Barzakh starring Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed to make an International premiere
Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed are back!
Sanam Saeed and Fawad Khan will once again share the screen in Asim Abbasi’s eagerly anticipated web series. This will be released after the popular drama Zindagi Gulzar Hai. Shailja Kejriwal and Waqas Hassan’s production of Barzakh (Barrier) has already piqued viewers’ interest. The web series will also make its French debut in March 2023 at the prestigious Series Mania festival.
Storyline
Fawad Khan will play a charming single parent who is tormented by guilt over what he has lost in the television series. The other lead role is played by Sanam Saeed. Barzakh, which sees the on-screen couple reunite after a decade apart. Barzakh is the only South Asian entry in the festival that will happen in Lille.
Also Read: Sanam Saeed 2022’s yearly recap shows Mohib Mirza and a ring!
A note from the director
Director Asim Abbasi was overjoyed with the choice. He said, “At its core, Barzakh is a family drama framed within a world of supernatural beings and otherworldly events. The genesis of the story stemmed from a personal loss and the fears that came with it. This makes me realise that love is indeed eternal and nudging me to write a story about it.”
Furthermore, he said: “The selection of Barzakh at the Series Mania is such a momentous yet humbling occasion for all of us. Not only because it’s a show that’s so close to my heart but also because the selection is such a strong validation of our belief in this story which is now finding its way amongst the best in the world.”
Love and melancholy
The director of Cake revealed that it is a very personal project for him. After his father passed away and as he watched his son develop into a young boy, he found himself overcome with nostalgia for bygone eras and unrequited loves. He then started to consider his worst fears, including the extinction of consciousness, imagination, and love. And from these anxieties came a tale in which love was, in fact, everlasting. Where it survived us, making it the greatest legacy left by humans.
Also Read: Mahira Khan bags best actress award for Prince Charming
Both Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed are excited to share the screen space together after a decade. As Sanam Saeed discloses how tough this character was. She loved it equally. Furthermore, she said that she is excited to be in a series by Asim Abbasi.
Since its inception in 2010, the Series Mania festival in Lille, France, has played a significant role in identifying and selecting the best series from around the globe. The festival gathers the top filmmakers, directors, and performers under one roof. Mania runs from March 17 through 24.
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Arooj Aftab and Anoushka Shankar performed “Udhero Na” at Grammy’23
Arooj Aftab, a lightning soul in a dark robe
Long black dresses, a husky, melancholy voice, and dark eyes, the darkest hue of the colour wheel shows the personality of Arooj Aftab. She does, however, manage to stay afloat, all due to her musical abilities.
Contemporary music style
In 2021, Aftab released Vuture Prince, a “neo-Sufi” album that the singer describes as “post-minimalist.” Ghazals are a traditional South Asian poetic form steeped in love and longing. The lyrics from this album’s Urdu-layered tracks drifted over contemporary jazzy compositions.
Barack Obama’s playlist
Aftab became well-known after Barack Obama included her song Mohabbat on his playlist. Not only that, but she also received a Grammy for that song. She eventually became the first musician from Pakistan to receive a Grammy.
Coke Studio 14
We saw Arooj Aftab again in Coke Studio season 14, where she performed “Mehram,” with Asfar Hussain from “Bayaan.” The song garnered 12m views on YouTube.
Also Read: Ali Sethi set to perform at Coachella 2023
Arooj Aftab and 2023 Grammy
Aftab was nominated for one Grammy Award this year in addition to her performance from February 5; her song “Udhero Na” was selected for the Best Global Music Performance category. Furthermore, she received a nomination for Best New Artist last year and won the inaugural prize for Best Global Music Performance with “Mohabbat.” In total, Shankar has received nine Grammy nominations, including this year’s Best Global Music Performance and Best Global Music Album awards.
Watch Arooj Aftab ft Anoushka Shankar’s live performance below,
Current ventures for Aftab
Aftab will release “Love In Exile” in the coming weeks. She calls it a “dark, doomy, jazzy, but sort of experimental, very free kind of album.” The album also partnerships with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismaily.
