A Royalties Question
It was 15 years ago that the drama serial Humsafar — directed by Sarmad Khoosat and starring Fawad Khan, Mahira Khan and Naveen Waqar — became, arguably, the most popular Pakistani TV play of the 21st century. Last week, Hum TV, which aired the Momina Duraid production, announced on social media that it will dub Humsafar into Spanish. This prompted a swift comment on a social media post from Sarmad K, “If only there were royalties.” Yep, we agree with him. The tiny problem is, these things need to be negotiated prior to undertaking a project.
The Netflix Complex
Actress Urwa Hocane is a trifle miffed. She doesn’t like it when people who are associated with Pakistan’s showbiz industry praise their product using the phrase “Netflix quality.” The actress, in an interview, said that she finds it lame when someone commends a project by using such a phrase because she thinks local productions are doing way better on their own. Well, it’s a bit of a head-scratching moment for us. We await and hope for the time when Netflix producers start calling their products “Pakistani drama quality.”
Rashmika’s Wish List
Actress Rashmika Mandanna appeared on an episode of the last season of Koffee with Karan. During the chitchat with the host, filmmaker Karan Johar, aka K-Jo, she replied to a question about which Bollywood star she’d like to work with. So far, Rashmika M has mostly worked in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil films, though she has appeared in a couple of big name Hindi films as well, where critics have criticised her Hindi delivery. In her words, she said, “It would be really interesting to have a Shah Rukh Khan and Rashmika Mandanna film.” Girl, two things. First, the feeling has to be mutual, so SRK should want that too. Second, given your mostly forgettable roles so far, we’re not sure it would be really interesting.
Zoya Schools Haris
A few weeks ago, actor Haris Waheed ran into comedian Sacha Baron Cohen in London who, addressing Pakistanis, said, “Yo, big up the Pakistan, man.” It prompted responses full of praise from local netizens. But then actress Zoya Nasir raised a very pertinent point about the hype. She reminded people about the openly Zionist comedian’s past and present, and that his comedy is replete with racial and religious stereotypes. “I’m sorry, but the sheer lack of awareness is staggering. Sacha Baron Cohen has been openly hostile towards Muslims. [The] majority of his movies back that up,” she wrote on Instagram. Spot on, Zoya N! No applause for Sacha BC.
HSY’s Digital Disaster
Technology can be both bane and boon. When it’s the former, it can hurt you deeply. On October 20, someone hacked renowned fashion designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin’s (HSY) WhatsApp, email and contact lists, putting him under a great deal of stress. He immediately took to Instagram and wrote, “Yesterday, 20 October, my phone, WhatsApp, email and contact list were compromised. I do not know the extent of the messages that may have been sent, but hundreds of people have received messages from my accounts.” We hope the hacker wasn’t able to release a new line of clothing. On a serious note, however, the government must take stern action against such miscreants. In this day and age of rapid technological development, there’s no reason why their whereabouts can’t be traced.
A Princely Name
Prince William made a surprise appearance, kinda, on the Graham Norton Show, with fellow guests including Cate Blanchett, Robert Irwin and Hannah Waddingham. As the programme went on, he revealed that, in his salad days, he had tried his hand at being a DJ, and the name that he chose for himself was “DJ Zara with an X.” This was a big moment on the show because not just the audience but his fellow guests became quite inquisitive about it — one of them even called the name “rubbish” — and put questions to him about the moniker and whether he had any moves. Prince William said he didn’t and confessed that he “never got that good.” Well, how about a new name — Prince of Xara and Wales?
Published in Dawn, ICON, November 1st, 2026
