Veteran actor and Bushra Ansari and Asma Abbas’ elder sister Sumbul Shahid has passed away after a long battle with COVID. The actor has been on the ventilator for several days now with Bushra and Asma requesting fans and followers for prayers.
According to reports, Shahid was admitted in a local hospital in Lahore. Further details are not known as yet.
Sumbul was last seen in Nandin which she played Faiza Hassan and Shahroz Sabzwari’s mother.
Asad Siddiqui took to Instagram stories to announce the demise of Sumbul Shahid. He wrote: “Zara’s Khala Sumbul Shahid passed away. Please pray for her and the family.”
Later celebrities turned to their social media to pay tribute to the departed soul.
Finding myself at a loss of words after hearing about Sumbul Shahid. May Allah grant her the highest place in Jannah. Sending my duas and love for the family. Allah give us all strength to deal with this magnanimous loss. إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ pic.twitter.com/akTQCsChpU
HBO has released the official first images from Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon. The images feature series stars Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Rhys Ifans and Steve Toussaint.
The upcoming series, which began production last month is set 300 years before the original Thrones series. It will tell the story of the Targaryen family, ancestors of Mother of Dragons Daenerys Targaryen (played by Emilia Clarke), as House Targaryen begins its historic downfall.
The cast so far includes Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen, Paddy Considine as King Viserys, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Emma D’Arcy as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Sonoya Mizuno as Prince Daemons’ unlikely ally Mysaria, Rhys Ifans as Hand of the King Otto Hightower, Steve Touissant as Lord Corlys Velaryon aka a legendary Westerosi seafarer known as The Sea Snake, Fabien Frankel as the knight Ser Criston Cole and Eve Best as Lord Corlys’ wife Princess Rhaenys Velaryon.
Earlier, in an interview, HBO/HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys had said that showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan J. Condal are “prepping” and “have been writing for a long time”. He added that they have drafts of all 10 Season 1 episodes “in various stages.”
The series is one of several spinoff Game of Thrones projects in the works, including a Broadway show and the Dunk and Egg novellas and planned TV adaptation. A prequel starring Naomi Watts has already been killed by HBO.
House of the Dragon is based on author George R R Martin’s 2018 novel Fire & Blood. The series will premiere on HBO and HBO Max in 2022.
Television host and actor Fakhar-e-Alam has escaped a fatal car accident unhurt.
Sharing the horrific experience on social media, Alam said: “Without question, Allah is the greatest protector of them all. I have just survived what could have been easily a fatal accident while on my [way] to to Hum News Pakistan for filming.”
“These trucks become killing machines in the hands of unlicensed drivers,” said Alam further, adding that Islamabad Capital Territory Police is handling the case.
Without question Allah is the greatest protector of them all. I have just survived what could have been easily a fatal accident while on my to to @humnewspakistan for filming.These trucks become killing machines in the hands of unlicensed drivers. @ICT_Police is handling the case pic.twitter.com/BmGwQSgpkq
Later, in a series of tweets, the 45-year-old actor detailed the entire incident.
“It was a close call to what would have been most certainly a fatal accident. This milk truck from Chiniot without indication made a U-turn from the far out lane forcing our vehicle to take evasive measure missing the truck, hitting the divider and ending up on the other side,” said Alam.
1/5 It was a close call to what would have been most certainly a fatal accident. This milk truck from Chiniot without indication made a U turn from the far out lane forcing our vehicle to take evasive measure missing the truck, hitting the divider & ending up on the other side. pic.twitter.com/f7bLDzXdQ0
“Once tossed to the other side we narrowly missed oncoming traffic,” he shared further. “The fact that the driver and I have walked away alive is nothing short of a miracle. These truck operators without proper training are allowed on our roads endangering all of us and our loved ones.”
“I am grateful to Allah that I will once again get to see my children but there are many who have never returned home because of extremely poor road safety & dangerous drivers. Tonight I followed up with Islamabad Police to do whatever was possible legally to stop this driver,” Alam added.
