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Here’s why the promotional strategy of ‘Parey Hut Love’ is the real winner!

By
Maisooma Batool
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Movie making is a serious business. Emphasis on business because cinema is no longer a medium that is solely dedicated to the art of film making. Like every business, its existence is hinged on the profit and loss scale where the profit needs to outweigh the loss for the sake of long-term survival. There is so much that goes behind the scenes, so many stages that a film has to go through before it is released for the audience to see, that it becomes nearly impossible for a film to remain a venture that can afford to be unprofitable.

Why are movie promotions so important?

So, how do movie makers make sure that their movies make them a profit? Well, that happens by ensuring that the audience actually goes to watch the movie. And that is done by sending the word of awareness out to the audiences about the movie that they have made. In other words, movie promotions matter a lot and the promotion period can actually go a long way in affecting the fate of the film.

Parey Hut Love, the Asim Raza directorial, still has at least three months to go before it gets released. The movie hasn’t started its official promotion period yet. But when I examine all the news related to the movie right from its announcement to the writing of this article, I can’t help but wonder that despite not officially stepping in the promotion race yet, PHL has been winning this promotion game.

The case of Parey Hut Love

For starters, there has been no negative buzz about the movie. It might not sound like a lot but when we look at the news about all the upcoming releases, we can see this evident wave of confusion around some of them. With the way the release dates keep getting announced and then changed, it’s not hard to see that there is no solid plan that is being followed by those movies.

On the other hand, Parey Hut Love has solidly stuck to a plan. Back in March 2018 when the film was announced (when Mahira Khan was to play the lead role in it, making it her third venture opposite Sheheryar Munawar), there was news that the film would go on floors around the August-September time with Eid-ul-Azha 2019 as the release date. Despite the minor hiccup of Mahira bowing out of the film as a lead due to schedule conflict and retaining her part in it as a special appearance, Asim and his team still managed to stick by the plan they had originally made. The film started production in September, with Maya Ali taking on the lead role alongside Sheheryar Munawar, and by the end of December 2018, the team had thrown a lavish press conference announcing the wrap of the film and making the Eid ul Azha 2019 the official date for its release.

What Asim Raza himself has to say

Asim Raza has recently talked about the importance of inclusivity in the industry; that filmmakers shouldn’t be so singularly focused on their own projects that they end up harming the industry. It is something Asim has done practically with the way all developments regarding PHL have never been hidden from the media. When he talks about having a long-term plan for every film right from production to release, he isn’t only all talk but he has set up an example with his second directorial feature.

“It is all part of a deliberate plan,” said Asim when I got in touch with him to talk about the topic. “Considering the limited number of screens and the issues that arise when movies get cluttered at the last moment, it is very important for everyone to know these developments. The plan is to be fair to everyone, including our film. This creates an inclusive environment and it also allows your audience to be part of the process and have certain ownership over the film.”

A word on PHL’s promotional strategy

The other very interesting win for the film is that despite being in news for over a year, we still haven’t seen anything of the film. Now, I call it an interesting win because this promotional strategy, where the buzz being created for the film is being done so in an indirect way, not only grabs the attention of the audience but it does so without tiring them. Too much and too little of something are both dangerous territories to tread in and Parey Hut Love has managed to find the sweet spot in between these two places.

paray hut love BTS

The only official content released for the movie has been a motion poster, a one-minute long behind-the-scenes video about the making of the film, and a couple of very vague posters for Maya, Sheheryar, and Mahira. The film’s official Instagram profile has posts dedicated to almost all the principal actors of the film but done so in a way that doesn’t reveal much about the film itself. This creates interest without over-doing it.

Parey Hut Love is supposed to be a “classic romance” so it is crucial for the film’s hero-heroine to have the chemistry to sell that romance. And well, if the recent shoot for a magazine that Maya and Sheheryar have done, they have that chemistry in abundance. Even if we take away the glamour of a well-directed magazine photoshoot, the time this duo spent in Europe as they raised funds for the construction of a cancer hospital is evidence enough that these two people share comfort and a bond that could very well create magic on screen.

