Here is a list of all the celebrities who will be receiving civil awards on Pakistan Day

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March 11, 2019

Seems like having two biggies locked for the 23rd March weekend wasn’t enough for our industry for Pakistani cinema has another reason to rejoice as some of its prominent names have been selected to be conferred with some of the country’s highest civil awards.

Earlier, artists such as Meera, Fawad Khan, Javed Sheikh, Ali Zafar and directors such as Shoaib Mansur, Syed Noor and many others have be awarded country’s various civil awards by the government.

Who all is getting the civil awards?

This year, the most notable names from the current crop of Pakistani cinema performers, on the award list, include Mehwish Hayat (Tamgha-i-Imtiaz), Reema Khan (Pride of Performance) & Babra Sharif (Sitara-i-Imtiaz) while singers Attaullah Esakhelvi (Sitara-i-Imtiaz) & Sajjad Ali (Sitara-i-Imtiaz) along with TV actors Shabbir Jan (Pride of Performance) and Iftikhar Thakur (Pride of Performance) have also made it to the coveted list for the prestigious civil awards.

Moreover, the acclaimed screenwriter – Nasir Adeeb (Pride of Performance) – of Maula Jutt fame is on the list too. He has written screen plays for over 412 films and is one of Pakistan’s most treasured veteran writers. He has also directed a few films in 90s like Aaj Ki Larki and Dekha Jayega to name a few.

Amidst all, Mehwish’s name should not come as a surprise as her presence is almost entwined to the revival of Pakistani cinema. She has starred and excelled in some of the biggest films that have paved way for our cinema’s revival.

With films like Punjab Nahi Jaungi, Load Wedding, Jawani Phir Nahi Ani and countless other critically acclaimed TV shows, Mehwish has proved her excellence as an actor multiple times.

As for Reema Khan, the woman has proved herself both as an actor and a director. Starting her career with the critical and commercial hit Bulandi, the lady went on to star in multiple blockbusters like Nikah, Munda Bigra Jaye, and Hathi Mere Sathi. Reema has also directed notable films like Koi Tujh Sa Kahan. She has represented Pakistan at various international forums thus, portraying Pakistan’s soft image.

The phenomenon that Babra Sharif is

As for Babra Sharif, the name needs no introduction to the Pakistani cinema aficionados, who grew up in late 70s and 80s.

With her bubbly persona and excellent performances in films like Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat, Mome Ki Gudiya, Mukhra and many others, Babra proved herself to be the ‘darling’ of millions of hearts. She also ruled our television screens when she took a sabbatical from films, with her hit comedy drama called Nadan Nadia, written and directed by Anwar Maqsood.

Singers Sajjad Ali & Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi have, beyond any doubt, ruled Pakistani music scenes of different mediums ranging from TV, pop, film to live concerts, all these years.

Tamgha-i-Imtiaz and Pride of Performance

Tamgha-i-Imtiaz or the Medal of Excellence, is the fourth-highest decoration given to any civilian in Pakistan, based on their achievements. It can also be given to military personnel and foreigners.

The President’s Award for Pride of Performance or the Tamgha-e Ḥusn-e Karkardagi in Urdu, which has no particular official standing in the Pakistani civil decorations’ hierarchy, is conferred by the Government of Pakistan on Pakistani civilians in recognition of their distinguished meritorious work in the fields of literature, arts, sports, medicine, and science.

This year, the federal government has selected 127 persons, including 18 foreigners, who will be conferred civil awards by President Dr. Arif Alvi, for excellence in various fields, at an investiture ceremony that is to be held on Pakistan Day, on March 23.

This year has been tremendous for our artists and we hope the list gets bigger in the years to come.

Bilal Abbas Khan spills beans about his upcoming web-series with Mehreen Jabbar

By

Kashaf Shahzad

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March 11, 2019

Web series are the new thing in town. With platforms like Iflix and Eros on the rise among Pakistani audience, it looks like we will be having more web series in the near future.

