Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan Wrap Up Filming of 'Neelofar'

 

The Bin Roye star Mahira Khan shared behind the scenes footage from set, writing:

“I take with me a piece of you.. leaving a bit of my soul with you. My darling Neelofar I shall miss you, oh so much."

Mahira's latest reveal has left fans curious and excited about her and Kapoor and Sons Fawad Khan reuniting on screen together after the pair's iconic super hit Humsafar is still incredibly popular in Pakistan today. The audience is still anticipating Mahira and Fawad's second on screen project with Pakistan's highest budget film The Legend of Maula Jutt, directed by Bilal Lashari.

The film is expected to release in 2021, having been written and directed by Ammar Rasool, and produced by Qasim Mehmood.

Mahira Khan, Atif Aslam, Aiman Khan make it to 'Forbes'

 

Three Pakistani celebrities have made it to Forbes’ list of Asia's 100 Digital Stars. This includes renowned artists from across the continent like Bollywood biggies such as Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Anushka Sharma, Katherine Langford, KJ Apa, Keith Urban and others.

Mahira Khan was the first star to be named in the list, which seemed to be in no particular order. According to the publication, the Raees star was to be a part of the much-awaited action drama The Legend of Maula Jatt, which is touted to be Pakistan’s most expensive film to date. "Khan uses her social media presence — nearly seven million Instagram followers and over four million on Facebook — to raise awareness about mental health issues, violence against women and breast cancer," the description for the actor read.

Atif Aslam also made it. Forbes shared, "Released in May, his song Asma-ul-Husna recites Allah’s 99 names to encourage hope during the pandemic and has over 22 million views on YouTube. Aslam urged his 20 million Facebook followers to stay home to curb the spread of the coronavirus."

Aiman Khan, the older of the popular Khan twins, who is Pakistan's most followed celebrity on Instagram, also received a mention in the prestigious list. "With nearly eight million followers, Aiman is the most-followed Pakistani celebrity on Instagram. She and twin sister Minal run the clothing site Aiman Minal Closet, with 249,000 Instagram followers. Last year, she was nominated for Best Actress at Pakistan’s Hum Awards for roles in TV shows Ishq Tamasha and Baandi."

Congratulations to the celebs!

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Maya Ali feels 'blessed' to be working with Shoaib Mansoor

 

It was earlier announced that renowned director Shoaib Mansoor will be working on a feature film with Maya Ali and Emmad Irfani. The film was expected to go on the floor in December.

Now, Ali has shared a candid picture of herself with Mansoor, marking the beginning of their venture together, with the two appearing engulfed in the project. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the Teefa in Trouble actor wrote, "First day on the set of #ABG, blessed to have gotten a chance to work with the great Shoaib Sahab."

Ali's cohorts also shipped the maven and the starlet’s affiliation. "Aaaah! Best of luck Maya! You’re working with the best," commented Mahira Khan, who’s worked with Mansoor numerous times. "Best of luck Maya," added Minal Khan. "All the best Maya," remarked Zara Noor Abbas.

At present, not much is known about the film. But it will mark the first time Irfani plays a prominent role in a feature. The Jalan actor had expressed his excitement over the prospect of working with Mansoor earlier.

“I'm really excited and looking forward to working with someone of the stature of Shoiab sahib (sir). To me, it is an opportunity of a lifetime as he is a colossus when it comes to modern Pakistan cinema,” Irfani had told The Express Tribune. Irfani also shared how he felt about working with Ali, “Maya is a very good actress and I'm sure we will make a good team under Shoaib Mansoor’s captaincy.”

Ali was last seen in Parey Hut Love alongside Sheheryar Munawar, while, Irfani made a cameo in 7 Din Mohabbat In. Mansoor’s last film was Khan and Haroon Shahid's Verna.

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'Waar' brought Pakistani cinema close to Hollywood: Shaan Shahid

 

Popular actor Shaan Shahid in a recent tweet shared the trailer of his 2013 film Waar.

While doing so, the actor relayed why he holds the Bilal Lashari directorial so close to his heart. "#Waar, always close to my heart.. as it brought Pakistani cinema close to #Hollywood," tweeted the Yalghaar actor on Wednesday.

