Budding actor Ameer Gilani, who won applause for his role in the recently concluded Sabaat as Hassan Fareed, has launched his own YouTube channel where he released his first song titled Sabaat.
Gilani has also penned the lyrics for the soulful melody as well as done its original composition. Meanwhile, the music video has been directed by Usman Mukhtar.
Later, in an Instagram post, Ameer said that the song was in response to the love he has received from his fans.
“Mere pyaaray doston,” said the actor. “Mein bata nahi sakta ke aap ka pyaar kitna special hai. Mein ne koshish ki hai ke likh ke bayaan karoon. I’m sure this represents the feeling of the entire team.”
He also said that the song was a small gift from the team of Sabaat to their audiences.
“Ek chhota sa gift humari taraf se. Ek aakhri baar Sabaat ke liye. Aap ka Aur humara saath ho Sabaat.”
Sabaat, with its refreshing storyline and empowered female characters, won acclaim over the weeks for being different from other dramas being shown on television. It drew to a close Sunday night with a finale that felt a bit rushed but successfully managed to tie up loose ends.
Warning: Spoilers ahead
Miraal & Dr Haris
The final episode of the drama saw Miraal (Sarah Khan) get involved in a car accident and damage her spinal cord which leaves her paralysed from the hip down. That one incident changes everything and gives all major characters in the series a happy ending. When Miraal regains consciousness after her accident, she discovers that her current love interest and ex-fiancé Ali, who was driving the car has run away, while her estranged husband Dr Haris (Usman Mukhtar) is by her side. She realises that she has done wrong to a lot of people and starts redeeming herself – first by telling Hasan (Ameer Gilani) that she was the one who ruined his relationship with Anaya (Mawra Hocane) and then apologising to Anaya personally (That one scene was very well executed). Later, she also seeks forgiveness from her husband, who she was seeking khula from. Everything comes full circle and all characters in the series get a happy ending, including Anaya’s mother (Simi Raheal).
Anaya and Hassan
Though in its essence, Sabaat is a family drama with all the usual tropes like a mistrusting husband, nand-bhabhi tensions, etc, its treatment was what set it apart from other dramas. Besides, the drama resonated well with audiences because of its realistic presentation.
Sabaat was beautifully written by Kashif Anwar (Fun fact – Kashif played Yasir Qureshi in the drama), with some impactful dialogues and brilliant story development (I will forgive the makers for stretching the drama in the last few episodes). The performances were solid – it will not be wrong to say that Mawra Hocane delivered her career-best performance as the quiet but headstrong Anaya, while Sarah Khan played the manipulative and spoilt Miraal to perfection. The boys (Ameer and Usman) also gave great performances and Usman, in particular, blew me away. Not only was Dr Haris an incredibly likable character but Usman also did complete justice to it. I will never forget that tear that dropped from his eye when he received the divorce papers. Laila Zuberi and Simi Raheel were wonderful as the supportive and encouraging mothers while Moazzam Ali Khan was brilliant as the arrogant Fareed Sahab.
Another reason why the drama stood out was because of its strong and empowered female characters. Though Anaya was a mild-natured person, she did not resort to being a bechari when things went bad and made the best of her circumstances. Even Hassan and Dr Haris were a rare breed – they were shown as sensitive and caring individuals. It is unusual to come across such characters on Pakistani television these days.
Personally, what I liked best about Sabaat was that nothing about it was over-the-top. Even in her angriest moments, Miraal was restrained and did not resort to screaming (read: screeching) like a mad person.
The OST and background music was lovely and perfectly complemented the drama and storyline. Also a shoutout to the drama’s styling team – Miraal’s wardrobe was amazing. I loved each and every outfit and Sarah carried them all so well.
Sabaat is definitely one for the keeps and is highly recommended. For me, it is going in the same category as Humsafar, Diyaar-e-Dil, Yakeen ka Safar, Ehd-e-Wafa and Zindagi Gulzar Hai.
Congratulations are in order for Usman Mukhtar, whose short film Bench has been selected at the first Cannes International Independent Film Festival. The film earlier also won the ‘Best Short Film Award’ at the South Shore Film Festival, New York.
Sharing the exciting news on social media, Usman said, “With great humility, joy and pride do we announce that Bench has been selected at the first Cannes International Independent Film Festival – CIIFF.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEraLQaJh32/
Rubya Chaudhry, who is Mukhtar’s co-star in the film also expressed her excitement on social media.
The film which has been directed by Mukhtar and written by Ali Mudar the film sees two people at difficult crossroads of their lives, cross paths.
Speaking to a local media publication, Mukhtar shared that the “film is about two people who meet on a bench. It’s a dialogue based film which takes a very interesting twist and turns.”
He had also shared that the film has been submitted to a lot of film festivals including the Toronto, Cannes and Busan Film Festivals but due to the current situation, they’re screening the film online but he is yet to hear back from them.
Sarah Khan gave her fans a shock when she announced her engagement to singer Falak Shabir Wednesday evening. A few hours later, fans were in for another surprise after videos from their mehndi began to circulate on social media.
While fans were super excited for the new couple, they couldn’t help but poke fun at Usman Mukhtar with whom Sarah is sharing the screen in Sabaat. Usman plays Dr Harris Ahmed in the serial who is Miraal’s (Sarah’s character) love interest. Fans joked that whoever Usman shares the screen with ends up getting married.
Earlier, Usman had played Altamash, Naimal Khawar’s character Izza’s love interest in the drama serial Anaa. And while the drama was still on-air, Khawar got married to Hamza Ali Abbasi.
Later, the actor, who was over the moon with the win, also shared a heartfelt note in which he said that he had no words to express his happiness and thanked his co-star Rubya Chaudhry for being the “heartbeat of this film”.
“I do not have words to explain my happiness with you,” said the actor. “This is our first win so I am going to be very emotional. Since as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker. Starting from those VHS cameras to right now. Winning this makes me feel that all the hardships that I went through, meant something. Thank you all for your support and I cannot wait to share the film with you all.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCVz9yWpVwq/
Rubya also expressed her excitement on social media and called Mukhtar “a true gem, a star, a guy that deserves everything amazing and then some”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWAis8AgIH/
The film which has been directed by Mukhtar and written by Ali Mudar the film sees two people at difficult crossroads of their lives, cross paths.
Speaking to a local media publication, Mukhtar shared that the “film is about two people who meet on a bench. It’s a dialogue based film which takes a very interesting twist and turns.”
He added that the film has been submitted to a lot of film festivals including the Toronto, Cannes and Busan Film Festivals but due to the current situation, they’re screening the film online but they are yet to hear back from them.
While it is not clear when the film will be screened in Pakistan, we’re hopeful we get a chance to watch it soon.
