A video of Bilal Saeed physically assaulting a young girl and a boy in the presence of the police went viral on social media Thursday evening.
According to reports, the girl and the boy in the video are Bilal’s brother and sister-in-law. The singer allegedly also wanted to file an FIR against his brother but no case was registered as the two parties later reconciled. The report further claimed that Bilal has refused to comment on the matter.
On the other hand, Geo News reported that the incident occurred on January 10 within the remits of Sundar Police Station.
Soon after the video went viral, Bilal shared a video of his house with broken items and claimed that the destruction was done in his absence.
“I know how to respect women and I know how to protect a woman too! I raised my hand to protect my family,” wrote Bilal in the caption. “This is what they did to me while I was away from my house!”
The singer further said that he has been a victim of blackmailing.
“And that’s not about it I have been the victim of their blackmailing and unfair behavior for a very long time,” claimed Bilal. “I stayed quiet because obviously as an artist my priority is my career but these people have been taking advantage of my situation for a very long time.”
The video has now been removed from social media.
Later, in an official statement, Bilal said: “Every human has the right to live with dignity and security, regardless of gender. I am a believer of peace, however, I also believe in establishing boundaries when that peace is repeatedly compromised by another, regardless of gender.”
He continued: “When the safety and dignity of a person is violated and jeopardized over and over again, he, unfortunately, is left with no option but to react.”
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Bilal has been involved in controversy. Last year, the singer came under fire for shooting his music video inside Masjid Wazir Khan.
Trust Hassan Shehryar Yasin, better known as HSY, to throw a star-studded bash. The designer-turned-actor recently celebrated his drama debut and opening of his luxurious ‘HSY Mansion’ with his friends from the industry. The designer is all set to open Pakistan “largest most luxurious couture studio” for “a one of a kind bridal couture experience.” The designer also announced that he will be officially opening his studio with a solo show in March.
The pre-event party saw all the A-listers including Fawad Khan, Maya Ali, Ali Zafar, Adnan Siddiqui, Sarwat Gilani and Ayesha Omar in attendance. Pictures from the party were widely circulated on social media. Check them out below:
HSY recently made his acting debut with drama serial Pehli Si Muhabbat alongside Maya, Sheheryar Munawar, Rabia Butt, Saba Faisal, Nausheen Shah and Shabbir Jan. Written by Faiza Iftikhar and directed by Anjum Shahzad, Pehli Si Muhabbat is described as “an intense love story”. The OST of the drama has been composed by Ali Zafar.
All actors fear being stereotyped and it appears that their worst fears just came true because Pakistani Twitter has started typecasting Pakistani drama actors.
Audiences on Twitter have put together a list of actors who always end up doing the same type of roles. Actors who have ‘meme-d’ include Yasir Nawaz, Junaid Khan, Agha Ali, Hira Mani, Minal Khan and Gohar Rasheed. Check out some of the memes below:
Naumaan Ijaz is not one to mince words. In a recent interview with filmmaker Rafay Rashdi, the actor candidly discussed and shed light on issues and problems faced by actors and producers of the entertainment industry.
Responding to a question about the issue of pending payments in the entertainment industry, Naumaan said: “There is no actor or producer in the industry who does not have pending payments.”
“My [own] payments are also pending,” stated the actor. “One channel owes me almost five crores, while another owes me around two and a half crores. They all are big channels and they are not paying. If they [artists] are not going to get paid on time then how will they deliver?”
Ijaz, however, clarified that the delay in payments is the broadcaster’s fault, not the producers.
“What is happening in Pakistan? Which ethics? Which morals? Which professionalism? Which contract? Which law? Who will listen to them? This all rubbish,” remarked Naumaan angrily.
“No law provides them [people working in the entertainment industry] safety,” asserted the actor. “No law stands behind them. No one raises their voice for them.”
He added: “There is no unity among us.”
Naumaan further sarcastically remarked: “We do not need an outsider to drown us, Alhamdulillah we are self-sufficient in this regard.”
“Artists these days, I apologise for my words, are all donkeys. We work like donkeys,” stated Naumaan. “If they are not going to get paid on time, then how will they deliver?”
Further talking about working in tough COVID-19 times, Naumaan said: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, the broadcasters blackmailed the producers to provide content, so the producers went to artists and warned them that if they won’t work, they will be blacklisted.”