All of this contributes towards creating a buzz for the film but without the official tag of promotions on it. Be it the promise of Maya and Sheheryar’s chemistry in the film, or Mahira’s special song number, Meera’s special appearance, or Fawad Khan’s cameo in the film – Parey Hut Love has nailed the tact of being in the news for all the right reasons.

Why the delay in releasing teasers/trailers?

So, why hasn’t anything from the film seen the light of the day yet? We asked the same question from Asim Raza and here is what he had to say:

“Personally, I believe the trailer for the film should come no more than a month before the film’s release,” explained Asim when I asked him why the film hasn’t even released its teaser yet. “We don’t want the audience to get bored of the film through its trailer way before the film is even released. This is the reason for all these indirect promotions.”

Of course, right now Asim’s focus is on finishing the editing of the film; a task that is taking all his concentration and energy. He added that once the film’s edit is complete, they would move towards other steps of releasing more content from the film. But the way they have carried on creating the buzz for the film, it is not wrong to say that the approach towards promoting the film would be similar to how it has been till now.

“I get so lost in the process of finishing up my film that I get no time for doing anything else. It means that I have to sacrifice on a few things but that is just how I work. We have worked hard on this project and of course, we want this to work with the audience. No one wants their hard work to not reach the audience properly. We have plans for how to carry out the official promotions for Parey Hut Love and all of that would be revealed in due time.”

From what I have seen of the film’s promotional strategies so far, it looks like Asim and his team is on the right way of creating buzz for the film. It sends a positive message of inclusivity to the industry as a whole. And until the film starts its official promotions, there is enough excitement for the movie created already that has me eagerly waiting for Eid ul Azha when I’d be finally able to experience this Asim Raza extravaganza on the big screen, like it is meant to be enjoyed.

Box Office: ‘Avengers: Endgame’ emerges as the fastest 20 crores grosser in Pakistan

By
Zaryan Khawar
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Avengers: Endgame has become a phenomenon in the past one week and rightfully so. The latest Marvel film has been creating new records worldwide ever since it released last Friday and honestly why not, for the film is the culmination of eleven years and more than twenty films, making it one of the most anticipated releases of the year. The film released on the 26th of April and the last week has witnessed the biggest week (in terms of numbers) in the history of Pakistani cinema as box office rules have been rewritten everywhere.

Pakistani Box Office on fire, yet again

The past week, as we mentioned earlier, has been a crazy time for the cinema industry in Pakistan courtesy, Avengers: Endgame. 3-year-old records have been shattered completely, with the movie collecting a massive 23 crores in the first week itself.

Sultan, in 2016, had managed a figure of 21 crores but that has finally been edged out. The local offering Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 was also not behind as it grossed a total of 20.6 crores in its first week. However, considering Avengers: Endgame was a non-holiday release and came out without the dubbed version, this business is massive.

A few observations regarding the whole madness

Avengers, all over the world, has set new benchmarks. This film is a message to all the filmmakers out there that people are ready to spend if the content is good. The cinematic experience is the main pull of Avengers as people love the characters and it is this exact emotional connection that totally changes the movie watching experience.

One important point to note here is that the ticket price for Avengers is the same as of Sherdil in local cinemas which frankly does not seem right. Cinemas need to find a way to push the local movies more and in the tough times, the ticket rates must be adjusted. The public is out there and so is the intent to come to the cinemas but they need to be lured with the right kind of product mix which includes content and affordability.

A final word

The Indian film industry, too, is seeing a massive response from their public. The film, with half the screens for their usual big releases, has managed collections no Indian film could have, in its first week. It looks like the whole debate of cinemas losing their Midas touch due to digital content is warring out. Public’s message is clear; good scripts backed with excellent cinematic experience will be celebrated with full force.

Endgame will continue to rule the box office in the second weekend too but with Ramzan starting from Tuesday (tentatively), business is bound to get slower. One thing is clear that Avengers is one of a kind phenomenon and we can expect it to shatter more records in the coming days. Hope the happy times continue and good content comes from all ends. We have our fingers crossed.