Last year, the producer had hinted at a possible sequel of the blockbuster. Taking to Twitter, the Operation 021 actor shared the poster of the Hamza Ali Abbasi, Ayesha Khan and Shamoon Abbas starrer and wrote, "The Game Changer. It was indeed first of its kind for Pakistan."

In May 2015, it was revealed that Hassan Rana, the writer of Waar 2 would also be directing the sequel. The film would also include Ayesha Omer, Agha Haris Durrani, Bilal Ashraf and Aleeze Nasser. Whereas Waqas Rana would be serving as the producer and Director of Photography of the film

The release date of the film is yet to be announced.

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Mansha Pasha 'lucky' to have Jibran Nasir

 Mansha Pasha has been quite vocal when it comes to praising her fiance, Jibran Nasir. The Laal Kabootar star has often taken to social media and gushed over the love of her life. 

Recently, Mansha was responding to a fan, who was lauding Jibran for standing up for MDCAT students. The tweep shared, "You are lucky to have this man."

To this, the Mohabbat Tujhay Alvida star shared, "Yes, I am Slightly smiling face." She went on to add, "Alhamdulillah, God has been ever so kind."

Mansha then expressed gratitude for the outpour of love from the students. "Many thanks to all the students messaging in," she wrote, adding, "I do feel truly proud and pray that Allah gives you all the strength to continue to stand for what is right always."

Earlier, in an interview with Iffat Omar, the actor shared how the couple fell in love. "It just happened. We were good friends and after some time we developed an understanding. Both of us were into it, so it happened," Mansha had put it simply.

Talking about what specific traits of the social activist pulled the actor towards Jibran, she revealed that while there are many, one, in particular, triumphed all. " He (Nasir) doesn't make false promises. This is very important to me. By the grace of God, whatever he has promised me as of yet he has fulfilled it," the star exclaimed.

Additionally, Jibran has also been very much supportive of her career, to the point that at times he would want Mansha to take every challenge.

"He's very supportive, Alhamdulilah.  In fact, we are always discussing prospective projects for me. A lot of times he wants me to take up everything. I eventually have to stop him," she chuckled. "All in all he is very supportive. He enjoys it. The stuff he is unable to see, he ends up listening about it from me."

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An abuser cannot be a hero: Mahira Khan

Pakistan's arguably biggest superstar Mahira Khan has never been the one to care for the lists. However, she always finds herself in one or two almost every year. This year, the Raees star was named in the prestigious BBC 100 Most Influential Women of 2020. And she is very humble about it. Khan took to Instagram and expressed her gratitude over the mention among the likes of Jane Fonda. 

"In a year of incredible change, it is only fitting that we acknowledge the female leaders who have helped us weather the storm," stated the outlet while releasing the names As for the reason why Khan was shortlisted, the network acknowledged that she "speaks up about the causes and issues that matter to encourage change."

"Khan is no ordinary actor – she is outspoken against sexual violence, refuses to endorse skin-lightening creams and supports the fight against racism," claimed the outlet. It went on to relay the Bin Roye star's determination to "tackle social issues in her native Pakistan by changing the narrative in films and on TV."In a recent interview with the publication, Khan shared her not-so-easy journey over the years. 

Not joining bandwagons

"I've been approached from the beginning of my career, not just as an actor - even when I was a VJ - I was approached to do a lot of fairness cream products, skin whitening products. It doesn't make sense to me, it never made sense to me," she said in the three-minute clip. "So, I am endorsing an idea that a darker girl, a man is not as attractive as someone with a fairer complexion? It just didn't make sense to me."

First accolade

Khan rose to fame for her portrayal as Khirad in blockbuster show Humsafar, which also starred Fawad Khan. The former won a Lux Style Award for Best Actress, making it her first-ever award win. "This is my first award as an actor, for a drama (Humsafar) that really launched me, in the year that I was launched," she said as she holds the accolade. "I won many awards after that but this remains very, very special," she shared.

