2019 is already looking up to be a very exciting year for Pakistani cinema. With mega-projects like The Legend of Maula Jatt and the niche entertainer like Laal Kabootar, cine-goers this year are surely going to have a variety of entertainment to choose from.

And it’s not just the movies which have us looking forward to the cinematic year. There are some promising faces making their silver screen debuts this year as well that have us excited. Here is a list of names we are looking forward to seeing onscreen the most.

Farhan Saeed – Tich Button

Having TV projects like Udaari and Suno Chanda to his credit, the Pi Jaun singer has already charmed the audience with his acting. Now, Farhan is taking all that charm to the big screen with his debut film Tich Button, which promises to be a flavorful Punjabi romcom.

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And since Farhan’s wife, Urwa Hocane is producing the film, it’s not wrong to assume that the star won’t have any dearth of opportunities to shine in the project.

Zara Noor Abbas – Parey Hut Love and Wajahat Rauf’s 3rd

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Zara became the darling of the audience last year with her superhit drama Khamoshi. She has now got not one but two big movies coming in 2019. Playing a supporting role in Parey Hut Love and the parallel lead in Wajahat Rauf’s untitled third, Zara is probably going to enjoy both her Eids by gracing the big screen.

Asad Siddiqui – Wajahat Rauf’s 3rd

In the years that he has been in the industry, Asad has certainly done an impressive number of successful projects on TV. He was even part of the first Pakistani web-series Enaaya.

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2019 seems to be the perfect time for him to make his movie debut. Debuting alongside his wife Zara, Asad Siddiqui has bagged the role of the parallel lead in Wajahat Rauf’s untitled film. It is pertinent to mention here that Asad also appeared in Wajahat’s last film, Lahore Sey Aagey but, in a cameo role.

Shahzad Roy – Alif Aur Noon

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From his music videos satirizing the political environment of the country to the hilarious Ufone TVCs, Shahzad Roy has entertained the audience for years. But it is finally in 2019 that he will be officially making an acting debut with the remake of the classic PTV drama, Alif Aur Noon.

HSY – Ishrat

HSY has ruled the Pakistani fashion scene for over two decades now. And now, after designing wardrobes for multiple films and even appearing in a cameo role in Dekh Magar Pyaar Se, HSY is finally making his full-fledged film debut in what is Mohib Mirza’s debut film as a director, Ishrat.

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The first look and the details coming in about the film have already got us excited and HSY’s role in it will be another big reason to watch the film.

Eman Suleman – Zindagi Tamasha

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This gorgeous model made the transition from the ramp to the small screen by her role in Sarmad Khoosat directorial ‘Akhri Station.’ Eman, in this project, played a completely deglamorized character of a housewife forced into prostitution. She not only enamored the audience with her performance but also impressed the director Sarmad, who is now directing her for his upcoming Punjabi movie, Zindagi Tamasha.

Zahid Ahmed – Sorry

Zahid’s deep voice and his penchant of playing grey roles have allowed him to carve a niche for himself. This witty actor, who seems to be always busy shooting for one drama or another, has certainly taken his time in debuting on the big screen.

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But with Sohail Javed’s directorial venture Sorry, Zahid seems to have found the perfect project to finally appear on the big screen in.

Yasra Rizvi – Senti Aur Mental

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Yasra has done some amazing work both on TV and films before. Her past work on films (Manto and Jawani Phir Nahi Ani), however, was all special appearances. Seems like the immensely talented actress has had it enough of cameo roles and small screen, as she will be seen starring in a full-fledged role in her own directorial, Senti Aur Mental. Yasra has also written the script of the film.

Faryal Mehmood – Sorry and Senti Aur Mental

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Known more for her dance videos and amazing weight-loss journey, Faryal in past has done a couple of TV projects too. She recently starred in Wajahat Rauf’s web series, Eanaaya, and is now all set to debut on silver screen as she has two films lined up this year namely, Sorry and Senti Aur Mental. Faryal is replacing Sonya Hussyn after her mysterious exit from the film.

Eshal Fayaz – Kaaf Kangana

This big-eyed beauty has done a couple of projects on TV. But more than her previous works, Eshal has gained the attention by bagging that role in Khalil ur Rehman Qamar’s Kaaf Kangana which has been in the news more than the film itself.

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With the kind of demanding director that KUR is known to be, Eshal’s movie debut is definitely going to be something to look forward to.

Azaan Sami Khan – Patakh De

This youngster was in news last year not just for the terrific job he did as the music composer of Parwaz Hai Junoon, but also for the dramatic physical transformation he had undergone.

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Azaan had claimed that one of the major reasons he had trained to have a fit physique was because of his dreams of being an actor. Well, that dream is on the way of being fulfilled in 2019 with the movie Patakh De.

Hamza Firdous – Untitled Crime Thriller

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From the period drama on TV (Ghughi) to short film (Barzakh) and even directing an upcoming web series, Hamza’s body of work has been quite diverse. The talented heir of the Industry veteran Firdous Jamal, Hamza has now chosen an indie film to make his debut on the big screen. It is certainly an offbeat decision but not an unwelcoming one.

Adnan Butt- Zarrar

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Actors turning producers is a common phenomenon but in Adnan Butt’s case its the opposite as this time it’s the producer who is steeping into the actor’s shoes. The brawny producer will be playing the antagonist in the film and will be seen fighting hero Shaan Shahid in the film and having seen the BTS photos we are pretty excited to see what he does in his debut.