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Friday Flix movie review of the Week: Mission Majnu
Adaab, it’s Mission Majnu time!
Mission Majnu, a historical-fiction action-adventure domestic-drama romance spy-comedy set during the tense political/military standoff between India and Pakistan in the 1970s, is another genre-mash from Bollywood that is strange to Westerners but otherwise on-brand. As deep-cover spies infiltrate foreign governments in an effort to avert nothing short of nuclear freak war, the director Shantanu Bagchi refrains just short of launching into musical numbers, which may be an act of restraint by Bollywood standards.
Mission Majnu – cast
The cast includes Sidharth Malhotra and Rashmika Mandanna in lead roles. The cast also include Parmeet Singh, Zakir Hussain, Kumod Mishra, Sharib Hashmi and others.
Storyline
The background of the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan that followed the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 is explained by a narrator who claims to be the head of RAW, the Research and Analysis Wing, or India’s equivalent of the CIA. Even though India prevailed, tension persisted, especially after that country’s successful nuclear bomb test in 1974, which prompted Pakistan to start covertly working on its own atomic bomb technology.
A tailor or a spy? who could tell??!!
In this scene, Tariq (Sidharth Malhotra), a straightforward man from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is introduced. He begs a tailor for a menial job in his shop and falls in love with Nasreen (Rashmika Mandanna), the tailor’s blind niece, who undoubtedly sixth senses how attractive he is. Her every move is graceful, the music fills the scene, and the movie stops just short of showing cartoon hearts fluttering around Tariq’s bewildered and smitten head. This tells you that Tariq fell in love at first sight.
Also Read: Friday Flix Series of the week: Mismatched season 2
Amandeep in deep troubles!
Tariq and Nasreen eventually get married and lead a very, very simple life while living off the meagre wages of sub-tailors. The ideal disguise for an Indian RAW agent, yo! Tariq is in trouble; his real name is Amandeep Singh. Nasreen is currently pregnant, and despite the fact that she is unaware that he is a spy assigned to locate the uranium enrichment plant and inform the Indian government of its location, his love for her is very, very genuine.
Also Read: Friday Flix Movie of the Week: Good Luck Jerry
The missions and comedy
As a result, Amandeep never appears to be at home or at the tailor shop, and Nasreen never stops to wonder what he does at all hours of the day and night. Israel is preparing an airstrike on what it believes to be the nuclear plant, and Pakistan experiences a comically nondramatic military coup, raising tensions with India. Amandeep is under pressure to keep his string of crazy schemes together and avert a terrible, terrible war. Can he accomplish it?
Watch the trailer:
Final Verdict
Mission Majnu is a humorous movie if you’re a Pakistani and watching it! Sidharth does a great job in his acting. His smile and facial expressions truly mesmerise the audience. You might want to say “adaab” and give it a five-star rating if you’re an Indian. We give it a 2.5.
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Famous TikToker Hassan Abid deletes his videos from every platform, here’s why
Hassan Abid deletes all of his videos from every platform
Brilliant Pakistani YouTuber and TikToker Hassan Abid has millions of followers. Famously recognised for his TikTok transition videos. He was once referred to as the transition king. He also had a YouTube channel. He recently deleted his YouTube and TikTok accounts, which had millions of followers. He currently has about 254k followers on Instagram.
Also Read: Shoaib Akhtar distances himself from biopic Rawalpindi Express
Fear and religious awakening for Hassan Abid
In any case, the TikToker stopped posting TikToks and deleted all of his accounts because he had a gradual religious awakening. The social media influencer and model further asked his fans to delete all of his videos because he didn’t want anyone to commit a sin as a result of him and because the spread of his videos would encourage more sin.
