Award-winning Pakistani filmmaker, Shehzad Hameed Ahmad was recently honoured by United Women Singapore for championing the cause of gender equality through his films. In an online ceremony, Singapore-based Ahmad was awarded the Gender Equality Impact Changemaker (Male Individual) award. Over the last 10 years, Shehzad has done considerable work highlighting women causes and creating awareness for gender equality.
The Pakistan Tehreek –e-Insaaf (PTI) led federal government has decided to launch the country’s first over-the-top (OTT) TV, the local version of Netflix. Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain revealed in a Tweet that the technology part is complete and have asked Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to prepare a guideline on content.
The first look of an upcoming Lollywood movie ’50 crore’ came out a day ago, and people on social media were quick to point out its striking resemblance to Spanish crime drama series, La Casa de Papel, which is commonly known as Money Heist. The film features Faysal Qureshi, Saboor Aly, Zhalay Sarhadi, Aijaz Aslam and many other A-listers in lead roles.
Pakistan’s biggest TikTok sensation, Jannat Mirza, announced earlier that she is leaving the country for good. The news left Mirza’s massive following of over 10 million devastated, making them wonder about the reason she is moving abroad. While interacting with a fan over the matter, Mirza revealed she is heartbroken over the ‘sick mentality’ of people living in Pakistan.
Pakistani TikTok community is angered and devastated after Chinese application TikTok was banned in Pakistan. To many, the platform was their identity and their livelihood. As the reality of the ban set in, many of the biggest stars vented their anger at the move, terming it as yet another blow to creative freedom in Pakistan.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has blocked video-sharing app TikTok, citing “immoral and indecent” content. According to a press release, in view of “complaints” and the “nature of content being consistently posted on TikTok”, PTA issued a “final notice” to the app. TikTok was given “considerable time” to respond and comply with instructions to effectively moderate “unlawful online content”, said PTA.
Guinness World Record holder, Ahsan Qayyum from Pakistan is one of a kind miniature artist who uses the lead of a pencil to carve out various miniatures. The young artist from Gujranwala made the longest chain by a pencil lead consisting of 75 links, breaking record of 58 links previously held by an Indian.
In an Instagram post, Rihanna has apologised to the Muslim community after using a controversial song at her latest Savage X Fenty fashion show. She received a backlash online for using the song Doom by artist Coucou Chloe, which includes a remixed Hadith. Rihanna says the use of the song was “irresponsible” and an “honest, yet careless mistake.”
Netflix is now facing criminal charges for “Cuties,” a show which faced immense backlash for sexualizing children while attempting to highlight issue of racism. A Texas county grand jury indicted the streaming giant for promoting the “lewd” visual material “against the peace and dignity of the state.” The document also states that the film held no serious “literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Rihanna has come under fierce criticism after lingerie models at her latest fashion show danced to a song which appeared to remix an Islamic hadith. In the show, Savage X Fenty Volume, models can be seen dancing to a song called “Doom” which remixes audio that includes a Hadith which is about the signs of the Judgment Day and the end of times.