These box office numbers are given by independent box office tracking site EPK Pakistan.

Punjab Assembly to ban Pakistani celebrities from hosting Ramazan transmissions

By
Momina Mindeel
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The past few Ramazans have seen a plethora of Ramazan transmissions where we witnessed a gigantic number of absurd things happening; from people being force-fed mangoes to babies being distributed. The struggle has, indeed, been real. Pakistani celebrities who have been at the forefront of these transmissions these past few years include some big names such as Fahad Mustafa, Juggan Kazim, everyone’s favorite Amir Liaqat Hussain, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Sanam Baloch and more. A humungous number of people have opposed the content of these transmissions through and through for obvious reasons but nothing hadn’t really been done about it until recently.

Punjab Assembly passes a landmark resolution

Now the reason I use the word landmark here is because we had accepted Ramazan transmissions as our fate, until yesterday. The resolution comes as a breath of fresh air, amidst all the bedlam. The said resolution that seeks a ban on celebrities hosting Ramazan transmissions, was submitted in the Punjab Assembly last week and was unanimously accepted yesterday.

Through the resolution, the Punjab Assembly has requested the federal government to make sure that TV channels manifest regard for Ramazan and invite religious scholars to these transmissions.

The ‘Qarardad‘ was submitted in the Assembly on behalf of Maulana Muhammad Muavia Azam – Pakistan Rah-e-Haq party’s parliamentary leader. It stated that since the transmissions are hosted by people (celebrities) who have no affiliation with the Islamic faith, it impacts the spirit of Muslims resultantly.

Resolution submitted to Punjab Assembly
Source: DAWN Images

 

The resolution also appeals to the PEMRA to enforce the said ban. Nothing has been confirmed by PEMRA as of yet so we are just going to keep our fingers crossed.

What do you think of the whole situation? Let us know in the comments.

Meera, Shahroz and 25 other celebrities to be a part of a song in film ‘Cha Ja Ray’

By
Hassan Hassan
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If you have been following Lollywood tabloids closely, it is probable that the news of an upcoming youth drama film called Cha Ja Ray may have crossed your path.

The film was announced a few months ago and it went on to release a teaser, which featured Indian Actor Aditi Singh in a glamorous dance track as well as a few glimpses of the actors involved in the project. Aditi Singh was earlier seen in a parallel lead in Javed Sheikh’s Wajood.

The star cast of Cha Ja Ray is a mix of young blood and veterans including names like Nadeem Baig, Javed Sheikh alongside Arisha Razi and Madeeha Hassan Ziadi. While the project is still in its production phase, the latest on the film is that it is going to have a multi-starrer dance number that will feature prominent names from the industry and social media alongside the main cast of the film.

The multi-starrer dance number

The song will most likely be used in the promotional campaign of the film and might appear when the end credits roll.

According to our sources, the song will feature names like Meera, Mathira, Shehroz and Behroz Sabzwari, Aijaz Aslam, Sana Fakhar, Rambo, Sahiba, Nasir Khan Jan alongside twenty other prominent names. The song is being choreographed by the ace choreographer Wahaab Shah (of the Baaji, Chhalaawa, and Rangreza fame).

Multi-starrer dance numbers in Lollywood: A brief history

It’s not the first time a Pakistani film will have a multi-starrer dance number as a feature.

The experiment was first conducted in a 90s flick called Haseeno Ki Baraat, which conceptualized the idea of bringing several industry names in one song. Produced by Sajjad Gul and released in 1992, the film was Anjuman’s comeback film back in the nineties. It also featured names like Javed Sheikh and Saima Noor.

Later on, the same concept was rehashed by Reema and Saqib Malik for the former’s film Love Mein Ghum‘s title song which featured around 40 Pakistani celebrities from fashion, film, and TV. Catchy and beautiful as the video was, it received some undue criticism from a section of Pakistani public for being a copy of Shahrukh Khan’s Om Shanti Om. This should not come as a surprise from the public that is more exposed to Bollywood and remains largely ignorant to the work done by local artists in Pakistan.