“Artists are forced to work by placing a gun on their head,” claimed Naumaan, clarifying that he did not mean it in the literal sense. The actor added that if something happens to anybody, no one is willing to take the responsibility of covering the financial burden.
Ijaz further said that private TV channels have ruined the essence of Pakistani dramas.
“Dramas used to educate people. What are dramas giving to society nowadays?” questioned the actor. “You [private TV channels] have ruined the mindset of people.”
Queen of morning shows Nida Yasir celebrated her birthday on a bright Sunday afternoon at The Forest in Karachi.
All of Nida and husband Yasir Nawaz’s friends including Bushra Ansari, Javed Sheikh, Zeba Bakhtiar, Humayun Saeed, Adnan Siddiqui, Iqra Aziz, Yasir Hussain and Faysal Quraishi were present on the occasion.
Check out pictures and videos from the star-studded party below:
Ayeza Khan has dethroned Aiman Khan to become the most followed Pakistani celebrity on Instagram with 8 million followers. Aiman has 7.9 million followers on the social media application while Mahira Khan follows closely behind with 7 million followers.
“Thank you guys so much for the love and respect! It is exciting to have such a huge number of followers here,” said Ayeza celebrating the milestone.
The actor then went to talk about her journey as an actor and how she focused on her work and not on increasing her Instagram followers.
“I must say that the only reason I am able to celebrate this today is that I know how hard I worked to achieve whatever I have on this day,” said Ayeza. “I never focused my work and life towards getting a bigger number of followers. It never works in the long run. My mother has always taught me that it’s important to work hard and build your legacy and be patient. When you have those all the good stuff comes without you knowing.”
Ayeza further talked about the disproportionate relationship between the numbers of followers and influence one can have.
“Growing number of followers doesn’t guarantee a long term success if you’re hollow from the inside. There is a reason why someone with a few thousand followers on Instagram can have more influence on people than someone with tons of millions of followers,” said Ayeza, adding: “Please don’t be that fool that runs after numbers.”
The actor continued: “For me, I never worked towards growing my Instagram numbers. Instead, I have always focused all my energy into my work, my acting and modelling especially, and the fan following grew itself.”
“I’m thankful to all of you guys because it feels great to have so many people recognise your talent and work, rather than blindly taping that follow button and not even knowing what I actually do,” she concluded.
Sarah Khan has said that Allah has made men and women as equals and that people shouldn’t try to distinguish them as superior or inferior.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, Sarah said: “I believe in gender equality. I do not say that women should be superior, they should be treated as equals. The status Allah has given to them, we should follow that. Do not try to make it a competition.”
“Women are already strong, then why do we have to say that the women are strong as well or they should be given equal salaries as men,” remarked the actor further.
“I think, instead of fight for the rights, we should educate our sons. Don’t teach your daughters to go to ‘Aurat March’, educate your sons and teach them that their mother is also a woman,” she continued. “[A] woman is the one who runs the house, does the house chores and supports the man. If your wife is not helpful, then how will you be happy? Allah has already granted status to the woman, but I think men should be given the same rights. They deserve the same, not only women.”
Sarah, who is married to renowned singer Falak Shabir, also opened up about her marriage saying that it gave it more freedom. Sarah and Falak tied the knot in July 2020.
“To be honest, I am now [after marriage] doing my work much more freely and with a lot more passion. It wasn’t like this before. One of the reasons was that I used to be at home occupied with so many things, with my siblings etc,” said the actor.
“Now after marriage, it’s just me and my husband. He gives me so much freedom and encourages me to pursue my passion and wants me to succeed in my work. I enjoy working even more now and I want Allah to give every girl a husband like him,” added Sarah.
Besides her marriage and thoughts on gender equality, Sarah also discussed her sister’s Noor Zafar Khan’s career, her ongoing drama Raqs e Bismil and what she would have been if she wasn’t an actor in the interview. Check it out below:
Zeb Bangash is disappointed with Bollywood’s version of Bibi Sanam. Performed originally by Zeb and Haniya on Coke Studio, the international hit landed up in the Hindi film Cabaret, where it was sung by Usha Uthup.
In an opinion piece published on Scroll India, Bangash wrote: “From the moment my cousin Haniya and I released our version of Bibi Sanam on Coke Studio, it resonated with people from Kabul to Kolkata and beyond, becoming one of our most-loved and celebrated numbers. Its success spawned many other versions on YouTube and it was a delight to see and hear people from all over the world engaging with the song with so much love.”
