Hareem Farooq has clearly been staying productive during quarantine, as the star recently revealed some exciting news about two new film projects underway from her end. The gorgeous award-winning actress and Pakistan’s youngest female producer revealed this news in a casual chit chat session on an Instagram live. According to Farooq, she is already working on these projects with her team and is planning to begin filming after quarantine comes to an end.
As Hareem shared with a live audience about her journey in the entertainment industry, she talked about how she has come a long way from a theater actress to now, as we call her, the leading face of the entertainment industry. We can see all the hard work that went into this journey from her body of work, and given the actress and producer is investing time and resources says a lot about her potential. We have seen her magic on-screen and in the producer’s chair with some of her previous blockbusters including Janaan, Parchi, and Heer Maan Ja.
In the live session, she also urged her fans to never give up on dreams. She quoted, “Ultimate failure is when you decide to give up.”
As the session ended with her motivating others to be kind and empathetic, Hareem Farooq’s live session brought us the great news of more exciting content from the young producer. We are still completely in the dark about any details on these new projects, and we are wondering what the star would be bringing to the big-screen next!
Using the age-old phrase of ‘beauty with brains’ to describe the talented Yashma Gill won’t be wrong because the young actress belongs to the handful lot of actors who are intelligent, down to earth, and extremely beautiful. Ever since she started acting, critics and audiences were forced to take notice of the young upcoming starlet who was acting her heart out on our television screens.
Gill’s latest project is the comedy-drama Pyar Ke Sadqay that also stars Bilal Abbas Khan, Yumna Zaidi, and Atiqa Odho, among others. She portrays Shanzay, a confident, outspoken, stubborn, and sometimes headstrong girl who knows what she wants in life and doesn’t believe in settling for anything less than that. Shanzay isn’t good or bad; she’s somewhere in between. You either like her, or you don’t, and the credit goes to Gill for portraying the character with such ease.
In the latest episode of the show that aired last night, Shanzay gets married to Esa, her fiancé, who is toxic and awful in every way imaginable. She gets married to him despite knowing the kind of man he is. Later, she ends up confiding in her father about how getting married to Esa was a wrong decision on her part.
After realizing her marriage is nothing more than a sham in which her husband doesn’t love her, and she isn’t happy, Shanzay turns towards Abdullah, who she insulted for pursuing her in the first place. This happened just when Abdullah had started to open up towards Mahjabeen, but he was convinced by Sarwar to see Shanzay, and she made full use of that chance.
It will be fun to see what happens in the upcoming episodes and what Yashma does with Shanzay’s character. Right now, all we can say is that Shanzay has managed to direct all the attention towards herself, and we love it.
Gill has several remarkable performances that solidified her image as an artist who takes her craft seriously and doesn’t compromise on the quality of her work. She appeared in Qurban, Ghar Titli ka Par, Ab Dekh Khuda Kya Karta Hai, Piya Naam Ka Diya, and the blockbuster show ‘Alif’. Gill garnered rave reviews for her performances in each of these shows and was praised for playing different characters that challenged her as an artist.
Dramas in Pakistan have a lot of variety when it comes to the
concept. They are rightly touted to be the mirrors of the society we live in.
While the industry is catching up on social issues that society faces, it has
also been conscious of people with physical disabilities. There have been
instances when makers have not only dealt with the subject of disability with
sensitivity and compassion but also have been very instrumental in changing the
perception of the people and society as a whole towards them. 7th Sky
Entertainment’s latest endeavor ‘Khoob Seerat’ is a prime example. Directed by
Ali Akbar ‘Khoob Seerat’ features Kiran Haq, Agha Ali, Nimra Khan & Kamran
Jilani in pivotal roles.
Let’s divulge the gist of the story; ‘Khoob Seerat’ narrates the
story of sweet and innocent girl Dilkash (Kiran Haq). She is self-sacrificing
and struggles with a walking defect that reduces the chances of her marriage.
