TREASURE TROVE

Civic duty vs. professional integrity

An awards ceremony, organised by a private channel took place on July 28 in Toronto, made a few actors and other members of the media fraternity to fly out for rehearsals a few days before the elections. Naturally, they attracted a lot of flak for this, even from fellow fraternity members, such as Farhan Saeed and Imran Abbas, while their fans and followers showed disappointment at them for not taking part in big elections. But actors, like Yasir Hussain, Ahmed Ali Butt and Saheefa Jabbar Khattak were quick to defend their fellows.

In a long Instagram post, Hussain hit back at trolls by pointing out that him and his colleagues had already entered into a contract before the date for the election was even finalised and clarified that they were not "chilling in Canada" like many were insinuating on social media. He also added an extra message at the end for Abbas: "If new, young entertainers are performing in front of you, make space for them instead of igniting fire."

After the uproar, even the TV channel released a statement, clarifying that only selected stars were required to fly out for the rehearsals and the award’s date was decided six months ago when the election dates were not known and the resources committed to the event prevented them from rescheduling the event dates. Amongst this furore, celebrities like Mawra Hocane, Vasay Chaudhry and Bilal Khan won everyone’s heart for flying in to their hometowns just to vote.

#TWEETINGBIRDIE

@f_ar00q

@SrBachchan sir or @MadhuriDixit medam !! pakistan ki election muhim me sharik hai..

#UNFAZEDBHABI

Shaniera trolled for a spelling mistake

By now Shaniera Akram should know better than to pay heed to online trolls, not that getting attention ever stopped them. So, our very own bhabi sent out a tweet during the election times to encourage her followers to vote for a better future. As pure as her intentions were, minor spelling mistake in her tweet distracted everyone from the actual message. But Shaniera is strong and by now has had a lot of practice. She remained unfazed, ignoring nasty remarks against her and husband Wasim Akram, and gave a befitting answer to the grammar Nazis.

#POLITICALENDEAVOURS

Abbas Jafri wins a seat in Sindh Assembly

The model has won two Lux Style Awards in the past and now he is proud to add the little 'MPA' to his list of accomplishments. According to the ECP website, model Syed Muhammad Abbas Jafri, who contested on a PTI ticket, has won PS-125 with 30, 687 votes. But he may well have earned it. In a previous interview Jafri had said: "I was given a ticket because of my background in social work. So irrespective of whether I win or not, I will continue doing social work... I was born and raised in Karachi. I live in this metropolis. I get to experience the sufferings of the middle and lower class on a daily basis. I can see the high rate of street crime. Hence, I have decided that I will focus on eliminating that as a priority. Peace of mind is a basic right of every citizen of Karachi. Do we have it? NO!”

#VISUALPRIDE

Laraib Atta – Taking Hollywood by storm

If you thought that being the daughter of legendary singer Attaullah Essa Khelvi would be her only claim to fame, think again, for Laraib Atta is making everyone back home proud by her achievements in Hollywood. The visual artist’s latest work on Mission Impossibe’s latest outing is being praised all over the world. But this isn’t her first big project. She has been a part of high-budget Hollywood films before, like X-Men: Days of the Future Past and The Chronicles Of Narnia. She worked on her first film when she was just 19!

In a recent interview to BBC Asia, Laraib shared what inspired her to be a VFX artist, "The first time I watched Toy Story it really inspired me, I was like, ‘How is this done?'" She also stated that she wishes to see more women enter the same field as hers. "When I started I was the only girl in the course, the youngest and of course, the only Pakistani. There are some women I have started to see now coming in this industry but it is still 70-80 per cent men. The goal is to get more women, young people into this line and definitely more Pakistanis."

#MUSICREVIEW

Rafaay Israr’s melodic Beliya resounds in your head

While fans were still appreciatively humming to the tune of his debut song, Sajni, Rafaay Israr gave his second musical video hit with Beliya. Like the predecessor Sajni, Beliya too, is a love song; featuring an enamoured lover crooning for his ladylove, who too is swooning to the music, waving her ringlets. The melodious tone of the song, its low paced lyrics, catchy chorus and the usual host of wooing words are the strengths of the musical number. Bonus points go for the video, too, which has been beautifully shot reminding one of the old charm of Fakhir’s musical video settings. The lyrical composition, however, is where the musician needs to focus profoundly; a more driving and creative set of lyrics would have rendered the song a much-needed oomph. Beliya is a song that banks largely on the melodic croon of Rafaay’s voice and deserves praise, for it’s the singer’s first stream of debuts. We hope with time Rafaay would hone his talent for singing and come up with greater musical hits. He’s the crooning lad we have our eyes on.

#TROLLEDFORAREASON

Veteran actress causes uproar for hunting stories in interview

TV veteran Jahan Ara Hai has drawn serious criticism for her casual mention of tiger hunting in a recent interview that aired on Hamare Mehman. Viewers of the show are also upset that her interviewer glorified hunting. Tigers are an endangered species, according to WWF, with less than 4,000 tigers remaining in the world. During the interview, the Lala Begum actress shared that she would often join her husband when he hunted and it never scared her "because she had a gun".

She also showed off the head of a tiger that her husband had hunted and several photos of his exploits. She further narrated of a time when she joined him during a leopard hunt. She said that she drove the jeep while her husband tracked the animal and fired several shots. They sped home when they realised that the possibly injured animal could retaliate with an attack. Jahan Ara mentioned that they returned with assistance the following morning to find the animal and it was discovered by the locals "while it was still warm". She invited more backlashes when she shared that "they picked it up, took photos, and gave its meat to the locals for their children." After local comic artist Arsalan brought the issue to light, many other viewers voiced their disappointment.