While we all are staying at home amid lockdown, most of us are spending this quarantine cooking, eating and gaining weight. Pakistani singer Faakhir has put it in the words correctly. Faakhir with his kids and a few other celebrities made a music video ‘Meri double chin’ that will surely lift our spirits and make us laugh.
The video features Faakhir’s kids Simone and Naael and other celebrities including Adnan Siddiqui and his son, Hamid Mir, Javed Sheikh, Ayesha Omar, Aijaz Aslam, Shehzad Roy and Momina Mustehsan.
The song has a catchy chorus and a few rap lines by Simone and Naael.
The murder of a black man George Floyd, allegedly by a police officer, in Minneapolis has sparked protests and outrage all over the world. While in the United States, people are taking to the streets to protest, in other parts of the world people are expressing their anger on social media. Celebrities and prominent personalities across the world are also raising their voice on the matter.
The incident has also started a debate on the obsession with fair skin, especially in South Asia and the use of skin lightening products. Celebrities who have endorsed fairness products – like Sajal Aly, Mawra Hocane, Priyanka Chopra, Disha Patani – are being called out for doing so.
Following the debate, journalist Haroon Rashid asked his followers to name “Pakistani/Bollywood celebrities who have never endorsed a skin lightening product.” Several Pakistani female actors, including Mahira Khan, Hareem Farooq, Sanam Saeed, Ayesha Omar and Momina Mustehsan responded to Rashid’s tweet and said that they had never endorsed skin lightening products, despite multiple offers.
Been refusing ever since I was a VJ till now. Never endorsed a skin lightening product. https://t.co/uGB1vPyaGX
Me! 🙋🏻♀️ been refusing offers to endorse various skin whitening products since 12 years. Have a very strong stance against it. https://t.co/UcMJ32L2Do
Same here 🙋🏻♀️ Always turned down all fairness product endorsements. The amount of melanin in your skin has nothing to do with how beautiful you are. If we ALL responsibly refuse whitening endorsements, it might cause a shift in the market. We have the power to change the narrative https://t.co/KSKh1XZ0yB
— Momina Mustehsan (@MominaMustehsan) June 5, 2020
Long before this debate, Yasir Hussain had publicly lauded his wife Iqra Aziz for rejecting an advertisement for a whitening cream. He said that even though a lot of money was being offered, Iqra stood her ground and rejected the offer.
Later when Haroon asked if those, who have in the past endorsed such products and later apologised for doing so, should be used as examples in a bad light, Mahira said they shouldn’t be.
“We are quick to cancel, not to converse,” said Mahira.
No they should not be used as examples in a bad light. We are quick to cancel, not to converse.
Karachi-bound flight PK 8303 of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from Lahore on Friday crashed in a residential area of the port city a bit over a minute away from the airport, and two days before Eid killing at least 97 people. Only two male passengers survived the crash.
Among those who lost their lives in the crash was model Zara Abid sending waves of grief in the fashion and entertainment industry, who lost one of their own.
Here are a few celebs who remembered Zara and shared their experiences and interactions with her:
Ayesha Omar
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAhxxIvjWCi/
Mehwish Hayat
I only met Zara Abid a couple of times. Loved her humility & her love for life. She had so much to achieve. Like all the others on the flight,a life extinguished b4 its time.💔 My thoughts & prayers with her family as they’re with all the others who’ve lost a loved one.. 🥀 R.I.P pic.twitter.com/95Jv9O21k6
A strong yet humble, sweet, down to earth human being, who was a bit shy but who cared about things that mattered passionately. We’ve lost one of our brightest stars on one of our darkest days. Gone too soon. May your light shine on forever. RIP #ZaraAbid#planecrashkarachipic.twitter.com/EmMZa7Ogis
As the weather warms up, the Pakistani films are also rolling. A few days after the teaser of Farhan Saeed and Urwa Hocane’s Tich Button dropped, Shamoon Abbasi and Ayesha Omar’s Dhaai Chaal based on Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadav and his activities in Balochistan was shared on social media.