Gunah-e-Jariyah
He mentioned ‘Gunah-e-Jaariyah,’ and wrote a very long note about his spiritual awakening, he told the fans,
Furthermore, he mentioned,
Also Read: TikTok ranked third most downloaded app in Pakistan
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Friday Flix Series of the Week: Ginny and Georgia
Ginny and Georgia or Gilmore Girls?
With its subtle parallels and lines like “Ah, that’s the new Luke Dane,” Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia will take you back in time if you are a die-hard fan of Lorelai and Rory from Gilmore Girls and the friendly, welcoming (but nosy) community they live in. When you discover that the town has a mayor, you will experience the same giddy, off-putting excitement as a child.
With its subtle parallels and lines like “Ah, that’s the new Luke Dane,” Netflix’s Ginny & Georgia will take you back in time if you are a die-hard fan of Lorelai and Rory from Gilmore Girls and the friendly, welcoming (but nosy) community they live in. When you discover that the town has a mayor, you will experience the same giddy, off-putting excitement as a child.
Despite the straightforward beginning, this story has a lot going on. One can’t help but get the impression that this busyness is a calculated ruse to hide some of the more dubious aspects of Netflix’s most recent surefire hit.
Ginny and Georgia storyline
This Netflix series is primarily focused on the relationship between young mother Georgia and her two kids, Austin and Ginny. The passing of their stepfather, Kenny, upends this family structure. Georgia decides her family needs a new beginning, so she moves them to Massachusetts.
Ginny arrives at school and laments the fact that there are only seven other black children there. Her boyfriend Hunter and a close-knit group of endearing friends with unique quirks and tropes form her own clique, which she quickly settles into. However, there is trouble in paradise in the form of Ginny’s attraction to mysterious Marcus, the neighbour who lives next door. Exists a love triangle here? Of course!
The connection between Ginny and Georgia’s personalities
Ginny and Georgia’s stories are interconnected. She is eluding her past because it is very dark. Georgia is pursued by a private investigator but still manages to become friendly with the mayor and land a job in his office. As the series goes on, Ginny and Georgia’s relationship becomes more and more strained as they fall into this spiral of deceit, which is made even worse by the constant reappearance of old acquaintances.
Along with these two main storylines, there are a number of unfinished side stories that never receive the attention they require, leading to a season finale that falls flat.
Also Read: Friday Flix Series of the Week: Wednesday
However, season 2 started with more mysteries and drama. Not just that Season 1 of Ginny’s show depicted her going through a racial identity crisis. Which also can be related to by any biracial person, especially one who has a white parent. While also allowing Ginny to embrace that aspect of her identity, Season 2 works very hard to elaborate on that.
She spends more time on screen with her father and his family. Moreover, we also focus more on her friendship with her group of Black classmates. That is incredibly satisfying because Ginny desperately needed some Black friends.
Watch the trailer here,
Also Read: Friday Flix Series of the Week: 1899
Final Verdict
In actuality, Ginny & Georgia might be the pinnacle of the most recent crop of teen dramas. The emotional core of the series and the trauma it depicts are perfectly balanced with the moments that make you yell at your screen because you can’t believe they made it past the cutting room floor. And this season manages to be even better than the last.
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Shoaib Akhtar distances himself from biopic Rawalpindi Express
Shoaib Akhtar walks out on Rawalpindi Express.
The Rawalpindi Express is no longer listed for making. Former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar declared that he has legally revoked all rights to his life’s story and distanced himself from the “dream project.” He cited “constant contractual violations” and “failure to resolve differences amicably” as reasons for the breakup.
Also Read: Priyanka Chopra praises Pakistan’s Oscar shortlisted film ‘Joyland’
On Saturday, he released his official statement on his Twitter account. “Very sadly, I would like to inform all of you that after careful consideration of months, I have decided to disassociate myself from the film Rawalpindi Express and its makers by terminating the agreement through my management and legal team,” he wrote.