No one admires her qualities or tries to look into her beautiful soul;
resultantly, she faces rejection. Dilkash and her parents suffer badly from the
hypocrisy of society. Her best friend Mahira (Nimra Khan), is in love with
Samar (Agha Ali), the man Dilkash loves. Dilkash finds happiness and joy with
them while suffering silently. Her father finally fixes her wedding with his
brother’s son, who is also his business partner. Things further take an ugly
turn when her wedding is called off as the groom refuses to marry her due to
her limp defect. She is heartbroken but recovers from it soon.
Samar’s mother doesn’t approve of his relationship with Mahira.
Both their families lock horns, tragedy strikes, and Mahira is forced to get
married to Wajahat (Kamran Jilani). Samar attempts to commit suicide; he fails
and gets a new life. Dilkash helps Samar in recovering from his loss; he soon
finds a job and gets on track. Life isn’t a bed of roses for Dilkash as her
sister-in-law starts creating problems for her and doesn’t let go of any
opportunity to bring her down. She tries to portray her relationship with Samar
in a bad light and succeeds. Samar realizes the fact of how she stood by him
like a rock through thick and thin. He sends her a marriage proposal, which is
turned down by her father. The reason behind the refusal is Dilkash herself
because she feels Samar only loves Mahira and won’t be able to forget her
throughout his life. She tells Samar that we are friends and will continue to
be. It would be interesting to see how Dilkash deals with the situation; will
she find someone worthy enough to get married?
‘Khoob Seerat’ never fails to involve and entertain the viewers،; it contains enough good material to hold one’s attention. The emotional component is well balanced with a twist and tension-filled moments, and of course, some razor-sharp and punch-packed dialogue in dramatic sequences [penned by Shakeel Arsalan]. It’s the emotional journey of the protagonist that acts as a hook and lingers in your memory. On the whole, ‘Khoob Seerat’ is a gripping watch, leaving the viewers rooting for more. With excellent writing, great directions, and great performances, we are eagerly waiting as to what will happen next?
The finale of the 5th National Finance Olympiad was a joint collaboration of the Institute Of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan & Unilever Pakistan. The Grand Finale was conducted on December 19th, 2019, in Karachi.
ICAP In Collaboration with Unilever Pakistan Organize
NFO2019
The Chief Guest of the evening was Mr. Abdullah Hussain Haroon who is also a former Foreign Minister of Pakistan. President ICAP, Mr. Khalilullah Shaikh, extended his thanks to the organizers and congratulated them for being consistent in organizing NFO each year. This is the fifth time NFO proved itself as a successful platform for the finance professionals across Pakistan.
Mr. Khalilullah said, “With each passing year, the team has raised the benchmark for this event. I would like to congratulate the finalists of the grand finale who went through tough rounds to reach Finale. The competition is not about winning or losing, it’s about celebrating the talent of the industry. I believe this event also celebrates the role accountants are playing in this country. As an institute, we are committed to producing highly qualified professionals who can serve for the betterment of the business sector and community. I thank all the participants and Unilever for collaborating with us for bringing up this auspicious event”.
This year’s National Finance Olympiad 2019 saw the registration of 51 teams from top-notch organizations across Pakistan. For their selection, a 2-hour MCQ-based examination was held in Karachi, Lahore, and Dubai on December 12th, 2019.
Out of these 51, only 18 teams qualified for the Assessment & Simulation Round which happened at Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL). From here only the top 6 teams were selected for the Grand Finale.
ICAP’s Professional
Accountants In Business (PAIB) Committee is the main team behind organizing
NFO. Their success can be measured from the fact that the event was attended by
the top management of renowned national and multinational organizations.
The Grand Finale of the NFO 2019 started off with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Then Mr. Khalilullah took to the stage and gave his opening remarks.
After that Mr. Aly Yusuf, CFO, Unilever Pakistan welcomed the audience and said “NFO 2019 has been
a great success. Since its inception, the participating teams have shown
exemplary performance and today we have here 6 final teams who stood out from
the rest. I wish all the teams the best for this finale and would also like to
congratulate ICAP for the success of NFO.”