3/5 I am grateful to Allah that I will once again get to see my children but there are many who have never returned home because of extremely poor road safety & dangerous drivers. Tonight I followed up wid @ICT_Police to do whatever was possible legally to stop this driver
Alam shared that the traffic warden, who was an eye witness stated that the truck driver was wrong. “The driver had no ID card, no license. All I want is for Islamabad Police to make sure he never drives again & endanger anyone else’s life. He wrote a confession & maafinama, I just don’t want any family to be a victim of his,” Alam said.
He also urged people to report such drivers, saying: “Please report dangerous drivers, please wear a belt, it saved my life today and above all the law enforcement must not allow for such irresponsible people to drive on our roads. The truck is now at Aabpara police station. What happens next we will all be watching.”
5/5 Please report dangerous drivers, please wear a belt, it saved my life today and above all the law enforcement must not allow for such irresponsible people to drive on our roads. The truck is now at Aabpara police station. What happens next we will all be watching.
Meanwhile, in one of his tweets, Alam had revealed that he will be sharing studios with five gold medalists of Cambrian Patrol Britain, world’s toughest & largest military competition with 140 teams each year.
He said: “I will be bringing you the story of this league of extra ordinary gentlemen very soon with Hum Network.”
Had the honor of sharing studios with 5 gold medalists of Cambrian Patrol Britain, world’s toughest & largest military competition with 140 teams each year. I will be bringing you the story of this league of extra ordinary gentlemen very soon with @humnewspakistan@Humtvnetworkpic.twitter.com/1L8XQ7NWaU
According to him, this will be a “very special project” and “a big filming project,” presumably airing on Hum News/Hum Network.
Islamabad pre production meeting on a very special project into late night….a big filming spell starts tonight…Next few days will be awesome, tiring and entertaining…. pic.twitter.com/0LsenLtEm6
I’ll be honest. When the first teasers of Chupke Chupke released I was not impressed. Ayeza Khan as a clumsy, 20-something bewakuf larki didn’t really appeal to me and she appeared to have no chemistry with co-star Osman Khalid Butt. Don’t get me wrong here, both actors are brilliant but somehow I was unable to connect with the show.
Though I initially decided to avoid the drama altogether, the nature of my job doesn’t really allow me to do so and soon enough Chupke Chupke memes and fan edits started popping up on my social media feeds piquing my interest. And when ten-something episodes later, Faazi (Butt) and Meenu (Khan) tie the knot against their wishes, I ended up getting hooked to the show.
The premise of Chupke Chupke is by no means simple, given the number of characters in the show. Kudos to director Danish Nawaz for dealing with the script so skillfully and straightening out the creases. Nawab Sahab, the family patriarch had two wives – Bebe (Asma Abbas) and Ama (Uzma Beg). While Nawab Sahab has passed away, both his wives live in the same house but in different portions. The two cannot stand each other and are always putting each other down even though all their grandchildren are friends. Meenu, Haadi (Arslan Naseer) Mirchi (Areesha Sultan) and Waleed are Bebe’s grandchildren, while Gul Apa (Mira Sethi), Faazi, Roomi and Mishi (Aymen Saleen) are Ama’s grandchildren. Gul Apa is married to her maternal cousin Miskeen (Ali Safina), while Roomi is married to Mani (Salman ‘Mani’ Shaikh). Tara Mahmood and Farhan Ally Agha play Meenu and Mirchi’s parents and Qavi Khan plays Nawab Sahab’s elder brother.
Meenu and Faazi, who are constantly trolling each other, are set to marry outside the family on the same day. In a dramatic turn of events, the two end up getting married to each other and from there on there’s only trouble with a capital T. From the two refusing to acknowledge the marriage and later their feelings to the two grandmothers rejecting the nikkah and calling for an annulment to a ‘khufia’ (suspicious) and rushed rukhsati in the middle of the night – it is a mad caper.