A dream project rip to pieces…
Even though he made an effort to survive, he claimed that his biopic didn’t turn out as well as he had hoped. “Definitely, it was a dream project and I tried a lot to prevent [this] and stay in the boat but unfortunately, things were not going well,” he said, explaining the reasons. “Failure to resolve disagreements amicably and constant contractual violations finally resulted in us to cut ties with them.”
Akhtar asserted that he has formally and legally quit the project. Moreover, he threatened to take legal action if the filmmakers decide to proceed. “I have abandoned the project after following all legal procedures to revoke the rights to my life’s story. If the creators of the biography film continue to use my name or the events from my life story in any way, severe legal action will be taken, he added.
Also Read: The top 10 most popular tv shows on Netflix right now
The first foreign film about a Pakistani sportsman was announced in July of last year. Furthermore, it was slated for release in November of this year. It felt like a dream come true for the director, Muhammad Faraz Qaiser, to be able to bring an idea from 2016 to fruition.
Rumors that singer-actor Umair Jaswal would be playing Akhtar were confirmed in November, but he soon changed his mind. Earlier this month, he announced on Instagram that he would not be portraying the former cricketer due to “creative and personal reasons.”
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Priyanka Chopra praises Pakistan’s Oscar shortlisted film ‘Joyland’
Priyanka Chopra praises Joyland!
Priyanka Chopra, an A-list actress from India, recently saw the Oscar-nominated film Joyland from Pakistan, and she couldn’t help but give it her highest recommendation.
When PC posted a clip from the trailer to her Instagram story, she wrote: “#Joyland is truly a joy to watch. Bravo to the entire team for bringing this story to life. It’s a must watch.”
Later, Sadiq thanked the Indian actor. Chopra has also expressed her support for India’s Oscar entry. She recently hosted screenings for SS Rajamouli’s epic RRR and The Last Film Show in Los Angeles.
Malala and Riz Ahmed join as Joyland producers
Saim Sadiq is the director of Joyland including Khoosat Films, Lauren Mann, and Apoorva Guru Charan as producers. Malala Yousufzai and Riz Ahmed most recently joined the group as Executive Producers.
Also Read: Friday Flix Movie Review of the Week: Joyland: A daring but distant desire of joy!
From all over the world, people have been showing their love and appreciation for the movie. Now included in the list of admirers is Priyanka.
Awards and more awards!
Yesterday morning, it was announced that actor Ali Junejo, who portrayed Haider in the film, had taken home the Best Actor prize from the Palm Springs International Film Festival.
The 2023 95th Academy Awards have officially shortlisted the film Joyland. The team is optimistic that the movie will win the Oscar this time even though the final nominees have not yet been revealed.
Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooqi, Sania Saeed, and Sarwat Gillani play the lead characters in Joyland.
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Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis, dies aged 54
Lisa Marie Presley, a singer and the lone child of Elvis Presley, the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” passed away on Thursday at the age of 54 after being taken to a hospital in the Los Angeles area, according to her mother.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” her mother, Priscilla Presley, said in a statement.
“She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known. We ask for privacy as we try to deal with this profound loss,” the statement added.
According to the entertainment website TMZ, Lisa Marie experienced a cardiac arrest at her home in the Calabasas, California, suburb of Los Angeles. On Thursday, she was later taken to the hospital.
She was present at the Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills earlier this week, where Austin Butler, who played her father in the movie Elvis, won the best actor prize.
In his acceptance speech, Butler paid homage to Lisa Marie Presley and her mother. At the age of 42, cardiac arrest claimed the life of Elvis Presley in August 1977.
Lisa Marie, who became the owner of her father’s Graceland mansion, a well-known Memphis tourist destination, was born there on February 1st, 1968. When Elvis passed away there, she was nine years old.
With the release of To Whom It May Concern in 2003, she launched her own musical career. Both albums reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart. It was followed by 2005’s Now What. Storm and Grace, the third album, was made available in 2012.
Presley’s married life!