News has it that Mehreen Jabbar has geared up for a new venture for the digital space. She has joined hands with the novelist, Umera Ahmad, for a web series. Galaxy Lollywood recently found out that Bilal Abbas Khan has been cast as the lead and here is everything you need to know about the series, in Bilal’s own words:

Bilal’s take on the web series

Bilal could not spill many beans about his role, but he told us that he would be playing a normal young Karachi boy. He also added that the cast includes names like Madiha Imam, Mohammad Ahmed, Beo Zafar, Furqan Siddique, Mariam Saleem, and Kiran Haq.

He also disclosed that the shooting started in February and the series is currently under production. However, no release date is decided, as of yet.

Bilal Abbas Khan has lately proved to be a heartthrob for the nation, through and through. After his phenomenal acting in O Rangreza and Balaa, his latest project Cheekh has been equally praised by his fans all over the world. His negative role in the same sets him apart as an actor possessing an exceptional amount of talent, that he has also managed to show in his limited time, on screen.

Mehreen-Umera collaboration

On one hand, we have the ace filmmaker Mehreen Jabbar who is known for her unique choice in stories. Some of her exceptionally praised work includes drama serials Daam and Mata e Jaan Hai Tu, and films such as Raamchand Pakistani and Dobara Phir Se.

On the other hand, we have Umera Ahmad who has been in the limelight for some of her beautifully written novels (other than the many problematic ones) that have also been adapted as drama serials. Some of her best works include Meri Zaat Zara e Benishan and Zindagi Gulzar Hai.

With the uproar that Enaaya – another recent web series by Wajahat Rauf – has caused recently, we wonder will Bilal-Mehreen-Umera trio be able to create an extraordinary stir? Guess we’ll just have to wait and watch.

Yasir Hussain reveals why he wasn’t cast for Wajahat Rauf’s upcoming film ‘Chhalawa’

By

Saman Shafiq

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March 11, 2019

Renowned filmmaker Wajahat Rauf, in a surprise move, dropped the teaser of his upcoming film Chhalawa, a few days back. The film boasts a stellar star cast which includes the likes of Mehwish Hayat, Azfar Rehman, Zara Noor Abbas and Asad Siddiqui. However, one person who has been part of Rauf’s previous two films, both on and off the screen, was missing and his absence was greatly felt. Yup, we’re talking about actor and writer Yasir Hussain.

Galaxy Lollywood got in touch with Yasir to find out why he wasn’t a part of the film.

Yasir revealed that he has written the script of this film with Wajahat who is a “very dear friend.” He shared that he felt the character was very similar to his previous roles and he felt like he wanted to do something different.

Yasir went onto joke that his best friend Asad Siddiqui is part of the film and if he had cast himself, Asad wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity.

Wajahat had previously announced that he was making a third part of the Karachi Se Lahore series and a script for that had reportedly been finalised as well. However, that project was soon shelved.

On why the film didn’t happen, Hussain revealed that the film got stalled because of Ahmed Ali Akbar, who was shooting for his other film, Laal Kabootar, at the same time and the makers didn’t want to make the film with a new cast. Hence, the project got cancelled.

Yasir on his upcoming projects

Nonetheless, Yasir has plenty on his hands to keep him busy. Speaking to GL about his upcoming projects, he says, “I’m currently writing a script for a film. Apart from that, Anwar Maqsood’s popular drama Aangan Tehra is being made into a film and we’re working on a script for that.”

He adds, “I’m also occupied with my upcoming theater play, Naach Na Jaane, a prequel to Aangan Tehra. I’ll be playing the character of Akbar, which was previously played by the late Saleem Nasir. It will soon be showing in Karachi, after which we will take it to Lahore and Islamabad.”

Shedding some light on the plot of the play, Yasir said that the play is a prequel to Angan Tehra and will be set in the 1970s, when Zia-ul-Haq came to power and shut down all dance academies and other cultural activities in the country.

He continued, “My character, Akbar, was a classical dancer, who was part of a dancing academy. However, after Zia shut down everything, Akbar was forced to work as a cook in a CSP officer’s house.”

Everything said, we cannot wait to see Yasir on stage, as well as on our screens.

Ali Zafar has filed yet another case against Meesha Shafi, here are the details

By

Momina Mindeel

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March 11, 2019

At this juncture, we are all aware of what happened between Meesha Shafi and Ali Zafar last year, after the former accused the latter of sexual harassment. A number of women, other than Meesha, came out with their own stories about Ali but he denied all of them.