If this drama was not enough, Haadi and Mishi, popularly known as Hashi, are also interesting in getting married to each other, while Gul Apa makes sure she makes life for the new bahu living hell with the help of the other ‘evil’ sister Roomi. Gul’s husband Miskeen, staying true to his name, will do or say something silly which is bound to make you laugh out loud. All the characters are so lovable that it is terribly hard to decide which one is your favourite. But if someone puts a gun to my head and forces me to choose, I’d go with Haadi and Miskeen.
The ‘evil’ sisters minus Mishi and Ama
What makes the drama stand out, even more, is the performances. Each actor from little Mirchi to the two dadis, everyone has brought their A-game lighting up the screen and bringing so much energy that it perks up the viewer also. Like mentioned earlier, I had some reservations about Ayeza playing Meenu, but I can now say with full conviction that the actor has done complete justice to her role and despite racking my brain for other options, I couldn’t think of a better actor for this role.
Meanwhile, Safina and Naseer in particular deserve a special shoutout. Safina’s transition into Miskeen is incredible – he has performed the role with such finesse that every time he comes on screen and says “Sarkar,” I want to cheer for him – his comic timing is excellent. Similarly, Naseer has made a promising debut as Haadi delivering one sarcastic comment after another with such ease.
The drama takes a while to set the stage but once it’s set its a rollicking rollercoaster.
As far comparisons with Suno Chanda are concerned, there are plenty, but I think I’ll leave those for another day. It’s Chupke Chupke’s time in the spotlight and it’s best to let it shine.
With only a few episodes to go till the finale, I am curious to know whether Haadi and Mishi will get married and what the future holds in store for Meenu and Faazi. Will Gul Apa go to Sadiqabad with her husband and leave them in peace? Can’t wait to find out!
Netflix’s latest horror film Things Heard and Seen, featuring Amanda Seyfried and James Norton, is reportedly based on a true story of a murder that took place in 1982.
According to a report in NY Post, the film based on Elizabeth Brundage’s novel All Things Cease To Appear was partly inspired by the gruesome death of Cathleen Krauseneck in 1982 in Brighton, New York. Cathleen’s murder is better know as “the Brighton Ax Murder.”
On February 19, 1982, James Krauseneck Jr. returned to his new house on Del Rio Drive near Rochester from his job as an economist at Eastman Kodak Co., when he spotted broken glass inside from a window and called the police. He had found his 29-year-old wife, Cathleen, dead in bed with an ax lodged in her head and their 3-year-old daughter seated calmly in her own bedroom, dressed to go out.
In a statement to the police, James had said: “She [his daughter] had a red sweater over a pink sweater with blue ABC corduroy pants and two pairs of socks. She looked dazed to me. I picked her up from her bed and ran downstairs and out the front door with her.”
James, who was considered to be one of the key suspects, said he had been at work all day. The next day he reportedly took his daughter Sara and fled to Michigan, where he grew up. Brighton Police Chief Eugene Shaw opted not to question the daughter a month later because “too much time has gone by.”
James Krauseneck Jr.
Meanwhile, Cathleen’s murder case, which had gone unresolved for almost 39 years, finally made a breakthrough in November 2019 when James was indicted by a grand jury on a second-degree murder charge. He pleaded not guilty.
The Brighton Police Chief attributed the delayed charges to improved forensic technology that’s clarified the timeline of the murder — calling James’ alibi into question — and has shed more light on the crime scene.
“I understand people want a singular piece of evidence that can directly point to James Krauseneck Jr.,” the current Brighton Police Chief David Catholdi had told a local media out. “This is not one of those cases.”
It is pertinent to add that at the scene of the crime no other DNA was found other than the family’s. It was also reported that shortly before her death, Cathleen found that James had not completed his doctorate and lied to his employers.
After Michigan, James moved to Gig Harbor in Washington, where he worked as a vice president of sales for a timberland company called Weyerhaeuser. When he was charged, James was living in Peoria, Arizona, with his fourth wife.