She had four marriages. Just 20 days after divorcing her first husband, musician Danny Keough, she wed pop star Michael Jackson. As Jackson was defending himself against accusations of child molestation, the famous couple got divorced in 1996.
In 2002, Presley wed actor Nicholas Cage, a supporter of her father. Four months after that, Cage filed for divorce.
Michael Lockwood, a guitarist and music producer, was the subject of her fourth marriage. In 2021, their divorce became final.
The Los Angeles County coroner determined that her only child, Benjamin Keough, a musician himself, committed suicide when he passed away in 2020 at the age of 27.
In an essay she wrote for People magazine earlier this year and shared on Instagram, Lisa Marie remembered her son, calling herself “destroyed” by his passing.
She is survived by her twin daughters Harper and Finley Lockwood, 14, and her 33-year-old actor daughter Riley Keough.
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Ali Sethi set to perform at Coachella 2023
Ali Sethi to perform at Coachella
Coachella has unveiled its 2023 lineup, which includes performances by our very own Ali Sethi on day three as well as headliners Frank Ocean, BLACKPINK, and Bad Bunny. India’s Diljit Dosanjh, who will perform on the second day, is also on the list of artists.
On the biggest stage in the world, Gorillaz, Björk, Rosala, Chemical Brothers, Boygenius, Blondie, Pusha T, Charli XCX, and more are scheduled to perform. The Pasoori hitmaker announced the news on Instagram. He wrote, “AAJAAO SAARAY,” (Everyone come out!).
Congratulations are in order!
Messages of congratulations from his peers followed his announcement. Talal Qureshi, Aima Baig, and Adnan Malik all praised the well-known singer for this amazing achievement.
After Grammy winner Arooj Aftab serenaded the crowd last year, Sethi is the second Pakistani artist to perform at Coachella. As the first Coachella festival since the start of the pandemic began in the California desert on Friday, revellers dressed in bodysuits, wearing glitter eyeshadow, and covered in neon partied until the early hours of the morning.
Due to the postponement and eventual cancellation of the anticipated 2020 event, Coachella 2022 marked the first time the festival ever took a break between years.
Also Read: Hasan Raheem’s Nautanki music video receives heavy trolling on Twitter
The yearly music festival is held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, over two weekends: April 14–16 and April 21–23. Coachella 2023 tickets, including three-day GA and VIP passes, go on sale this Friday, January 13.
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Hasan Raheem’s Nautanki music video receives heavy trolling on Twitter
A week with Nautanki led listeners in chaos!
Hasan Raheem recently released a music video for the title track from his debut album, Nautanki. Despite the appealing visuals and the variety of emotions it evokes, the song isn’t quite connecting with listeners.
The audio track released almost 11 days ago along with other 8 tracks of his new album with the same name. Since Hasan has a very similar vocal range for almost every song his MV received immense backlash 2 days after its release.
The music video, in story!
In the video, Hasan is seen having a hard time controlling his emotions as he emerges from his beautifully lit bathroom to find letters from someone he doesn’t know. He suddenly finds himself covered in blood, removes his kurta, wipes his face, and then takes a number of selfies displaying his biceps. Then, as he lies down on his bed, he swipes left on the queens that are visible on the board beneath the mattress, which is quite symbolic of his love for women.
He picks up a rose and looks out his room window while acting strange and agitated, which is quite a sight, to say the least. Before taking food out of the freezer, he drinks what appears to be milk. After eating a lot of cookies that he can’t seem to finish, he is dragged back into the bathroom and forces himself to puke all of his feelings out by sticking his face in the toilet.
Twitter is in shambles!
Even though the video isn’t as grand, the artwork is stunning. The song, however, has not won over fans, and many have commented under Hasan’s tweet to express their displeasure.
Someone said,
Same murmuring style, mumbled singing and what not,
Someone took it too far…
Someone complained her concern…
Well, whatever people would say. We would suggest Hasan to never stop making music because we are still vibing on Tareekhi, DIBS and Dil Fareb!
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