Cha Ja Ray, produced by Talha Jameel Khan and directed by Jibran Basheer, is said to have an important social message, based on the themes of education and sports. It revolves around young people trying to save their school from getting demolished.

Cha Ja Ray does not have a release date as of yet but we will definitely be waiting for this one. 

Is Mehmood Aslam the new Javed Sheikh of the Pakistani entertainment industry?

By
Hassan Hassan
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David Thompson once wrote about the importance of supporting actors in Hollywood.

At one point, he mentions, “It was in being so naturally “themselves” that supporting players were regarded as the salt of the earth or the oil that makes the machine work.”

I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Thompson, for as he puts it, “supporting actors aren’t just those familiar faces who can steal a film. They show a way for movies to portray real life.” In simpler words, they’re a window through which you could see the real world via your silver or TV screens.

The phenomenon that Javed Sheikh is (has been)

In recent years, Pakistani cinema (& TV) has seen one of the most prolific and celebrated supporting actors in a long while. This actor has, very smoothly, glided from one character to another and has effortlessly portrayed them, receiving many accolades across the subcontinent. The man I am talking about is Javed Sheikh.

With a career spanning over decades, Mr. Sheikh has proved himself on countless occasions. Being amongst the most well-known faces of the new age Pakistani cinema, such has been the presence and influence of the actor that it was just not avoidable to see people (unjustifiably) complaining about Sheikh’s presence in every other Pakistani film. There may be two opinions on that but there is no denying the talent this legend has.

While Sheikh may be amongst the lucky ones to receive the widespread accolade and to be someone who does not have to go to others for work, the list of such supporting actors, unfortunately, isn’t long.

Mehmood Aslam of the “Mehmud Sahab” fame

Apart from Shafqat Cheema, Nayyar Ejaz, and Sohail Ahmed, this list includes another shining name – Mehmood Aslam. The man behind the much popular “Mehmud Sahab” of Bulbulay has been around the local entertainment industry for four decades, doing supporting roles. But it is in the last five or six years that he has become a household name in the real sense of the word. Apart from Bulbulay, he’s been seen in every second hit drama on TV and will be seen in both the cinematic offerings this Eid ul Fitr, playing pivotal supporting roles (surprisingly outnumbering JS this time).

With the release of these films, Mehmood Aslam will be seen pretty much on every screen in Pakistan, leading us to dub him the next Javed Sheikh of the Pakistani entertainment industry.

Born in a Punjabi family of Lahore and now based in Karachi, Mehmood Aslam has been around the arenas of TV, theatre and film way before most of you reading this article weren’t even born.

Mehmood Aslam was cast in a few forgettable films in the 90s too. However, it’s his stint in last year’s Teefa in Trouble as Butt Sahab that young Pakistani cine goers know him for. He has appeared in TV shows such as Andhera Ujala, Janjaal Pura, Bulbulay, Landa Bazar, Ladies Park, Sadqay Tumhare, Khaani, Mann Mayal and many many more.

This Eid Mehmood Aslam is playing two different characters in two films that are poles apart. In Yasir Nawaz’s Wrong number 2, he plays the Pashtun sidekick of Javed who appears to have a romantic side to him while in Wajahat Rauf’s Chhalawa, he’s portraying a patriarchal Punjabi feudal who wishes to marry off his daughter according to his own will and wish.

While a lot of supporting actors have the problem of getting typecast in particular, set roles (Shafaqat Cheema as the ruthless, bad guy, Nayyar Ejaz as the scheming, shrewd, and evil guy, Shehryar Zaidi as a loving father who always talks sense etc.), Mehmood Aslam and Javed Sheikh are amongst the lucky ones who receive roles as diverse as the human visual color spectrum. From Bulbulay to Khaani and from Teefa to WN2, Aslam can play any role he is offered.

It’s this diversity in his characters that acts as his strength and may very well persuade other filmmakers to cast him in their films in the future. He has a peculiar presence, great comic timing and can change roles like a chameleon changes its colors.