To add another twist, serial rapist Ed Laraby, right before he died in 2014 claimed that he killed Cathleen and committed at least a dozen more crimes.
“Ed Laraby is a notorious self-described sociopathic killer of women,” Krauseneck’s defense attorney said. “The issue is he lived really within basically a half mile, or less than a half mile, and has confessed to this murder as he lay dying in prison.”
Unlike the ending of the movie, which had a comprehensive end, Cathleen Krauseneck’s murder remains unsolved. James, now 69, was freed on $100,000 bail and is awaiting a trial that was delayed by the pandemic — the next pretrial hearing is set for June.
Things Heard and Seen follows an unhappy young mother (Seyfried), who is brutally murdered with an ax while her child is found eerily seated on the couch downstairs. Her studious husband (Norton) leaves shortly after the crime. The film gives the real-life characters different names, changes up their circumstances (they have a son and live in the Hudson Valley) and adds some ghosts for some more horror.
The film is currently trending in the top ten on Netflix Pakistan.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has issued final notices to the owners of Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor’s ancestral houses as the government plans to take over the properties after Eid, Geo News has reported.
As per details, KP Archaeology and Museums Department Director Dr Abdul Samad has said that restoration work on both houses will take place following the take over.
Dr Abdul Samad added that the “deputy commissioner has sent the final notices to the landlord”.
Meanwhile, the owners of the properties will be summoned on May 18, and they can demand the KP government or the court for a higher price and can submit their objections.
Earlier this year in January, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Mahmood Khan approved Rs 23.56 million to purchase the ancestral houses of two Bollywood legends Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor in Peshawar, but the owner of Kapoor Haveli in Peshawar refused to sell the house to the government at the price set by the authorities.
As per reports, the value of Raj Kapoor house is Rs 15 million, while Kumar’s home is worth Rs 8.56 million. Both houses will be converted into museums after restoration work.
Danyal Zafar has shared one of his favourite scenes from his ongoing Ramzan special drama Taana Baana.
The scene which shows Danyal and Alizeh on the beach was “coincidently” also the last scene they shot together.
“One of my favourite scenes between Zain and Zoya, which coincidentally [also] happened to be the last scene we shot for the drama,” wrote Danyal. “It was a wrap right after this.”
“When I read in the script that Zain sings for Zoya, I asked Saife Hasan [director] bhai, if I could sing a few lines of the OST, which would kinda break the fourth wall, but could also serve to be the icing on the cake, since it’s been their song and could elevate the ‘romance’ between Zain and Zoya,” he added.
“In the entirety of the scene, I realised Saife bhai didn’t say anything to us, he was smiling throughout while looking at the monitor; a moment I felt kinda proud of myself because for me that indicated we were doing it right,” continued Zafar, adding: “Or at least well enough to strum a few chords in everyone’s hearts, because everyone was just smiling.”
Zafar also gave a shot out to his co-actor Alizeh Shah for doing a “phenomenal job”.
While Taana Baana appears to be a typical romantic comedy, when you start watching it you are immediately pulled into it due to a variety of reasons ranging from the script to the cast and their performances.
Featuring Zafar (Zain), Alizeh (Zoya), Javeria Abbasi (Fozia), Aamir Qureshi (Zain’s Father), Ismat Zaidi (Zain’s Dadi ), Komal Rizvi (Zebunnisa) and Hassan Noman(Shahid, Zebnunnisa’s husband), Taana Baana revolves around the newly married couple of Zain and Zoya and the challenges they face.
Jennifer Lopez, who recently called off her engagement with Alex Rodriguez after four years together, was spotted hanging out with ex-beau Ben Affleck. Lopez and Affleck dated from 2002 to 2004 and their relationship also ended with a broken engagement.