Yasir Nawaz- Wrong No.2

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Not only producers but directors are also making their silver screen debuts this year as Yasir Nawaz steps in front of the camera for his third directorial venture Wrong No.2. Although the director has acted in quite a few drama serials, and also had a cameo in his last film, this will be his first on-screen performance on the big screen in a substantial role.

Zara Abid – Chaudhry

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After owning the ramp, the model Zara Abid is now finally making a career move and debuting on the silver screen with upcoming film Chaudhry. Based on the life of the iconic policeman of Karachi, slain Chaudhry Aslam, not only we eagerly await her debut but the film too.

Well, that’s our list of exciting film debuts this year, who are you most excited about? And did we leave a name that should be there? Tell us in the comments.

The eagerly anticipated film, Project Ghazi, which was earlier slated to be released on 22nd March 2019 has now been postponed by a week and will release on 29th March 2019.

The original premiere

Directed by Nadir Shah and produced by Ali Raza, the superhero film was originally set to release on July 14, 2017, and even had a grand premiere in Karachi but was halted due to technical issues.

The postponement

Then at the beginning of 2019, it was announced that Project Ghazi had a new release and will be in theatres on 22nd March. But now it has been postponed by another week. Speaking to Galaxy Lollywood, producer Ali Raza said:

‘We made this decision in light of the prevalent situation of our country. Also, two more films SherDil and Laal Kabootar are releasing on the same date as we decided to release our film which is 22nd March. It makes no sense that we fight amongst each other at the box office, thus we decided to support our industry by postponing Project Ghazi. We wish both the upcoming films best of luck.’

Project Ghazi is a superhero flick starring Humayun Saeed, Sheheryar Munawar and Syra Shehrorz in leading roles. The trailer of the film came out last week and was met with a favorable response from the audiences and critics alike.

We at Galaxy Lollywood, wish the film best of luck for its release.

The recent tensions between India and Pakistan haven’t yet settled down despite Imran Khan’s announcement of releasing the captured IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman as a peace gesture. Moreover, many sane voices on both sides of the border are also urging people on Twitter to #SayNoToWar.

Conflicts between two professionals working in the same setting are inevitable. What’s important, however, is how you take them positively, learn from those negative experiences, and move on.

Once the golden era (the 60s & 70s) of the film industry had concluded, Lollywood shrunk into a small industry with the 90s seeing its ultimate demise. Understandably so, actors (and actresses, specifically) had to face stiff competition in order to reach the top slot in that tough era, and hence, the news of confrontations between the two actors was common hearsay in those days.

Some of these rifts took such an uglier than expected turn, that a few of them still manage to breathe in the tabloids and interviews of today. One such incident is “the battle of Reema and Meera.”

The controversy still haunts these two ladies, and ironically, it seems to be a guilty pleasure for one of its participants, Reema, who hardly leaves any platform to keep it alive till today.

Reema’s Physical Assault on Meera

Reema was an established actor by the mid to late 90s and was considered a rather “senior of the lot” when Meera joined the industry through director Aman Mirza’s film, Kaanta. The young lady after the film was quickly gaining the attention of both, the cinegoers and the small filmmaking fraternity of that time.

The nascent success of Meera naturally attracted a lot of rivalries, and the lady was aware of that too.

On one (ill-fated) day, Reema and Meera started arguing on a film set which immediately heated up. According to Reema (in her recent interview to Samina Peerzada and also at various TV shows and showbiz tabloids of that time), it was Meera who started the whole thing and resorted to abuses about her family and particularly, her sister.

As per Reema, it was in this moment that she lost her cool and slapped Meera twice, once on her face and then on her neck. By the time Meera would respond, the people present at the set had already intervened and distanced the two amazons from each other.

The Patch-up

The ladies ultimately had a patch up, but they never acted in the same film for a long time. And if and whenever they were cast in the same project, they would give a really hard time to the directors and producers.

Such was the echo of the incident and its aftermath that the famous comedian, Umer Shareef, had it reenacted in one of the episodes of his comedy series, Pardah Na Uthao (Don’t Lift the Veil). The episode starred Iffat Umer (as Meera), Farah Shah (as Reema), and Sangeeta Ji as herself.

The Number One Heroine

The ugly incident gave birth to the even more notorious term “Number One Heroine.”

The pop media, journalists, and even the TV Wallas would often use this term to mock the Lahore based (mostly Punjabi background) heroines by asking questions like “who’s the number one heroine of Lollywood.”

In an industry making less than 50 films a year; most of which were substandard affairs, the question actually had derogatory undertones and was borderline offensive. No one, however, could do anything about it as hardly any outsider took the industry seriously in those days.

Forgive, Forget, For God’s Sake

Decades have passed since the incident, and the 90s’ Lollywood is dead now. The new age cinema is taking its baby steps to stand on its own feet where up until now, there are no fiery debates and arguments on who is number one.

It, however, appears that the two ladies are still stuck in that incident. Reema, as we mentioned earlier, particularly never misses a chance to revisit those ugly memories and blame her co-star for whatever wrongs were done to her ages ago.

In a recent interview, she blamed one of her co-stars (no prizes for guessing who) for poisoning her back in the days. Most recently, the actress gave an interview to Sameena Peerzada, where she has once again recalled the slapping episode, and provided more reasons to the newer generation to mock the old industry’s petty rivalries.

What we want to say on the entire episode is that whatever has happened in the past should be buried there. Exhuming those issues today would only give a negative message to the younger lot and badly tarnish the images of these yesteryear stars in the long run.

The increasing tensions between India and Pakistan have made the government take necessary steps regarding the exchange of content between the two countries. And India had it coming anyway when their celebrities got involved in the political matter and started announcing one after the other that they won’t be releasing their films in Pakistan.