PM’s Advice

Recently, a delegation comprising members of the Turkish production house that had produced the hugely popular TV series Ertugrul, met with Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad. Pakistani actors Humayun Saeed and Adnan Siddiqui were also present on the occasion. Among other things, on the agenda for the discussion was a proposed drama based on Turk Lala, a prominent personality of the Khilafat Movement. The Prime Minister, who’s often promoted Turkish dramas to his followers, said Pakistan’s film and drama industries need to work for the promotion of local culture. Good idea, sir. But what about the local artists who need to work to earn a living, especially in these pandemic-hit times? Won’t more local productions with more local artists promote local culture more?

Talk Shows Galore

The trend of having one’s own talk show in cyberspace, avoiding mainstream media, is catching on. First it was Iffat Omar and Zhalay Sarhadi who came up with their chat shows; and now it’s Mira Sethi. To be honest, all of them have done, or are doing, a pretty decent job. The only thing which, whoever wishes to have his or her own programme on platforms such as YouTube, needs to take into account is how to make your own niche in the art of asking questions. After all, we are what we ask for.

Midnight Expression

The Dabangg star Sonakshi Sinha is not really known for her interesting Instagram posts. On January 6, though, she surprised her fans with a cute little video. In the video, she is seen rather dramatically hiding behind a kitchen shelf; then the actress, sporting a hoodie, comes and grabs a variety of snacks that she appears to love munching on. She also came up with the following caption. “Yes, I’m a midnight snacker, just like you.” Sonakshi S, we never doubted that you were a voracious eater.

Ramu and Women

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma shoots from the hip, sometimes way too carelessly. These days he is looking forward to the release of his film 12’o Clock. What is making everybody talk about him is not the forthcoming movie, but a statement that he has given about women. “The brain does not have a gender. A woman can have it, a man can have it. The sexual aspect is very particular and specific. A woman has an extra thing which is her sensuality and which I admire. I mentioned that in my book Guns & Thighs also that I like women for their bodies and not their brains.” Ramu ji, we think the women can’t say the same about you… either way — body or brains.

Vibez of Zayn

Pop star Zayn Malik has put out his first song after becoming the father of a baby girl, his first child with girlfriend Gigi Hadid. Called Vibez, it’s the second track from his third studio album titled Nobody is Listening, slated for release on January 15. The song, a pretty cool number, follows the first single of the album Better — which came out in September 2020 — and, if you listen to it closely, it has much ‘better’ vibez.

Keep it up Zayn M… everyone’s listening.

Social Selena

Selena Gomez is not happy with social networking websites. In fact, she was infuriated to see pro-Trump men and women, on January 6, invading Capitol Hill. She immediately posted the following message on Instagram: “Today is the result of allowing people with hate in their hearts to use platforms that should be used to bring people together and allow people to build community. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai, Susan Wojcicki — you have failed the American people today, and I hope you’re going to fix things moving forward.” Spot on, girl! However, somewhat ironically, you had to send this message across through Insta… same platform. Oops!

Published in Dawn, ICON, January 17th, 2021