The participating teams then introduced themselves. After which started the Debate Round. This round was judged by a panel of three judges; Mr. Naeem Akhtar Sheikh, Past President, ICAP, Mr. Arshad Saeed Hussain, Managing Director, Oxford University Press, and Mr. Hasan Azhar, Group CEO, HRSG.
The topics given for the debate included
– ‘Excessive use of technology has a positive
impact on our society’.
– ‘For 21st-century leadership positions, qualification criteria can be compromised against behavioral competencies’
– ‘Higher interest
rates policy is stabilizing Pakistan’s economy in the long run.’
Next up was the Buzzer Round, which analyzed the agility and
technical skills of the participants.
According to judges, EY Ford Rhodes
was declared the winner while Midas Safety and Heal Aid Foundation became the
1st and 2nd Runner Ups respectively.
EY Ford Rhodes walked away with a majestic Champions Trophy, Microsoft Surface Pro and shields for each of the three-team members.
HP Pavilion Laptop and shields were given to the 1st Runner Up team while the 2nd Runner Up received iPad and shields for all team members.
Technical partners
– A.F. Ferguson &
Co. and Deloitte Yousuf Adil
Learning
partner.
– Karachi School of Business and Leadership
(KSBL).
ICAP PAIB Organizing Committee and the Master of Ceremony; Mr. Zaid Kaliya were recognized.
The event was streamed Live on ICAP official Facebook Page:
7th Sky Entertainment has once again given us an
intriguing drama that has all of us hooked to our screens. Starring Neelum
Muneer as Rida, and Imran Ashraf as Zeeshan, ‘Kahin Deep Jalay’ shows stunning
love chemistry between the two most loved actors of small screen, and how their
lives will get disrupted because of Rida’s sister in law, Shameela played by
Nazish Jahangir.
Kahin Deep Jalay is a phenomenal story about love, jealousy,
and trust. It truly represents the idea that those who are not happy for you are
not happy for themselves. Shameela has loving people around her, and she gets married
in a very rich family, yet her complexities have blinded her to the extent that
she thinks ill of everyone else. For her, she comes first and everything should
always be about her.
So far, 10 episodes have aired and each episode has progressed
towards the story plot at a very good pace, keeping the viewers’ interest. Rida
is the only sister of her three brothers who love her dearly. For such a loving
sister, comes a sister in law who is so jealous of the love Rida is receiving
that she starts playing the blame game, trying to prove Rida as an ill
charactered girl.
Shameela is so blinded by her thoughts of jealousy that she
shamefully confronts Rida, telling her to stop acting innocent and stop
flirting with boys. Shameela thinks Rida gets everyone’s attention because she
uses her beauty to woo everyone, but she fails to see that everyone loves her
because of her sweet nature.
The drama has thickened the plot by introducing another
antagonist, Farhan in episode 10 who has been sending messages about Rida on
her brother’s phone. Something tells us that Farhan is going to play a pivotal
role in the episodes to come and he may become the right hand of Shameela in
her evil plans.
Where all of this is happening in the drama, we have Zeeshan
who has fallen in love with Rida, sends a marriage proposal to her house, but
gets rejected.
We love how the story give us moments of relief through Zeeshan’s
dream about Rida where the two can be seen in love with each other. With love
in their eyes, the small romantic clips between Rida and Zeeshan are portrayed
beautifully and give us the much-needed timeout from the negativity spread by
Shameela.
Kahin Deep Jalay is at a very exciting turn as Zeeshan’s
proposal for Rida is getting another chance, and we are hoping to see the love
chemistry between the two.
Peek Freans Introduces the Peek
Freans Emerging Artist Prize to Encourage Budding Artists at the Karachi
Biennale 2019
Peek Freans is dedicated to spreading joy among its consumers and they do so not only through their products but also through other alignments and initiatives. Their latest award launched in collaboration with Karachi Biennale Trust this year aims to recognize young artists who have shown exceptional talent and potential. This year’s winner, Arsalan Nasir, was presented with a unique medallion at the inaugural ceremony of Karachi Biennale 2019 for his work.
