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Category: Entertainment

  • ‘Clean-bowled’: Praises pour in for PM Khan on UNGA speech

    ‘Clean-bowled’: Praises pour in for PM Khan on UNGA speech

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday addressed the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. From climate change to destroying the Indian government over the Kashmir crisis, his historic speech had it all. So much so, that even his biggest critics lauded him for being bold and straight-forward.

    Apart from politicians and journalists, Pakistani celebs and sportspersons, including Mahira Khan, Wasim Akram, Humayun Saeed, Hamza Ali Abbasi and Sanam Saeed took to social media to appreciate PM Khan’s speech.

    https://twitter.com/khadijah_shah/status/1177684591622131713?s=20
    https://twitter.com/Neelammuneer__K/status/1177727367189553152?s=20

    In case you missed PM Khan’s speech, here’s a short summary:

  • Qandeel Baloch’s brother gets life imprisonment for murder

    Qandeel Baloch’s brother gets life imprisonment for murder

    A model court in Multan sentenced Qandeel Baloch’s brother Wasim Azeem to life in prison for murdering his sister. Life imprisonment means 25 years in jail.

    The social media star was strangled to death in Multan in July 2016 and her brothers Waseem Azeem and Aslam Shaheen were accused of murdering her. The brothers said that they killed their sister because she brought dishonour to their family and the “Baloch name” with her inappropriate videos and statements. While Waseem was arrested immediately, Aslam, who was accused of urging Azeem to kill Qandeel was arrested in Saudi Arabia this year with the help of Interpol.

    Waseem

    Waseem had initially admitted to drugging and killing his sister but later changed his statement. The court had been hearing the case for three years. A high court had dismissed his bail applications twice before. The court had reserved its verdict after the defence and prosecution completed their arguments.

    Meanwhile, six others accused in the case, including Mufti Abdul Qavi and Qandeel’s other two brothers Aslam and Arif, were not found guilty. Arif was reportedly the one who instigated Waseem to strangle his sister to death. Mufti Qavi was showered with rose petals as he exited the court.

    While Qandeel’s father had initially lodged a murder case against his son Waseem and his accomplices in 2016, he later had filed a petition seeking a pardon for his sons but the court turned it down.

    The affidavit said that the Anti-Honour Killing Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015, which prevents killers from walking free after being pardoned by the victim’s family, was passed months after Baloch was murdered and cannot be applied to her case.

  • You can’t please everyone: Emraan Hashmi responds to DG ISPR’s tweet on ‘Bard of Blood’

    Shah Rukh Khan and Emraan Hashmi’s Netflix project Bard of Blood received immense criticism when its trailer released late last month. Most Pakistanis, including Director General ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor slammed Bollywood for its anti-Pakistan storyline. (In case you missed that controversy, you can follow this link for a quick update.)

    The eight-episode series, which revolves around the story of an ex-RAW agent in Balochistan, will premiere on Netflix this Friday. Based on Bilal Siddiqi’s novel of the same name, Bard of Blood has been produced by SRK and starres Emraan in the lead.

    Emraan has been promoting and discussing the projects on various platforms. In a recent interview, when asked about his reaction to DG ISPR’s comments on the series, Emraan responded, “This way, you don’t end up making any film because whenever you have content that has even remotely anything associated with anything political related to these two countries [India and Pakistan], emotions do run high. And you have to bear the brunt in this. Social media is full of this.”

    He continued, “I think that one tweet [Gen Asif Ghafoor’s] led to other people spewing hate. But to put things to rest, there is no propaganda here.”

    “This is based on a book that is written by a then 20-year-old kid back in 2014,” Emraan added. “The political climate at that point of time was very different.”

    Emraan finished off saying, “There is no agenda to it. Our show is based on that book and that’s that. You can’t please everyone. You make a show of this nature, which has some kind of political relevance, and it going to snowball and you will have people talking. Everyone has an opinion these days.”

    Meanwhile, in another interview, Emraan said that he doesn’t let such issues bother him and said that he is “excited” for the series “since the promo got a lot of traction.”

    “I want everyone to see it and I’m sure everyone will love it,” he said.

    Speaking to Gulf News, Hashmi said that inordinate care has been taken not to hurt any particular country’s sentiment.