Some background

Ali Zafar filed a defamation case against Meesha but we didn’t hear any updates as such, afterwards. In August 2018, Meesha’s case was rejected by the Governor of Punjab and there haven’t really been updates following that, either. Last night, however, Ali’s lawyer – Ambreen Qureshi – took to Twitter to provide the world with an important update on the case.

Case Update#AliZafar #MeeshaShafi pic.twitter.com/b8nUPYrPh3

— Barrister Ambreen Qureshi (@ambreenqureshi) March 9, 2019

What does the update say?

According to Ambreen’s tweet, Ali Zafar’s legal team have filed a criminal case against Meesha Shafi. The case has been filed under Section 476, which is against forged documents, misrepresentation, misstatement and fraud.

According to Qureshi, Meesha had submitted forged documents to the court during proceedings for the defamation suit. She further mentioned that as citizens of this country, it is our duty to expose people like Meesha who use certain movements (that’d be the #MeToo movement) for their own personal and professional gains.

Miss Qureshi also accused Meesha of using ‘delaying tactics’ and wasting court’s time. She mentioned that it was pleaded in court that Meesha was out of country while her Aurat March photos could be seen all over social media.

Qureshi ended her statement with a rather threatening line that said that it is cases like these that make her and her team’s resolve stronger to set a legal precedent against such smear campaigns. Well, we don’t know about that Miss Qureshi because a number of women, other than Meesha, did come out with their stories but guess, we’ll just have to sit and watch how the whole situation unfolds.

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

Freakishly Exclusive: Here is the leaked plot of Bollywood’s movie on Abhinandan

By

Hassan Hassan

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March 9, 2019

Earlier, we had informed you that Bollywood has decided to make a film on the entire post-Pulwama and Abhinandan incident. Since the film would obviously be facing a ban in Pakistan, we had also decided and promised to leak the storyline and some of the screenplay so that you don’t feel like missing out on the masterpiece that Bollywood may be all set to churn out.

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‘Anaa,’ a light-hearted drama serial with twisted family dynamics

By

Amna Zubair

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March 9, 2019

Anaa means ego, and the word perfectly sums up the background theme of this Hum TV drama that is a Momina Duraid production and is directed by Shahzad Kashmiri. The cast includes Hania Amir, Shehzad Sheikh, Naimal Khawar, Usman Mukhtar, and Seemi Raheel to name a few.

Hania Amir, in the serial, has not only proven her acting skills once again but has also proven herself to be a singer by doing the OST of the serial.

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Women’s Day: Celebrating the iron ladies of our entertainment industry

By

Kahkshaan Ismail

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March 8, 2019

Celebrating the achievements of women around the globe, International Women’s Day occurs on the 8th of March every year. Like the world over, the Pakistani women are also making a name for themselves, playing their fair share of role in the country’s progress, and making the land proud with their work in all walks of life.

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Freaking News: Bollywood to make a movie on Abhinandan and here are all the exclusive details

By

Hassan Hassan

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March 8, 2019

(Not) Much to our surprise, Bollywood has joined the bandwagon of recent Indo-Pak tensions. This comes as the aftermath of its celebrities proving themselves the top contenders for Param Vir Chakra (India’s highest military award) because of their vitriolic Tweets. Now, it’s time for the directors to take the lead.

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Osman Khalid Butt and Sohai Ali Abro’s ‘Surkh Chandni’ to finally go on air

By

Maisooma Batool

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March 8, 2019

The news of Sohai Ali Abro coming back on TV had broken out last year. The drama, based on the life of an acid attack survivor, was titled Surkh Chandni and was set to be Sohai’s first project after her movie Motorcycle Girl.

But, there had been nothing substantial on the project (except for Osman replacing Sami Khan) after those initial reports and the drama was sort of stuck in limbo since November. Well, the update is that the airing date has finally been set and we have gotten the exclusive scoop on when’s that happening.

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Here’s how Humaima got replaced by Amna in ‘Baaji’ at the eleventh hour!

By

Momina Mindeel

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March 7, 2019

Saqib Malik’s new project (which would also be his first full-length feature film), Baaji, is all set to hit the cinema screens across the country, on June 28th. The first poster of the film was released yesterday.

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