The Karachi Biennale is held every two years to provide a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work. This year, the event showcased multiple artists from all over Pakistan as well as several other countries. The theme for this year was the devastating ‘development footprint’ on ecology.
While speaking to the media, Arsalan talked about the dangers of rapid urbanization in our part of the world, particularly with regard to the environment. Through his art, he wanted to depict the first and foremost repercussions of rapid urbanization – the birds of our city. These birds are in danger every day due to the rapid increase in the prevalence of tall buildings, communication towers and wires around the city.
Speaking about the award, Dr. Zeelaf Munir, Managing Director & CEO EBM, said “Art is the best medium to help raise social awareness and EBM wants to use that to help drive focus towards the most pressing issue of our time. Keeping in line with EBM’s history of nourishing the environment and championing positive change, we are doing our part by encouraging youngsters to use their creativity to help raise awareness about the environment.”
Karachi Biennale, termed as the largest international contemporary art event by its organizers, kicked off on 26th October 2019.
One of the most anticipated dramas of this season has to be the Imran Ashraf and Neelam Muneer starrer Kahin Deep Jalay which began last week on a positive note and with its second episode having aired just now, we like how the family saga is unfolding in front of our eyes.
Written by Qaisera Hayat, her name along with producers
Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi of 7th Sky Entertainment is enough
to guarantee the audience that the story is well developed and will contain
meaningful twists and turns which will keep everyone hooked to it right till
the very end.
With the first episode having introduced us to Zeeshan
essayed by Imran who has faced a major setback in life, the second episode further
explained as to why he became penniless despite belonging to a rich background.
A beautiful tale of deceit and greed, Imran Ashraf impressed us with his stellar performance in every scene. Though the one where he shined the brightest was when he along with his mother played by Saba Hamid is brought to his uncle’s home and despite having zero money in his pocket maintains, he says he will not let this set him back in life but will work harder to regain the position he has lost.
Where we saw Zeeshan becoming a little stable, Rida
played by Neelam Muneer is lost in her world of family relations and friends where
she is leading a secure life but with some moments she shared with her friend’s
brother played by Ali Ansar, we realize that Rida is not someone easily
impressed by men.
Over-all it was an entertaining episode, we like how
along with showing the love which siblings share it also focuses on the fact as
to how everything can finish within a second.
With Nazish Jahangir playing a cunning role, we honestly
can’t wait to see the third episode of Kahin Deep Jalay which we hope will
allow us to see Imran and Neelam in one frame. As so far, the duo is yet to
meet and fall in love.
A good second episode, we look forward to watching the drama every Thursday night.
Wahaj Ali Stands out With His Exceptional Performance in “Ehd-e-Wafa”
Wahaj Ali has acclaimed a lot of fame in a short span of time because of his tremendous acting skills and his ability to ace different kinds of roles. Currently starring in one of the most anticipated dramas of this year, Ehd-e-Wafa, Wahaj has been outshining with his spot-on acting in the serial.
Directed by Saife Hassan, written by Mustafa Afridi, and produced by ISPR and Momina Duraid Productions, the serial has garnered a significant fan following. The strong bond of friendship of four friends in college (Saad, Shahzain, Shariq, and Shehryaar, played by Ahad Raza Mir, Osman Khalid Butt, Wahaj Ali, and Ahmed Ali Akbar respectively) and the fun friendship dynamics play a big role in the drama getting critical acclaim and praise.
The first three episodes that have aired till now focused mainly on introducing the characters and the fun-filled reckless adventures of these four friends, who call themselves the Special S Gang (SSG). They escape the hostel and get past the restrictions just to get some fun and food outside. All the friends bring a new element to the drama- but the character that stands out the most is Shariq, who has a lot of different dimensions to his character. Translated wonderfully on-screen by Wahaj Ali, he has managed to stand out among the ensemble cast. He shares amazing on-screen chemistry with the rest of the actors, making it a treat to watch for the audience.