She continued: “In time, many classic versions were uploaded. In 2013, inspired by Ustaad Shamsuddin Masrur’s performance of the song in the 1960s, I recorded an entirely fresh version of Bibi Sanam with my Brooklyn-based band SANDARAA. Not surprisingly, this version became a crowd-pleaser on SANDARAA tours even to predominantly Western audiences in North America.”
Zeb further wrote: “I came across a recently uploaded Bibi Sanam video from a Bollywood film. The film was completed a few years ago, but I hadn’t heard of or seen it. I was eager to see what space had been carved out for this beautiful folk classic by the multi-billion dollar industry we all follow and participate in so actively. The names attached to the project heightened my excitement. Usha Uthup, whose beautiful spirit and voice has inspired me since childhood, and Richa Chadha, an actor I respect as someone who stood up against objectification of women on the silver screen.”
However, the song left the singer disappointed.
“I finally heard the song, I was unsettled, disappointed by its re-imagining. I could not find Richa’s spirit or Usha’s voice in the song, neither could I find the soul of Qandahar, Tajqurghan, Kabul jaan, or Sisstaan — all the places the song has referenced,” wrote Zeb while expressing her thoughts on the rendition.
“Instead, the song was forcibly put in a place it was never meant for. I must admit it deeply disturbed me to see a cover of our loving tribute/rendition juxtaposed against the general ongoings of a forgettable Bollywood item song. What was infused into the innocence, the freshness, and sweetness of Sistaan is unwanted aggressive sexuality. Sadly, it felt perhaps for the first time a version has compromised the beauty of an ancient poetic, musical and spiritual tradition.”
Zeb said that the Bollywood version depicting gyrating women dancing around poles raises a stream of uncomfortable questions for her.
The singer further wrote: “The past 12 months, we saw social movements promoting inclusion and equality, we participated in them virtually and created a real global social impact. Social media provides an opportunity for authentic and discerning collaborations. In the context of this hyper-connected environment, I need to ask whether we as artists and content creators are making lazy and uninformed artistic choices?”
“When you sing a song in a new language, you acquire an intimacy not only with the music, but also its people, as you gain access to its stories and histories. You then suffuse it with your own histories and culture – if done right, it is always a process of inclusion. This is especially true for rich spiritual soundscapes. Is it too much to hope that this can culminate in evolution beyond the item number?” she questioned.
“When a dominant cultural machine imposes its careless vulgarity upon lesser-known spiritual traditions, it can undermine the culture and ultimately re-form and warp an identity from sacred to profane.”
“Bibi Sanam has always possessed a mesmerising quality, magic kept alive for centuries, by artists and audiences, meshed with their personal memory, experience, and history. For me the Bollywood version is a disservice to the song’s meaning and the culture it comes from,” she concluded.
Zebunisa Bangash is a Pakistani singer-songwriter from Lahore. Her family originally hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Given her prolific career and her ability to sing in various languages and appeal to audiences of all ages across cultures and continents, it is no wonder that Zeb has a huge international fan following around the world.
When asked how the web series changed her, Sarwat said: “I was a very Churail-like person myself, I have always tried to carry women along.”
“I have travelled in all kinds of public transport during my university days to save money, so I have always been a Churail,” she continued. “But Churails taught me how to take ownership of your own problems.”
Later while talking about her thoughts on feminism, Sarwat said: “I would not say I am a feminist.”
She continued: “I feel a man has his own place. I feel that a certain time a woman needs a man, no matter how independent she is. I am an independent woman, but at the end of the day I feel like I need somebody, who would say that I will take care of you and who I can depend on.”
“But at the same time, especially in Pakistan when we talk about feminism, people think that men have nothing to do with it but there are so many men who help to promote feminism because they support their women to come forward, so I feel feminism is a very balance sort of idea where you say everything belongs to whoever earns it,” she added.
When the host questioned if Sarwat why she is hesitating to call herself a feminist, the actor said: “A lot of people think that feminism is all about women. I feel it has to do with men also. If a man is making changes in himself we can also call that feminism.”
“We misunderstand feminism, that is why I don’t call myself a feminist,” said Sarwat. “But yes I talk about equal rights.”
“I’m feminist but I also talk about the problems faced by men,” she added.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with The Current, Sarwat talked about her experience of working in Churails and how she felt when the series received backlash in Pakistan.