According to reports, the couple formerly known as ‘Bennifer,’ spent an entire week in Los Angeles. Despite having split up for more than seventeen years, the duo was spotted spending time together at Lopez’s LA mansion. The Oscar winner was photographed multiple times going to J Lo’s California home during the day after having been picked up in a white Escalade SUV that allegedly belongs to Lopez.
While the pair have not been spotted together, Page Six reported that “security picks him [Affleck] up at a nearby location and drops him off after spending a few hours at her house.”
“They have spent time together in L.A. over the past week,” reported People Magazine. “They have a lot of love for each other. They have always admired each other.”
Meanwhile, an insider reportedly shut down rumours of a rekindling romance, saying that the duo have “always been friends and they have seen each other through the years.”
Affleck and Lopez were engaged in 2002 but they postponed their wedding in 2003. They split months later in January 2004. Lopez called her breakup with Affleck “probably my first big heartbreak.”
It has also been reported that J Lo has been seeing famous friends after her breakup with Rodriguez. She allegedly also met up with another ex Marc Anthony.
Waqar Zaka has claimed that he can pay off Pakistan’s debt using crypto currency if given the chance to “run the country”.
“I can pay off Pakistan’s debt using crypto[currency] but the condition is Imran Khan, should step down and let me run the country,” wrote the reality show host on social media.
Zaka also asked supporters of the ruling party what they have to pay off the debt.
“If not, then Pakistanis should demand what solution respectable, olive plantation, tourism, anti-corruption lovers IK has?” asked Zaka, challenging “all politicians” to present a better idea.
I can pay off PAK debt using crypto but the condition is @ImranKhanPTI should step down and let me run the country if not then Pakistanis should demand what solution respectable , olive plantation, tourism , anti corruption lovers IK has. I challenge all Politican koi idea hai
Meanwhile, Twitter had a field day over Zaka’s Tweet.
We will prefer living in a default Pakistan with Imran Khan at the helm than a Debt free Pakistan with you as the Prime Minister dude! https://t.co/FimI8h8AGN
Waqar Zaka got famous from the reality tv show, Living on the edge. Earlier this year he submitted his documents to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to launch his own political party. Zaka has been at the forefront of many trending causes including demanding cancellation of exams and ban on PUBG and TikTok.
Bonjour friends! Our beloved Emily (Lily Collins) is back in Paris as filming for the record-breaker series officially commenced on May 3 in France. As per details, filming began in Villefranche-sur-Mer and the paparazzi managed to snap pictures from the sets.
Emily in Paris’ official Instagram announced the news with a star laden video featuring Emily and all her friends.
Cast members returning for the second season include Collins, Ashley Park (Mindy), William Abadie (Antoine), Samuel Arnold (Julien), Leroy-Beaulieu, Bruno Gouery (Luc), and Camille Razat (Camille).
Talking about the second season, creator Darren Star toldE! News that Emily might be in for some “surprisingly tough choices”.
“The show’s so much about the culture undermining her expectations of how things are and how things seem. And everything will not be as it seems. It’s always about challenging her American worldview. We certainly have a lot of forks in the road and a lot of places to go,” he added.
Meanwhile, it was reported that the second season will shed more light on Emily’s equation with Gabriel and his girlfriend Camille.
Earlier, in an interview with Vogue UK, Collins had said: “Does Camille like Emily? You can’t really get a vibe, and I feel like that ambiguity is what keeps Emily intrigued. I think anyone in that position would be like, you’re my friend, but now I have this romantic connection [with Gabriel], and I don’t want to hurt you, but… Oh my God! So, you know what, it’s really confusing. I feel like the next season will only create more love triangle drama, although maybe Emily will have a little bit of a stronger handle on the situation… Or maybe not.”
Released on October 3, 2020, Emily in Paris became Netflix’s most-watched comedy of 2020 conquering a viewership of about 58 million households. The series revolves around the life of Emily, a marketing enthusiast from a Chicago-based firm, who is sent to France to help renew the social media marketing strategy of their newly acquired French organisation.