    “Remember, it’s primarily for entertainment … It’s a pure work of fiction and all the character and are mission are fictional,” he stated.

    Meanwhile, the series has opened to positive responses from critics.

  • Are Naimal & Hamza getting too much?

    Are Naimal & Hamza getting too much?

    It’s going to be a month to Hamza Ali Abbasi and Naimal Khawar’s wedding and from then till now, we’ve seen the two indulge in excessive PDA on social media and otherwise. Given how low-key their shaadi and their “platonic” relationship prior to their Nikkah was, it is somehow odd to see them behave this way, especially Hamza, who has always maintained a certain image.

    While I’m all for letting people live the way they want, their public displays of affection seem to give the impression that they are trying to milk the attention they are getting as much as they can. Which raises the question: How much is too much?

    Let’s start with this picture of the two of them from this week. Naimal shares a picture of the two of them out on a dinner date.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B2xHlEiD4Li/

    Hamza shares the picture on his story with the caption, “You Naimal, you are Allah’s gift and blessing for me.”

    A few days before that a picture of them cosying up in the hills was widely shared on social media.

    Pretty much every picture of Naimal and Hamza goes viral.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B2bDNLVDZgh/

    We did not want to post a biased opinion so we decided to ask our followers what they had to say on this. Here are the results:

    It’s a close call.

  • An Emmy for Pakistani documentary ‘Armed with Faith’

    An Emmy for Pakistani documentary ‘Armed with Faith’

    Pakistani documentary Armed with Faith won a News & Docs Emmy for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary.

    The documentary is based on the lives of the brave Pakistani men who are part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bomb Disposal Squad and are faced with life-threatening challenges every day. However, its main focus is two security personnel Abdur Rehman and Inayatullah and their struggles.

    Co-produced by the two-time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and former journalist Haya Fatima Iqbal, Armed with Faith was nominated in the Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary category. It has been co-directed by filmmakers Asad Faruqi and Geeta Gandbhir.

    Previously the film was also screened in Vancouver International Film Festival in 2017 as well as at the Atlanta Film Festival and TRT’s Belgesel Günleri Film Festival.

    Sharmeen also took to social media to congratulate the team and shared some warm words about Asad.

    Watch the promo here:

  • Meghan Markle’s latest photos are not very ‘princessy’

    Meghan Markle’s latest photos are not very ‘princessy’

    While Meghan Markle is currently on a tour of Africa with husband Prince Harry and Baby Archie, her former co-stars are wrapping up Suits of which Meghan was a part of till season seven.

    The final episode of the long-running USA show will air Wednesday and Patrick J Adams, who played Mike, Meghan’s boyfriend and later husband on the show, took a trip down the memory lane and shared behind-the-scene pictures of the cast from their shoot days.

    Though it was nice to see the rest of the cast, the one person who stood out and caught everyone’s attention was without a doubt the Duchess of Sussex. Patrick shared some super hot pictures of her which are dead sure the Queen would disapprove of.

    Queen after looking at these pictures: “Yeh Meghan bhi na.”

    Meanwhile, the rest of the pictures are actually quite sweet.

    But we’re sure these pictures are not going to bother Meghan much. She has often broken royal protocol with her fashion choices.

    For example while presenting at the Fashion Awards in December 2018, Meghan sported dark nail polish even though the Royals traditionally wear the lightest of pinks or neutrals on their nails.

    In another instance, Meghan wore a black pantsuit even though Queen Elizabeth II reportedly prefers royal women in skirts and dresses and reserves black only for mourning.

  • Rounding up the best Emmy looks

    Rounding up the best Emmy looks

    The annual Emmy’s took place last night and TV’s hottest stars, actors, and writers put forward their best looks. The dresses on the Emmys red carpet were nothing short of glamorous, ranging from designer pieces like Ralph Lauren to outfits that haven’t even debuted at the Fashion Week yet.

    With Hollywood’s most elite all in one place, it was no surprise that the Emmys were a high-fashion affair. Here are some of the best looks from the night.

    Games of Thrones stars Emilia Clarke and Sophie Turner stunned in Valentino and Louis Vuitton respectively.

