Actor and rapper Will Smith has been sued for sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful termination by a violinist who toured with him last year. The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, names Smith and his company Treyball Studios Management as defendants.

The complainant, violinist Brian King Joseph, who finished third in Season 13 of America’s Got Talent, alleges he faced sexual misconduct while working as part of Smith’s touring entourage and was later dismissed after reporting the incident.

Joseph had posted on social media in the days before filing the lawsuit, saying he had been hired for “a major, major tour with somebody who is huge in the industry” but could not discuss certain matters because of legal restrictions. 

He wrote, “Getting fired or getting blamed or shamed or threatened or anything like that, simply for reporting sexual misconduct or safety threats at work, is not OK. And I know that there’s a lot of other people out there who have been afraid to speak up, and I understand. If that’s you, I see you. More updates to come soon.”

According to the lawsuit, Joseph was hired by Smith in November 2024 to perform at a show and later invited to join his tour. The filing states that Smith engaged in what it describes as “predatory behaviour” and “deliberately grooming and priming Mr Joseph for further sexual exploitation”. 

The suit quotes Smith as telling Joseph, “you and I have such a special connection, that I don’t have with anyone else,” along with similar remarks.

Joseph performed during the Las Vegas leg of Smith’s Based on a True Story Tour in March. During the tour, Joseph alleges that his hotel room key and bag went missing. While the bag was later recovered by hotel management, the lawsuit claims someone had entered his room while he was away.

Returning to the room, Joseph says he found wipes, a bottle of HIV medication bearing another person’s name, a beer bottle, an earring and a note that read, “Brian, I’ll be back no later [than] 5:30, just us,” signed “Stone F”.

Hotel security found no signs of forced entry, and the filing states only members of Smith’s management team had access to the room at the time.

Joseph reported the incident to hotel management, Smith’s representatives and local police. He was allegedly dismissed from the tour a few days later. 

The suit quotes a representative of Smith as saying, “Everyone is telling me that what happened to you is a lie, nothing happened, and you made the whole thing up. So, tell me, why did you lie and make this up?”

The filing claims Joseph suffered post-traumatic stress and financial losses following his dismissal and alleges that the termination was in retaliation for reporting the incident.

Pakistan’s hearthrob Hania Aamir will marry singer Asim Azhar this year, while fellow talent powerhouse Sajal Aly plans to wed actor Hamza Sohail in 2026, Galaxy Lollywood has reported.

The entertainment outlet made the claims in the latest episode of “What’s The 411” on YouTube, stating that Hania and Asim Azhar’s wedding will take place first, followed by Sajal and Hamza’s ceremony later in the year.

The show did not reveal exact wedding dates for either couple.

The hosts quoted previous comments from both Sajal and Hania, where they had lightheartedly responded to marriage rumours. They noted that Sajal did not deny the speculation outright, instead saying people will hear any news directly from her.

Many rumours regarding these couples have been surfacing recently on social media.

Fans flooded social media with mixed reactions. 

One user wrote, “Happy for Sajal n Humza❤️”

Another pleaded, “Kehedo ki ye jhoot hai [Say that this is a lie]”

A third commented, “No nazar to sajal and humza, may God bless them with a happy life.”

Sajal Aly had previously addressed swirling rumours about wedding plans with Hamza Sohail, dismissing speculation that the pair will marry in early 2026.

She took to her Instagram account with a clear message after multiple social media pages began circulating reports about wedding preparations. “Chill guys! Any life news, if ever, will come directly from me,” she wrote.

Hania Aamir also responded to marriage rumours with her signature wit, leaving fans in fits of laughter.

“Hania suna ha ap shadi karne wali ha [Hania, I’ve heard you are about to get married],” a fan commented on one of Hania’s Instagram posts.

The actress responded humorously, stating, “Mene bhi suna he hai [I have also heard it].” 

However, the actors have not yet confirmed the news.