The producer of the film Dr Irfan Ashraf shared the trailer on Twitter and said that his film was a response to Shah Rukh Khan’s Netflix venture: Bard of Blood.
In an interview, the film’s lead Shamoon Abbasi while talking about the plot had shared that “the film is based on the time when Jadhav was active in the region of Balochistan and was appointed to sabotage the billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.”
While a release date has not yet been mentioned, the film directed by Taimoor Sherazi and written by Faiza Choudhry is expected to release sometime later this year. It is being made in collaboration with the Frontier Corps.
Earlier, the Abbasi also shared a BTS video from the making of the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s5jHKJyyGc
Ayesha Omar, who plays the female lead, had also shared some details about her character Kanwal, adding that she was honoured to be playing this role.
Award season means there are plenty of red carpet looks to get inspiration from. The first Pakistan International Screen Awards (PISA) were held on Friday (February 7) in Dubai and our stars made sure to put forward their best fashion front.
From Mahira Khan to Meera Jee, everyone dazzled on the red carpet and looked like a million dollars. What was trending on the red carpet this week was sparkles, glitter and bling. Check out the pictures below:
Mahira Khan
Mahira cut a svelte figure in a dress by Lebanese-American fashion designer Rami Kadi for the red carpet before changing into a sparkly sari by Élan for the after-party.
Meera Jee
Meera Jee is sure bringing her A-game in this blingy power suit.
Ayesha Omar
Va-va-voom. Ayesha looks fab-u-lous in this gold outfit by labourjoisie.
Reema
Sarwat Gilani
Sarwat dons a midnight blue sari by Soshai.
Hareem Farooq
Hareem looks like she came straight from the galaxies in this shimmery sari by Élan.
Aima Baig
Sana Javed
Sana Javed stuns in this anarkali-style dress by Nomi Ansari.
Ayesha Omar, while wishing her mother a happy birthday, opened up about her childhood struggles and how her mom fought through the years after her father passed away.
In an Instagram post, Ayesha detailed her mother’s struggles writing, “A woman was widowed with two tiny children and not a penny to her or her husband’s name. Her siblings were all married and assumed that the well-to-do family she got married into, would take care of her, financially and emotionally. Her in-laws dissolved the family company when her husband (the major shareholder of the company) died and divided all the money amongst themselves.”
Ayesha also gave an insight into her early years in the industry and how she worked jobs to make ends meet.
Ayesha attached videos of herself and the cast of Bulbulay cutting a cake for her mother.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7gd9KFDUnP/
Ayesha is all set to appear in multiple films this year including Rehbra with Ahsan Khan and Dhai Chaal alongside Shamoon Abbasi.
From Maya Ali to Humayun Saeed to Zara Noor Abbas – Pakistani celebrities are partying it up in Oslo, Amsterdam and London giving us major FOMO. Thankfully the mercury has dropped drastically in Pakistan as well, so we don’t feel too left out.
In case you missed it, a number of celebrities including Humayun Saeed, Maya Ali, Adnan Siddiqui, Ahmed Ali Butt, Hira Mani, Aima Baig and Asad Siddiqui went to Oslo, Norway for the IPPA Awards. After Oslo, half the party moved to London, while others went to Amsterdam.
See all the pictures:
Starting with some group pictures. How many stars can you count?
The one with Danish
And then one with Shehvar. Guess he’s the ladies man off-screen too
Girl gang
Bromance
Time for some solo shots (and winter fashion inspo)
Ayesha Omar
Hira Mani
Maya Ali
Moomal Sheikh
Shahroze Sabzawari
Hania Aamir
Yasir Hussain
Sadaf Kanwal is a diva in the truest sense
Neelum Munir
How sweet is this picture of Neelum and her mum?
Hira and Mani serve us some couple goals
The gang then headed to London while Yasir and Asad went to Amsterdam
Cricket commentator Zainab Abbas was also spotted in London
Meanwhile, Mehwish Hayat is vacationing with her family in Turkey.
