Pakistan's entertainment industry: Here's what went viral in 2017

Unlike every year, 2017 had some different crisp, sensation and turnarounds for Pakistan entertainment industry in particular and the celebrities in general. Thanks to social media being catalyst for change, some times a good one, some times the otherwise.

Controversies are in fact a regular feature in the world of entertainment. Some of them surrounding our showbiz gems like Mahira Khan, Noor, Humera Arshad and Fariha Pervez hogged in the spotlight this year and remained a popular fodder for the media industry.

We will here look back to the top entertainment stories of the year.

Fariha Pervez says good-bye to music industry

Singer Fariha Pervez in February decided to bid farewell to the music industry. She was upset after her recent divorce with singer Nouman Javaid.

Family sources mentioned that Pervez has started working as a property dealer and her plaza is under construction at Bahria Town in Lahore.

She stated she will never step foot in the showbiz industry ever again and has left for the United States to start a new chapter in her life.

TV actress Humera Arshad, Ahmed made headlines, for bad reasons!

Ahmed Butt stormed his ex-spouse’s house along with some armed persons and subjected the family members to torture reportedly in a bid to force them give his son to his custody. Later, police arrested Butt and jailed him.

Humera said Ahmed Butt thrashed her brothers and family members and she had to confine herself in a room with her family members. She told that she even agreed to relinquish her house in exchange of her son, but after she had signed the papers Ahmed refused to withdraw claim over her son whom she had already won in a court case.

Mahira smokes, controversy evokes!

Pictures of Pakistani actress Mahira Khan and Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor unleashed a flood of criticism, after going viral on the internet. However, some twitterati also came forward in the defence.

The celebrities were spotted chilling together outside a hotel in New York.

In the pictures, the 32-year-old actress can be seen smoking along with Bollywood actor Ranbir. The pictures spread on the social media like a wildfire, receiving mixed reactions.

Noor and the beginning of her spiritual journey

Film actress Noor Bukhari in March announced to part ways with her husband, singer Wali Hamid Khan.

Noor argued that she made several attempts to save her relationship, but to no avail. Sources said the actress decided to part ways with her spouse because of strenuous domestic life after Wali shifted to Karachi for work.

After the divorce, she said she got so upset that she wanted to kill herself. The actress thanked all those who criticised her as their act made her look for solace which led her to meet her spiritual guide and gave a new lease of life.

Noor said that one of her relatives took her to her spiritual guide who transformed her by speaking in the language of eternal love.

When asked if she fears about her daughter’s expenses now that she is not working, she said that she has no doubts as she believes that her God will take care of all her needs.

Ban on Verna

Mahira Khan’s film ‘Verna’ got into serious trouble as the censor board had earlier not issued a certificate for the film directed by Shoaib Mansoor.

It is known that the certificate was not issued due to certain objectionable scenes and dialogues, and that the censor board considered the theme as too bold for the audience in Pakistan.

The film was later released as per schedule on November 17 after the pressure mounted on the censor board in favor of Verna.

The reception of Pakistan films in local cinemas

The trend of revival of Pakistani films continued with remarkable blockbusters gifted by this year to Pakistani cinema-goers.

It is great to see Lollywood getting its act together as the best movies are now a combination of good acting skills, scripts and production quality.

However, there is still a long way to traverse to reach the quality and standards set at the international level. However, after a long intermission, now we can say that we have started producing movies worth the price of the ticket.

Amongst others, these two Pakistani movies stood out in 2017:

Punjab Nahi Jaungi dominates with roaring success

ARY Films, Salman Iqbal Films and Six Sigma Plus productions’ ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ broke records, attracting cine-goers the world over and stood the highest grossing Pakistani film of the year.

It has collected more than 50 crores since its released on Eid-ul-Adha.

The Humayun Saeed, Mehwish Hayat-starrer got raves from the critics as fans and audiences thronged cinema houses to watch the desi flick.

Almost all the top publications and blogs of the country rated the songs as technically sound and aesthetically perfect.

Na Maloom Afraad 2 steals the limelight

Na Maloom Afraad (NMA) 2 was better than its 2014 prequel and the second most wonderful movie of the year according to critics.

It was entirely a hilarious flick with cleverly infused jokes on everyday life and witty dialogues and storyline all logically connected. NMA 2 was a fusion of terrific performances, infatuating music and striking art direction.

The story revolves around three chokers who plan a big heist in a bid to obtain wealth through shortcut, but the things go comically wrong all the way.

That’s not all folks!

The tale of cinema has not yet ended, there have been big expectations from three movies that were reserved for the year-end: Rangreza and Arth — The Destination that have just been released on the same day on 21st and started receiving mixed reviews, while Chuppan Chupai is releasing on new year’s weekend.

Our cinemas had long been occupied by mujras, but since the trend is changing for better now the local industry’s producing the quality movies will not be beyond our dreams. Once we buckle down for it by setting milestones and then successfully scaling them down.

Though this would be a long row to hoe but you do not need to punch above your weight. Just raise your sights for something big rather than settling for peanuts.

Pakistani cinema industry is no more a dead man walking, rather it’s (probably) the Renaissance period for it.

Some feats to remember

There have been some remarkable achievements throughout the year for Pakistan.

Sharmeen Chinoy bags Emmy Award

Famed Pakistani filmmaker and Oscar winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy on October 5 grabbed headlines again, this time for winning outstanding short documentary award at 38th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards for ‘A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness.’

After winning the Academy Award twice, now Chinoy’s documentary – A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness – was nominated in three big categories; Best Documentary, Outstanding Short Documentary, and Outstanding Music and Sound at 38th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

The Emmy Award winning documentary tells the story of a young Pakistani woman, Saba, who dared to marry the man of her choice, in a society where such decisions are considered unacceptable. In a botched attempt, her family tries to kill her in the name of honor, but she survives.

Mahira in spotlight after Raees 

Mahira Khan’s first Bollywood movie opposite Shah Rukh Khan could not survive the fate of getting banned in Pakistan.

The local media reported that the film certification board objected that the movie portrayed ‘Muslims as criminals and terrorists’.

Though many Pakistani actors have worked in India, but it is the only film that cast Pakistani actress opposite to an actor of Shah Rukh Khan’s caliber till date. Raees stood the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 2017 with worldwide gross INR 308.88 crore.

 

Saba Qamar makes it big!

Saba Qamar, who has not been much successful in her homeland, was showered with praise for her ‘Hindi Medium’ film after it saw the light of day.

This movie crossed one hundred crore mark and earned INR 102.77 crore at the Box Office in total so far.