    • Emilia Clarke
    • Sophie Turner

    Kendall Jenner and half-sister Kim Kardashian looked effortlessly glam in black outfits. While Kendall donned a Richard Quinn dress over a Viex bodysuit, we’re still trying to find out which designer Kim wore.

    Kristen Bell wore a Dior dress with platinum Harry Winston jewelry and Brian Atwood shoes.

    Annie Murphy is a sure-shot head-turner in this midnight blue sequenced dress.

  • Why was Hasan Minhaj banned from entering #HowdyModi?

    Why was Hasan Minhaj banned from entering #HowdyModi?

    Indian-American comedian Hasan Minhaj was barred from entering Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s rally at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.

    Videos posted on the Instagram account of Adam Matthew Weiss, president and CEO of AMWPR, which handled the event, showed Minhaj being told there were no press credentials or space available for him and his crew despite other videos showing that there was ample space inside.

    But why would an Indian-American comedian, who has a massive following all over the world be banned from an Indian Prime Minister’s event?

    Hasan’s Patriot Act

    Hasan Minhaj is the host of Netflix’s Patriot Act and is very critical of Modi’s government. He spoke (and posted) for the right to Independence for the people of Kashmir, which had more than 2M views on twitter.

    https://twitter.com/hasanminhaj/status/1162070236155318274?lang=en

    Later, Indian actor Anupam Kher took a dig at Hasan, saying he was a “Kashmiri Pundit” and understood its plight.

    Hasan has also been vocal against Modi’s re-election and did a segment on it on his program. He posted the clip on twitter which included jokes about Modi’s interview with actor Akshay Kumar and Modi’s video of him meditating in a cave.

    https://twitter.com/hasanminhaj/status/1135323607356379136?lang=en

    Hasan mentioned how he is being trolled by BJP supporters, who thought he was trying to swing the elections. “Let me make this thing very clear. Comedians can’t swing elections,” he said.

    His anti-Modi and pro-Kashmir stance is most likely the reason why he was not allowed to attend Modi’s “Howdy” event but we are still waiting for Hasan to reveal why he thinks he wasn’t let in.

    Earlier in the day, Minhaj had shared a picture of himself outside the stadium.

    https://twitter.com/hasanminhaj/status/1175796958985936896?s=20

  • Hamza Ali Abbasi says his character in ‘Alif’ reflects his own journey

    Hamza Ali Abbasi says his character in ‘Alif’ reflects his own journey

    Hamza Ali Abbasi’s much-awaited project Alif has finally seen the light of the day and is set to air on Geo Entertainment some time this month or early next month.

    Two teasers of the drama have been released and from the look of it, the drama is pretty intriguing. Hamza plays a hotshot director who thinks the world of himself, while Sajal is an aspiring actor.

    The second teaser featured Kubra Khan and Ahsan Khan but it was hard to tell what their characters would be about.

    The drama has been penned by Umera Ahmed and directed by Haseeb Hasan (Mann Mayal, Parwaaz Hai Junoon).

    Meanwhile, Hamza took to Twitter to share that his character in a “lot of ways reflects my own personal ongoing journey.”

    He also said that “this project will set an example of how to use the medium of television to make people reflect on their lives and get back in touch with their Creator.”

    Guess we already know how the drama will end.

    Here’s a look at the teaser featuring Hamza and Sajal.

  • Who’s part of Coke Studio 12?

    Who’s part of Coke Studio 12?

    Coke Studio 12 has everyone buzzing. With Rohail Hyatt donning the producer’s hat once again, music lovers are excited for the upcoming edition of the show, especially considering last year’s debacle. Remember Ko Ko Korina?

    Nonetheless, the line-up of the latest season has finally been revealed. While it features some of the regulars, others who were the part of the previous seasons, including Momina Mustehsan, Strings and Asim Azhar, are not part of the lineup.

    Here are some of the artists who will be part of this season’s show:

    • Sanam Marvi
    • Fareed Ayaz & Abu Muhammad
    • Umair Jaswal
    • Atif Aslam
    • Hadiqa Kayani
    • Aima Baig
    • Zoe Viccaji
    • Ali Sethi
    • Shuja Haider
    • Rachel Viccaji
    • Nimra Rafique
    • Quratulain Baloch
    • Abrar ul Haq

    The season is set to air sometime around mid-October.