Pakistani

Image Source : FILE Representational Image X Down in Pakistan: For nearly a week, the widely used social media platform, owned by tech billionaire, Elon Musk,  'X' has been off-limits to the Pakistani population, leaving users unable to share information. Despite the prolonged disruption, the caretaker government has remained silent about the cause behind the outage.…

Zayn Malik has collaborated with up-and-coming Pakistani group Aur on a reimagining of their hit single, “Tu Hai Kahan.” On the track, the former One Direction singer joins the trio on vocals in Hindi. Aur also shared a music video for the song, where Malik reveals his process in his home studio. “I was incredibly humbled when AUR reached out and asked me to collaborate on their song ‘Tu Hai Kahan,'” Malik said in a statement. “I love the song and have brought some of myself to it. I hope people love what we’ve…

In early 2022, when Daniyal Ahmed set off on a road trip from Karachi in Pakistan into the neighbouring province of Balochistan , his only contacts were a few distant connections who he hoped would lead him to a legendary musician within the region. After circling villages near Pasni, a fishing port on the Arabian sea about a six-hour drive from Karachi, Ahmed by chance spotted Ustad Noor Bakhsh on the side of a lonely road sitting next to his broken motorbike, waiting for help.Ahmed is an anthropologist who teaches at…

“Who is a Pakistani writer?” Sabyn Javeri thought when asked to put together an anthology of essays by Pakistani women writers. She was thinking about who has the right to call herself a Pakistani writer “in this age of mass displacement.” Ways of Being: Creative Non-Fiction by Pakistani Women, a collection of 15 personal essays, has an impressive roster. Each woman responds to Javeri’s question beyond geography, delineating what it means to be a Pakistani writer. These are essays about writing and migration, yes, but…

Hollywood’s most famous celebrity couple, Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin, recently faced harsh criticism for their remarks regarding Ramadan fasting. In an interview, the pair discussed their opinions on the idea of fasting and admitted they had never actually done it. Even Hailey said that she never truly thought fasting “made sense.” Now the netizens and celebrities were offended by their comments and called out their education, including actor Gauahar Khan, who referred to Justin and Hailey as “stupid.” And now…

It was the first Pakistani film to premiere at the Cannes film festival; the first to make it to the Oscars’ international feature film shortlist. But Joyland, Saim Sadiq’s remarkably accomplished Punjabi and Urdu-language debut, is equally groundbreaking in other ways. At the core of the film is a love triangle, between Haider (Ali Junejo), the gentle son of an overbearing father; his smart, independent wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq, terrific) and Biba (Alina Khan), the feisty trans woman dancer who gives him a job. But the…

Ms Marvel director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been tapped to helm a new Star Wars film with Damon Lindelof attached as co-writer.According to entertainment website Deadline, the Lucasfilm project is currently under scripting stage. (Also read: Ms Marvel director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy interview)The movie is being touted as a first major big screen release for Lucasfilm after 2019's Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. The studio has been focusing on its TV projects -- The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor-- over…

Imagine Game of Thrones crossed with Gladiator and you’ll have something like this entertainingly old fashioned action movie with epic levels of throat slashing, spectacular scenery and a fair bit of camp. Rumoured to be Pakistan’s highest-budget film, this remake of a cult classic from 1979 is the story of a young noble boy, Maula Jatt, who is spirited away to a poor village when a rival clan slaughters his parents.After a flashback to that massacre we meet Maula (Fawad Khan) as a young man. The size of a well-fed bear,…

Pakistani quartet Jaubi are best described as improvisers rather than a band that operates within a particular genre. Although their instrumentation – featuring the tabla and stringed sarangi – might reference south Asian classical traditions and their collaborators Tenderlonious and Latarnik come largely from the world of jazz, theirs is a music that traverses traditions.The group first came to prominence with their covers of head-nodding hip-hop classics from the likes of J Dilla and Nas, before featuring with flautist…

The price of consumer goods has been soaring all around the world, creating a major budgeting headache for many people. Social commerce startup DealCart wants to make life easier for shoppers, at least in Pakistan. The company announced today that it has raised $4.5 million in pre-seed funding just three months after their operational launch. The round was led by Shorooq Partners with participation from Fatima Gobi Ventures, Vibe Capital, 500 Global, i2i Ventures, Julian Shapiro, Rally Cap Ventures, Alex Lazarow and…