So our very own Meera Jee is back in the spotlight. A business man from Lahore, Atiqur Rahman, has claimed that Meera is his wife and she has stolen valuable goods from his house while he was out of the country. Apparently, Mr. Rahman has produced some credible evidences like pictures, marriage certificate, etc, which all according to Ms. Meera are fabricated.

She has sworn on her family that these are lies and she has never married Atiqur Rahman. Now, I don’t  know who to believe in, but based on what I have seen lately on media, Meera Jee has certainly a lot of explanation to do. The drama continues….

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Some time back, around 2 or three years, I remember reading few books on suggestion from a very close friend of mine. we were discussing diversity at that time. That dear friend not only gave me a reading list but was kind enough to share two books with me. One was Taboo by Dr. Fouzia Saeed and the other was Between Chaddor and the Market by Jasmin Mirza. Book Review here

My first reaction was shock. yes, shock is the word that almost defines what i felt for days after reading those books. During my 8 years in corporate sector, I had an opportunity to live and work with people from different parts of the world. I attended training and seminars on issue of workplace diversity and gender issues. Even then this was too big a cultural shock for me to absorb.

Can people living in the same city  be so different and isolated in their values? Can all of this still be happening in modern times? Questions, questions and more questions I was left with. The adventure boy inside me wanted me to check out the Mohalla first hand. And I did. not once but three times but in none of those trips, I was able to verify the detailed descriptions of the sub-culture as defined in the books.

First trip was during day time and second one was in Moharram, so the bazaar was not open and all i saw was just the shops and ordinary people. I was impressed with the architecture of inner city though.  In the last trip, I got a glimpse of reality. It was at perfect time. 1 A.M. and I saw the same visuals as described in the books and as you will see in the documentary below. Since, I went alone, I did not dare to enter any of the so called “Office”.  Only few friends know what happened that night.

This documentary came as a surprise. It verified the contents of the books above and contains real truth about the people who frequent these tawaifs. the interview of the police office in charge is really interesting. This documentary was originally made for TV One but they did not dare to air it. so some one published it on internet. It is a real eye opener. It shows a face of our society, no one even wants mention. Download and save this as PTA might ban these URLs too. as it contains some politically radioactive content. Here is the excerpt from the blog where I originally found the links to these Youtube.com videos.

These book can be bought from here or here, both books were published by Oxford University Press and thus they should be available at FerozSons on The MALL.

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Lahore and the rest of Pakistan gets to watch ‘Kismat Konnection’ in theatres from July 18. This Shahid Kapoor & Vidya Balan starrer is the second major Bollywood flick to release simultaniously in India and Pakistan following Priyanka Chopra & Harman Baweja’s largely unimpressive ‘Love Story 2050’. Both movies are a vivid sign of the boundaries between Bollywood & Lollywood thining as the former makes full intrusion into Pakistan’s film entertainment scene.

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And as if this was not all enough, for the more Westernized lot, Angelina Jolie’s ‘Wanted’ screens on July 25 while ‘Kung Fu Panda’ is already evoking rounds of laughter at the main screens.

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Add to that Javed Sheikh’s long awaited venture ‘Khulay Aasman Ke Neechay’ for which enough pre-release buzz was created so much so that the movie even has a fully dedicated blog.  The movie itself was a decent effort according to the audiences.

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Finally, jewel of the year will be Mehreen Jabbar’s much inspiring ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ as it hits cinemas on August 1, 2008.

So, what are you up to this summer!

Places to watch:

Love Story 2050: Plaza, DHA Cinema, Sozo Gold
Kismat Konnection: Gulistan, DHA Cinema, Sozo World
Khulay Aasman Ke Neechay: Empire, Sozo Gold
Kung Fu Panda: DHA Cinema
Wanted: DHA Cinema
Ramchand Pakistani: Still to be announced

Ok. Let’s get the facts done first. Zibahkhana (for those who don’t know) is a horror movie (a slasher / zombie movie to be exact), made in Pakistan. Its tagline claims it to be “Pakistan’s first gore movie”. Time magazines describes it as “A horror movie on the doorstep of the Taliban”, while The Telegraph UK suggests “Beware, zombies wearing saris”.

Hell’s Ground, as it is titled in English, premiered at LUMS last year. Most of its cast and crew does not belong to typical Lollywood crowd. In fact the only “known” faces you will see would be actor Rehan who makes a comeback to silver screen after more than 30 years, and whose last famous role was that of Dracula in Pakistan’s very first horror movie “Zinda Lash” (The living corpse) in 1967 – Zinda Lash incidentally was recently rediscovered from “rusty old cans” in a film studio. The other known face is model Adnan Malik in a small cameo, although if IMDB is to be believed, the producers at one point of time were considering Indian actor Saif Ali Khan for this role.