Pakistani cinema and fans should rejoice to have such an actor amongst them and we definitely want to see more of him on big screens. This would not only ensure the utilization of an actor of such caliber to the fullest but would also alleviate the (rather unjustified) complaints of a section of viewers who say “har film main Javed Sheikh kiun hota hai?”

Here’s how ‘Heer Maan Ja’ faked its way to social media trending!

By
Momin Ali Munshi
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The teaser for Heer Maan Ja dropped yesterday and quite honestly, it seemed like a fun breezy Eid film, which though came across a bit been there done that, but looked like it would prove to be an entertainer.

The review for the teaser was assigned to one of our senior writers Hassan, and writers at Galaxy have complete liberty to write whatever they want as there are no invisible instructions, to mold the opinions. However, in the end, the editor makes sure that the article is more or less aligned with our voice and extreme opinions are controlled, unless necessary: case in point Project Ghazi.

Nonetheless, the review was up with a title that some people (me included) thought to be a bit negative, but in all honesty, it was a title highlighting one major plus and one major miss from the trailer, with the review in totality being more positive. The review was shared on social media and I was personally following the comments just to get feedback on what the audiences feel.

The fake social media trending

It started with one glowing comment, then another, and in a matter of five-ten minutes the thread was already an all hail Heer Maan Ja party with a little mix of let’s hate on Galaxy Lollywood. I was like wow, people sure liked the teaser! However, a few more minutes and the love just seemed a bit plastic now, so I put on my Sherlock hat and did some snooping and what I found out was that more than 75% of the comments were fake comments by bots: The findings are summarised in this Instagram post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw7KOM8jhNm/

However, the story did not end here. Our Instagram post exposing these fake comments was met with an enthusiastic response with a lot appreciating our efforts and more industry insiders private messaging to get the dirt and sharing more. ‘Did you check their twitter, that is all fake too,’ said one message.

I knew the film was trending on twitter and why not, for a whole lot of celebrities were talking about the film and fans were also tweeting coupled with an enthusiastic PR further bolstering the hype. Yes, there would have been some digital agency behind it responsible for this trending which is how these trendings generally work but some snooping on Twitter and boom I found something else:

There were a plethora of dummy accounts made only for the purpose of creating noise for Heer Maan Ja. Attaching three such profiles for you to see, click on the profiles to see all the tweets they have made.

https://twitter.com/SaniyaFatima0/status/1123563934697521152

https://twitter.com/RazaWaqas04/status/1123603196780449792

https://twitter.com/Rahima341/status/1123623909134348288

Comments from the industry individuals

To make more sense of this Twitter trending, and how digital marketing works, and how important are these trends, I contacted a few industry individuals to get their take.

“Social media marketing plays an important role in film marketing and promotion and is becoming a measure of success for the film industry to some extent. A social media trend and virality, if achieved organically, is great for a movie as it spreads the message to a large cross-section of the cinema-going audience and helps in identifying it as a notable product,” said Zubair Mallick, Director at Lotus PR ,which has been the PR force behind films like 7 Din Mohabbat In, Laal Kabootar and Shareem Obaid Chinoy’s films to name a few projects.

“However, it may not always necessarily convert into the financial success for the film. See a couple of years ago, a million views on YouTube for a song or a trailer meant something – but now you can achieve it by spending a couple of hundred dollars. There are dedicated agencies and media networks, who offer such services as well – to trend a particular topic or piece of content for a fee. For branded products or content, it’s normal and part of the strategy [happens everywhere across the world] but for a film, it may not necessarily work.

Nothing beats pure-organic-word-of-mouth and if your product is strong, your content created to market it strong, you can certainly make noise around it and do something unique on social media. Nowadays, your cinema-going audience is largely online – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube and for people who are not active on any of these platforms, they are most probably active on WhatsApp. Essentially, everyone is connected in some way or the other and social media allows us to reach everyone!” further elaborated Zubair

I then contacted HUM TV’s PR, the reason being they have almost always focused on twitter trendings be it their films, drama serials or events.

“We have our WhatsApp groups for PR filled with influential Twitter people, the Twitterati as they are called, we send them the content and they post it. This mass posting, alongside the love and support, showed by the fans and supporters is how we achieve trending. We have real accounts with real people running them, so you won’t see any bots,” informed Minhas of HUM PR.