The good work

The Verna star was appointed as the UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador for Pakistan in 2019. The actor had earlier shared few pictures from a refugee camp she had then visited on Instagram. Showing the same picture, now in a frame, adding, "Let me tell you about this photograph. This was the first time I went as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador to one of the camps, one that was in Karachi. We make passing comments on refugees, let's say Afghan refugees in Pakistan. There is a certain idea of what the Afghan refugees have brought into this country. We are there to raise awareness for that."

Of changing narratives

While attending the protests at Karachi Press Club against the motorway rape case, Khan made a point of changing narratives in pop culture. She went on to share how imperative it is for our masses to be educated over sex education. 

"Something happens, there is a lot of noise about it. Everybody gets on the streets, everybody talks about it on the media, and then what? And then it dies out. Another news comes out, another story comes out or another rape happens! Then that is just another name or another hashtag attached to it," she said now. "The problem is that we are not ready to educate our public or create programs that educate children, we are not ready to talk about it openly and I think we need to change that narrative while taking responsibility for it."

Khan lamented, "I am a big part of the media of this country. I feel that our films, our television serials, we have to change the narrative," Mahira asserted. "We can't just show a woman being assaulted (by a man) and then falling in love with him and show him to be the hero. A hero cannot be someone who is abusive. So, I think somewhere even we have to take that initiative."

She concluded her candid chat by skimming through the pages of a diary she had kept since before she had her baby boy, Azlan. "I have been writing before he was born," she smiled. "These pages are filled for him, there are few flowers too. As you can tell, I'm very sentimental about this."

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Zindagi Tamasha is Pakistan’s official Oscars entry

 

Sarmad Khoosat’s Zindagi Tamasha has been through the ringer but hey, there’s a silver lining.

The movie is all set to be submitted for Oscar consideration in the International Feature Film Award category for the 93rd Academy Awards, final nominees for which will be announced in February 2021.

This year’s Oscar committee was chaired by filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and includes Faisal Kapadia, Asad-ul-Haq, Hamza Bangash, Syed Muhammad Ahmed, Mehwish Hayat, Hasan Shehreyar Yasin, Asim Abbasi, Arshad Mahmud and Jamal Shah. 

Directed and co-produced by Sarmad Khoosat and Kanwal Khoosat and written by Nirmal Bano, Zindagi Tamasha’s cast includes Arif Hassan, Eman Suleman, Samiya Mumtaz and Ali Kureshi.

According to the official synopsis, "the film is an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth who police our private passions.”

Everything said, it's a little sad how it's a movie Pakistanis themselves haven't gotten to watch yet. Zindagi Tamasha was slated to be 2020's first Pakistani film release, meant to hit cinemas on January 24. However, it has been stopped from being released, despite being cleared by multiple censor boards twice and it's fate still hangs in the balance.

Speaking about the selection, producer Kanwal shared, “The announcement surely proves that we in Pakistan are ready to tell stories close to the heart. We are ready to represent our people. I cannot stop feeling proud of my team. We have worked countless hours to tell a truly Pakistani story. Many thanks to the committee for recognising our efforts and acknowledging our film."

“All the heartache that Zindagi Tamasha gave me has somehow restored my faith in the power of art too: the sheer, almost physical power of art to make life imitate it. This announcement, for me, is a very bright light shining at the end of this dark tunnel of a year. I made this film in Pakistan and foremost, for Pakistan, for my people and the misfortune that my people have remained deprived of it weighs quite heavy on my artistic conscience.

Some pride is slowly kicking in though and no matter how far we go with this official selection, Zindagi Tamasha will be representing all of us - our ‘Pakistan’. I feel honoured on behalf of my entire team and I am extremely grateful to the committee for finding it worthy enough.” said director Sarmad.

Islamabad to have drive-in cinema

ISLAMABAD:

An open-air, drive-in cinema is planned to be built in the federal capital to help provide residents with some entertainment in a safe manner during the ongoing novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) who know of the project.

They said that with the government allowing outdoor gatherings in limited numbers and stringent conditions amidst the second wave of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, an outdoor cinema will help people enjoy movies safely. It will be built per international standards and have parking for up to 1,000 cars.

The CDA will choose a location for the project with sufficient parking where residents can watch movies while sitting in their cars. CDA Chairman Aamer Ali Ahmed will personally oversee the project, officials said.