To be exact, no zombies are wearing saris in this movie. Burqas yes… chappals too, but it appears that the dress of choice for most of the zombies in the flick was plain simple shalwar qameez. As a matter of fact, the movie features so many things “desi”, in a typical gore backdrop nonetheless, that at times “horror” takes a backseat to the sheer joy of watching something you can easily relate to. Dusty and deserted roads leading to outskirts of Islamabad, an old Khokha out of nowhere offering “deewane ki mastani chai”, featuring an eerie old man who claims that his chai is “world famous” as the likes of Queen Elizabeth, Lady Diana, Henry Kissinger and recently Angelina Jolie alongwith her “boyfriend” stopped by for the same. The background music frequently shifting to classic Punjabi tracks of 1980’s Lollywood films, a van that seemed to pop straight out of a studio in Lahore that made Maula Jutt and its contemporaries, a bunch of teenagers from urban Pakistani middle class, speaking half English half Urdu sentences (well the curses were almost always in English though), the broken limbs, flesh eating zombie from a village in hell, a Barri Bua exhibiting typical warmth for her children and then turning into a crazy revenge seeking menace, a forceful hitchhiker from a “peer’s tomb” who suddenly gets awfully thirsty, a dark foggy jungle described as “the road to the hell” – This movie has it all, and does pretty well with all of it.

So what exactly is Zibahkhana all about. If you put your logical, rational thinking hat on (which you should not be wearing all the time) Zibahkhana appears to be a low budget horror movie with some shockingly gore scenes. The movie is indeed low budget. The acting is somewhere between average and below average (with the exception of Rubya Chaudhry who acted brilliantly at times). Camera work is so so, story is very predictable and editing could have been crispier. But (and this is where you must take off that ugly looking logical hat for a while) all the above elements add to the “classiness” of the film, believe it or not. Zibahkhana, is nothing like your average blockbuster big budget entertainers. It’s a typical independent movie to the core. It’s different, very different, from what you would expect from our Desi cinema. And it certainly defies the logic that you need to have everything exactly where it belongs to make a good movie. Nothing in Zibahkhana seems where it belongs. The lighting, the acting, the props, the works, and yet it works out so neatly that you end up watching a fairly enjoyable thriller at the end of the day. (Note: not for a weak of heart)

For more info on Zibahkhana:

IMDB
Time
Telegraph

Mainstream Bollywood finds its way to Pakistani cinemas after more than three decades, with the release of a new movie called ‘Goal’ today.

Four of the best cinema theatres in Lahore, SozoWorld, Plaza, Metropol and DHA Cinema are scoring the ‘Goal’!

Where he plays an executive from the classy elite in Mobilink Indigo commercials; a moderate muslim musician who stands up against extremist views in Khuda Kay Liye, he is also there to portray the usual image of a notorious Gujjar Badmash in movies like these…

Peo Badmashan Daa
(The Father of all Gangsters)

One wonders, how come an actor like Shaan transitions between portrayals of two extremes; from a sensible actor to a howling Gujjar!

Image Source: Irfan Zafar at Buzzvines
Post Suggestion: Asma

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TV channels report scenes of crowded galleries, long queues and scuffles at ticket windows.

‘Khuda Kay Liye’ is already making headlines!

Lahore has the maximum number of screenings as compared to any other city.

Cinemas showing ‘Khuda Kay Liye’:

Sozo World
Gulistan Cinema
DHA Cinema

As the much anticipated movie “Khuda Ke Liye” is being launched in the theatres all over Pakistan, every one is praising and admiring the movie, the script, the music, etc… They are even linking big hopes with this movie for the future of Lollywood and conditions of Pakistani Cinema.

But apart from all those chaos, there are some people who are critical of the movie and are opposing its launch.

A senior lawyer MD Tahir on Wednesday challenged in the http://www.lhc.gov.pk/Lahore High Court (LHC) the playing of the movie “Khuda Kay Liye” in the cinemas and demanded a ban on this movie.

According to the news in Daily Times, he (Tahir) termed the movie as anti-Islamic and has pointed out many flaws which can boost more frustration among the Muslims and particularly to the Pakistani Muslims which are facing suicide attacks and extremism at their home.

He pointed out that the Naseer-Ud-Din Shah, who is an Indian actor, tells in the movie that music is allowed in Islam because Hazrat Dawood A.S (Prophet Dawood) was a good singer and also he (the actor) has termed it legal that a Muslim girl can marry a Christian boy.

(Naseer-Ud-Din Shah left and Rasheed Naz right in a movie promo wallpaper.)

In another comment, Tahir pointed out that, the movie has been banned in India claiming that the movie can hurt Indian Muslims. He further said that even the USA was not playing it because the script was weak.

Now, “what to think…?” is the question in my mind…

On one side it seems a futile effort to stop the release and create a controversy for the movie to reduce its popularity but… on the other side, if it really is un-Islamic than what would or should be the fate of the movie…?

If we talk about the ban in India, it can be a factor that they don’t want our film industry to compete them but what is the answer to those arguments about the music in Islam and the cross religion marriage of a Muslim girl…? 8-|

I mean, now, a lot of questions would arise in our minds and they could be positive or negative. May be the objection is true or may be not.

Definitely, every one would like to see the movie now; so that one can judge on their own that whether the movie hurts them or not and also to rate it Islamic or un-Islamic. But the greater role is to be played by our scholars having the relevant and credible Islamic knowledge.

Instead of deriving conclusions, we must analyze the facts and the response of the audience. So, I don’t comment or provide allegations on any one right now. The reason and the result could be anything. You just analyze yourself.

I don’t know about the results but still, I pray for the good… for all. Aameen!

“Jiya Nahin Maanay,
Tou Chutti Lay Kay Aaja Baalmaa, Ho,
Ho Ho Ho, Ho Ho Ho Ho, Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho Ho…”

This is one tune that has not left my mind for the last couple of days; refreshing winds, drizzling drops, colorful spring, the season of love, all mixed in one blossom of elevated happiness…

Here are a couple of more visuals for you all to enjoy:

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