The team itself

Contacted the team behind the film to get their take on the story. Now first things first, team IRK is among the most professional folks in the industry who have been making films for quite some years now and have a great working relationship with all, us included. Always been a fan of how they rigorously promote their films on the ground, and are generally feel-good type of people who I personally like.

“There are no bots, quite honestly we don’t have the budget,” Imran Raza Kazmi the producer says with a laugh. “We were pushing the teaser as was our PR team, but that is about it, the fans of Ali and Hareem have also been tweeting but there is no paid machinery involved as such”.

Also contacted the good folks at Walnut, who are doing the PR for the film, to get their take on this and Kamil Bhatti informed us that Walnut as PR for the film is responsible for content dissemination and are not exactly looking after the digital side. He, however, did promise to get to the bottom of this and get back to us.

Well while Imran denies the involvement of fake bots, and trust me I really want to believe him, but the facts are out there for all to see. It is good that film marketing and promotions are being taken seriously and film PR is now a thing in Pakistan, but fake comments and paid trendings aren’t helping anyone out. What do you guys think about this? Let us know in the comments.

Mahira Khan secretly got engaged to boyfriend in Turkey? Umm, not really!

By
Momina Mindeel
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Since last night, media (Indian media in particular) has gone haywire. Reports have been coming of Mahira Khan getting engaged in a secret ceremony, in Turkey, with her long-term friend Salim Karim.

The news caught fire after a picture of Mahira wearing a beautiful white gown, surfaced on the internet. Mahira had gone to Turkey for a friend’s wedding before the picture appeared online. It is being said that this photo is from a party that the two of them danced at, together. As for the engagement ceremony, it is being reported that the event took place in Turkey and that their close friends and family were in attendance.

According to the Indian publication Pinkvilla, “the picture is reportedly from a party wherein the two were recently spotted dancing together. The couple also indulged in some passionate PDA. However, there is no official confirmation till now from the couple about their engagement.”

Is there any truth to the rumors?

However, the more important question here is; is there any truth whatsoever to the rumors of Mahira getting engaged? Sources close to Galaxy Lollywood have revealed that there is no truth to the rumors of this alleged engagement taking place.

While we would have loved for it to be true, it is not and it’s about time that we clear the air about whatever the media has been reporting since last night. Mahira Khan has to yet to comment on the whole situation. Until then, let’s not give in to the rumors making rounds of our social media platforms.

“Meesha is already a Canadian resident,” Shafi’s legal team slams Ali with a 2 billion defamation notice

By
Momina Mindeel
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The Meesha Shafi – Ali Zafar controversy has reached new heights, with both of them making media appearances for the first time, after almost a year of the beginning of the whole thing.

Some background on the controversy

In the past two weeks, a number of things have happened. Firstly, a colossal number of women and brands chose to withdraw their LSA nominations by stating Ali Zafar’s nomination as a reason behind their withdrawal. This was followed by Ali Zafar speaking to media, in front of a courtroom in Lahore and then making three consecutive appearances in three different television shows. He challenged Meesha Shafi to come in front of the media and a court and tell her side of the story.

In the aftermath of Ali’s interviews and crying episodes, Meesha’s legal team responded with a statement while later that day, Meesha appeared on a programme at Geo News titled Aaj Shahzaib Khanzada key Sath,  a day after Ali Zafar appeared on the same channel.

Upon being asked if she would like to resolve the issue, out of court as per Ali’s offer, Meesha said that she doesn’t even understand what he is offering. When she does, she may consider it. Meesha also said that instead of putting all the pressure on her to provide and produce evidence, our legal system should do a better job and that she is not the only one who has spoken up against Ali Zafar, there have been several other victims too.

Meesha sues Ali Zafar for 2 billion

In a new twist, Meesha Shafi’s legal team has sent Ali Zafar a legal notice on April 30. Her lawyer, Nighat Dad, shared a copy of the notice on her social media accounts.

