Idol Crowned

Pakistan Idol’s second season returned to television screens after a somewhat inexplicable hiatus for a couple of months, with the same judges — Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Bilal Maqsood, Fawad Khan and Zeb Bangash. On August 23, its final episode aired and Hira Qaiser from Faisalabad won the competition. We feel it was the right decision. Congratulations, Hira Q! After the finale aired, many people on social media took issue with the decision, suddenly becoming music experts — pretty much like the common Pakistani man turning into a cricket pundit when the national team loses a match or two. Chill everyone and be happy for Hira Q.

Cut to the Chase

In 2024, a Pakistani film, Nayab, directed by Umair Nasir Ali, hit cinemas. On August 16 this year, the film was broadcast on the Hum TV channel. A few days later, the director expressed disappointment on social media with the way the channel edited the movie and called for filmmakers to be consulted on such decisions — insisting, all the while, that he wasn’t attacking the channel because he understood how the TV industry works. According to him, the project had a runtime of 155 minutes, of which only 79 minutes were shown, which means almost half of the film was edited out. That is quite shocking, especially for a sports-themed film. Perhaps Hum needed the space for the 38 min of advertising that was included instead.

Divorce Deferred?

It was all but certain that Indian actor Govinda’s wife, Sunita Ahuja, would separate from her husband, as the Indian media had reported that she had prepared the divorce papers pretty meticulously. Now, the same media outlets are saying that she has decided not to proceed with the divorce and will remain married to him. We don’t know what prompted her to change her decision. All we know is that to get back on the lovey-dovey path, they should think about ‘Kisi disco mein jayein…’

Going Off-Key

Just a few weeks after the singer with the interesting name Role Model (original name: Tucker Pillsbury) happily announced his romantic association with Hollywood hottie Dakota Johnson on Instagram — she collaborated with him on a track after a little less than a year together — things have gone awry. The news is that the two have broken up. Although neither has confirmed the split, those close to them say they are no longer an item. Before Role Model, Dakota J dated three musicians, including Coldplay’s Chris Martin, with whom she was off and on with for eight years. It seems Dakota J, every now and then, likes to hum a different tune.

Ruffalo’s Response

When Hollywood star Mark Ruffalo criticised the proposed $111 billion acquisition of CNN, HBO and Warner Bros by Paramount Skydance in one of his Instagram posts, it prompted a sharp reply from Paramount, which accused him of being antisemitic. Paramount Skydance has, of course, recently been acquired by the Zionist Ellison family behind Oracle. The actor responded by saying that the accusation was “appalling and fundamentally dishonest… Criticising the actions of the Israeli prime minister, a military technology contract or the executives who supply it is not the same as criticising Jewish people.” Mark R, you are a true hero. Keep the flag of truth aloft! Hulk smash!

Freak Leak

Everyone sings the praises of technological development, but it also has its downsides. For example, it can get out of control in a trice. Last week, Amazon Prime accidentally leaked the film Mutiny, starring Jason Statham, a few days before its theatrical release. For hours, the movie was available for viewing on the streaming platform before someone realised the boo-boo and it was taken off. Naturally, buyers and distributors, such as Lionsgate, who were due to release the film, were livid and demanded an explanation from Amazon. If the streaming giant can’t come up with a plausible answer, things could get more mutinous.

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 30th, 2026