In all three episodes, Wahaj Ali made his presence felt amongst more senior artists. His character Shariq has a lot of shades; he is a sensible and caring boy, but at the same time he also has a comic side to his personality and Wahaj has translated Shariq’s character on screen impeccably. His solid performance in last night’s episode left a great impression, especially the scenes in which he was worried about the consequences of Saad getting caught and later when his sister was beating him because of the complaint she had received about him. While watching Wahaj getting beaten by his sister and apologizing for what he did, his expressions were so on-point that we could actually feel our heartbreaking for him. The episode ended with him hugging his sister as both of them cried, and it surely touched our hearts, watching Wahaj Ali crying and trying to make his sister understand what had happened wasn’t his fault.
The drama has just begun and there is a lot left in this journey. Looking forward to what turn the story will take from here, and what Wahaj Ali has in store for us, because his performance has surely raised the bar high in this drama.
We always look for that store or shop who offers great variety and amazing discounts on most of their products. Chase Up is one of those stores which we always look for. They are working since 1984, from a family-owned business to 6 stores in Karachi, 1 store in Multan and 1 store in Faisalabad. The latest addition to this legacy is the store in the Gujranwala, which is launched on this 27 September.
Chase is selling a wide variety of clothing, footwear, Groceries, housewares, ladies fabrics, and health and beauty products to name a few. Chase Up plans to open more stores in Karachi and throughout the country in order to touch more and more customers every day with its ever-expanding range of quality foods at highly affordable prices, which is another great news.
During the major occasions (i-e Eid Celebrations, Birthdays, Ramazan and New Year) in the country, Chase Up offers amazing discounts to their customers.
One of the best point about Chase Up is, they also have a policy in which you can return to replace or refund. I don’t think most of the stores do this offer to their customers.
Chase up falls into the category of Hypermarket/Quality discounting in the retail sector. As already mentioned, chase up is opened its store in the Gujranwala, the city is situated in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. This is the biggest shopping center in the city.
In the inaugural ceremony, the CEO of the Chase up Mr. Salman Bashir, Jawad Bashir, Mustafa Bashir, Muhammad Rehan, Rao Jameel, Azhar Baig, and Syed Saim was present. On an opening day Chase up Gujranwala offered a discount of 15% to their customers, which bring whole Gujranwala to the chase up to avail this amazing discount.
That was the moment when gates were opened at the Gujranwala
RPO Gujranwala inaugurated the store, praised the Chase Up building and the store’s high-quality items. This store is located at the main GT Road, Gujranwala.
Hoga Saaf Pakistan’s Strong Presence at the Climate March Played a Key Role in its Success
The world is under great pressure considering the global climate change that is about to sabotage the habitat of 8 billion people. To bring the consequences into consideration of those who have been ignoring this for too long, people from across 26 cities in Pakistan joined the narrative and raised their voices against the ongoing climate crisis. A hundred banners were held up in a crowd with slogans which included “Mil kay lagayen gay jaan tou hoga saaf Pakistan” and “The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we.” The attendees shared their stories about the result of global warming and then marched on one of the sides of the busy Abdullah Haroon Road.
Karachi, being a coastal city, has become progressively aware
of the change in weather conditions. Since 2015, it has experienced the
deadliest heat wave resulting in about 1,200 deaths. With the climate crisis
reaching an all-time scary place, there is a need to play our part to preserve
our future. Dettol and Hoga Saaf Pakistan are on a mission to set our
priorities right with their initiative. Joining hands with the government’s
“Clean and Green Pakistan” movement, Hoga Saaf Pakistan’s objective was to give
the greatest priority to cleanliness; the most significant need for the country
at the moment.
With the mass turn up at the Climate March, quite a few
celebrities came out to show their support to this important cause. Holding up
banners to demand a cleaner and greener Pakistan and to save our future; the
stars became a part of the narrative for the betterment of our country.
Ali Rehman Khan
Sanam Saeed
Shaniera Akram
Rachel Viccaji
For a better future, people from all over Pakistan joined hands with Hoga Saaf Pakistan in making an effort to have a clean and green Pakistan. Hoga Saaf Pakistan has flourished with the role it has managed to play in the march for the betterment of the environment and hopefully, the outcomes of these civil protests will help in shaping a bright future for our youth.