According to the notice, Meesha will now be suing Ali for 2 billion while she has also demanded a public apology.

The notice was sent under Section 8 of the Defamation Ordinance, 2002.

As per the notice, Ali Zafar is addressed as follows: “In a statement aired on Hum News on April 27 (a link of which you have posted on your Twitter account) you falsely claimed and published that our client is lying and has made false sexual harassment allegations against you just to get fame and recognition so as to get Canadian immigration.”

The notice then calls Ali out on bringing Malala, amidst the chaos. “In addition to the same, you have also claimed that our client wants to become Malala [Yousafzai], thereby implying that Malala also fabricated a false story like Meesha just to gain international recognition and immigration of a foreign country,” reads the notice.

“Malala – the world’s youngest Nobel laureate is Pakistan’s pride and a source of inspiration to millions of young children, woman and men across the world. Your insinuation that her story was fabricated is an insult to a national hero. You have also knowingly and falsely claimed/published that our client’s case against you has been dismissed by the ombudsperson against sexual harassment and that you have been exonerated from all charges of sexual harassment,” it further says.

Amidst all the bedlam, someone asked why the notice didn’t mention Ali’s interview with Mubashir Lucman to which Nighat Dad had the following to say:

A final word

The notice goes on to explain that Zafar’s claims that Meesha has been doing all of this for Canadian immigration are “patently false” for she has been a Canadian resident since 2016. The notice has further asked Ali to record on TV a “proper apology” within 15 days of the notice and to pay the Rs. 2 billion otherwise legal proceedings will be initiated.

Let’s wait and see how the situation unfolds.

What do you have to say about the whole situation? Let us know in the comments.

#MeToo is being hijacked to make it an Ali Zafar-Jami issue: Jami responds to allegations

By
Maisooma Batool
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The Ali Zafar-Meesha Shafi controversy has given birth to another escalating controversy. We are talking about growing tensions in the Ali Zafar-Jami side of the issue. Twice now, Ali Zafar has gone on record on national television and dragged down Jami first by accusing him of being jealous of Ali Zafar’s popularity and then by accusing Jami of owing Ali Zafar unpaid dues. YIKES!

While Jami had retained a rather dignified stance in response to Ali Zafar’s accusations, we reached out to him to get more details on his side of the story.

For those who might have missed out on this issue, Ali Zafar had come on a show hosted by Mubashir Luqman where Ali Zafar accused Jami of non-payment of dues when Ali had shot a commercial directed by Jami. Ali said that when he had brought up the issue of the dues with Jami, he had been served with a court case instead. This incident happened in 2004. According to Ali, he fought the case in court for a decade and came out victorious.

Jami’s side of the story

Jami, however, has a completely different story to tell. Sharing more details about this case in question, Jami explained that the non-payment issue that Ali Zafar and Mubashir Luqman have brought up on national television was due to Ali’s own actions.

“They are mentioning me on record and bringing up the fact that I directed the “Chal Dil Merey” music video. Both say that I haven’t pay Ali Zafar for some job. He needs to clarify, which job? The Sony Walkman ad that we did, he was promised 10 lacks for it I think, the client would’ve paid him his dues like they did for the other actors. But right after doing the Sony Walkman mega launch event, he went ahead and did an LG phone ad. This destroyed the launch of Walkman in Pakistan. Sony Global was furious with us all, as I was the one who got him in the ad. We lost millions in payments. The agency got fired and Ali Zafar was sued, yes, sued by the agency. Now he says he won the case. He needs to prove it.”

Jami also reiterated his stance that he has no personal agenda or battle against Ali Zafar. He stands in full support of the #MeToo movement and that he is against how this issue is being hijacked to make it an Ali Zafar-Jami issue. As for Ali Zafar’s accusations that Jami is doing this because he is jealous of Teefa in Trouble’s success, Jami brought up the special teaser that he had shot for the film as a sign of goodwill for the film.

“I was helping Teefa till the news of the accusations came out. I was making teasers for it out of my own film. I was taking portions from Moor and making little clips about “Teefa kaun hai?” There is no question about the film’s success because the film wasn’t even released back then. I was just helping him and Ahsan Rahim, who is a friend, out. What does Ali mean that I am against anyone who is successful? I don’t speak anything against Laal Kabootar or Cake.”

Jami also shared his tweet from back in 2016 where he had praised and supported Ali Zafar’s song and performance in his Coke Studio hit Rockstar and captioned it, “This is how I treated his success.”  

Jami is in full support of the #MeToo movement

On the topic of Lux Style Awards, Jami maintained his stance that he is fully in support of the #MeToo movement and said that it is “disrespectful and hypocritical” of a platform to promote the movement one year and then completely disregard it in the next year.

“#MeToo is a global movement. We have just raised one point for the LSAs that whoever has been accused should be sidelined for the time being until the case is resolved. What is so shocking about that? This is how it’s been done globally.”

We hope this would put an end to this little controversy that has happened for no good reason whatsoever. As Jami said, it is unfair that the original topic is getting derailed and becoming all about an issue that is completely unrelated to the importance and seriousness of a global movement like #MeToo.

‘Heer Maan Ja’ teaser: Starry cameos shine bright in an otherwise cliched story

By
Hassan Hassan
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IRK Camp’s fourth production Heer Maan Ja just released its teaser trailer. The film features Hareem Farooq (who’s also co-producing it) alongside Ali Rehman Khan and Faizan Sheikh with a lot of cameos by well-known faces of the Pakistani entertainment industry.

The teaser hints at a fun, quirky and a colorful ride that follows Hareem Farooq and Ali Rehman Khan’s adventures as they cross each other’s paths after a hiatus. The runaway bride played by Hareem seems to be a headstrong yet happy go lucky type of girl who tangles Ali’s character to help her sail through all the unwanted suitors that come her way. Apart from that, the teaser video doesn’t give away much about the story, for obviously, it is just a teaser.

We do, however, get an idea of what the overall feel and treatment of the film will be.

A glimpse into Heer Maan Ja‘s teaser

The film possesses almost all the signature characteristics of an IRK production; a not so large scale film with a shadi bhangra number, a strong female lead (almost always played by Hareem), good visuals and peculiar humor.

While the cine-goers and TV viewers have already acquainted themselves with Hareem Farooq, Ali Rehman Khan, and their quintessential looks, it is Faizan’s character that has some freshness to it. Although like Parchi, he plays a tough guy again, this time, however, he seems to be the ultimate baddy with good looks. The talented actor might just impress the audience to a great length when the film comes out (call it my prediction or just my sixth sense).

Music, cliches, cameos and more

The music is another strong point that may help convince the audiences to wait for the film. There is a shadi number as well as a promotion song; as all three of the main leads are seen in one frame, sporting dark quirky ensembles. Additionally, Hareem and Ali definitely do look good together onscreen and their romantic scenes standout in the teaser.

Despite all its strengths, what seems off, is a seemingly clichéd story as is depicted in the teaser. A runaway bride with a knight in shining armor helping her, willingly or unwillingly, is something that’s brought to the table time and again.

Moving on, as for the cameos, perhaps it’s the lack of solid content or an intentional strategy that has led the makers to include all the cameos of the film, in its teaser, in order to get the attention of the viewers. We don’t know why it was done, guess we will have to wait for the film to come out. 

For the time being, however, the teaser has gotten a boost with the presence of stars like Aamina Sheikh, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Ali Kazmi, Ahmed Ali Akbar and the leading star of the 2000s – Zara Sheikh (of the Tere Pyar Mein fame). The cameos take away all the limelight from the otherwise clichéd storyline. The appearance of one star (cameo) after the other in a teaser may add confusion to the viewers’ perception of who the film’s main cast is. We hope the trailer (when it comes out) gives the “layman” viewers a better idea of who in actual, are the main leads in the film.

Heer Man Ja comes out this Eid Ul Adha and will be competing against Asim Raza’s Parey Hatt Love (and probably, The Legend of Maula Jatt). Mark your calendars if you have found the teaser interesting enough.

You can watch the entire teaser here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pEjiEHuoEM

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