The opening shot confirmed the fact that I am going to enjoy the movie immensely. Karan Johar did not deviate from his classic first half of fun & second half of drama but has evolved in terms of storytelling (for that I will give the credit to the flawless direction). Rishi Kapoor steals the show with his phenomenal acting. Fawad, Sidharth & Aliya all managed to shine in their roles & the support cast showed nothing else than brilliance. Overall the acting was effortless even through the drama phase.
The lush green location & rustic art direction of the movie was absolutely a delight. I loved how the entire movie was in cool tones. Also the music & songs are very well blended in the storyline. Not once I felt like the song was out of place or was forced to be part of the narrative. The good part about the story was how each and every one of us can relate to one character or another during different situations in the movie. Although the plot was pretty basic but it’s the way of narration that made the movie worth watching.
Don’t go to watch the movie was a strong plot instead watch the movie to enjoy applaudable direction, acting & well-situated humor.
This summer I have decided not to waste my time going from one shop to another instead browse and shop online. Although we don’t have many options for western wear but I am super glad that all the leading lawn brands have launched their websites through which we can now buy clothes with ease.
The trend of pastels and digital prints is evident this summer. I also found less or reds & pinks and more of blues & teals refreshing this year. While Khaadi impressed me this year with their choice of colors, less embroidery and more focus on beautiful prints at the same time Nishat is a huge disappointment. Gul Ahmed & Al Karam being the market leaders have done a decent job and moved slightly out of their comfort zone by experimenting more. Sapphire desperately needs to bring in more prints because their current collection has limited options.
Here is a list of my top picks and their direct links from where you can shop these prints online.
The music industry in Pakistan has been going through a rough patch now from almost more than a decade. However few singles and branded fusion music seasons kept things interesting for music enthusiasts in the country. But this wasn’t just enough. No new talent was coming up so we didn’t really experience anything fresh.
Whenever Coke Studio comes up with a new season, they produce only a couple of noteworthy songs which become talk of the town. The music is vibrant and beautifully composed but the only setback I see is most of these songs are sung by known industry singers.
I have been following Nescafe Basement from season one and love the fact that they keep on introducing budding artists of the country and bring us fantastic music. Not only their seasons cover various genres of music but I enjoy the fact how Xulfi is willing to experiment and bring a variety of instruments in one track. I love the fact that every song Nescafe Basement has produced to date has powerful vocals which makes the experience of listening to that song simply ecstatic.
Recently Nescafe Basement season 4 came up with cover of the song Love me again by John Newman. The song was entirely covered by girls and they did a fantastic job with. We don’t see a lot of female singers let alone guitarists, bass players, sitar & tabla players so it was great to see we in Pakistan have so much talent. Loved the way how west meets east in the song and every note, every instrument stands out on its own.
The most notable achievement of the song is not only that it went viral within hours of its release but John Newman retweeted and appreciated the song himself.
Although all girls have done a notable job but my personal favorites have been Anna Salman vocals,
Amal Nadeem playing violin & Arfa Chaudry on sitar. Great job Nescafe Basement team.
I scroll through my Facebook app look at all the check-ins, pictures and status and I wonder are these people really happy? Is this what is making us really happy?
The last time I remember being extremely happy I completely forgot my phone, all the social networks and everything else in the world. What mattered to me was the moment in which I was truly happy. Yes once the initial bliss is gone one feels like sharing their joy with the world but looking at those pictures we can’t evaluate how wonderful the life of a person who is sharing those pictures is. Don’t evaluate anyone’s life because of their social media account because we as humans feel secure plastering our happy moments but we never advertise our struggles.
To be frank happiness is not that difficult as we have made it for ourselves. Take out greed from your life and you will be happy. Be grateful for all the things that you have and you will be happy. Take out some time for an adventure and you will be immensely happy. Say no to things and people in your life who are toxic to you & you will be happy. Do things that you have always wanted to or love to do and you will be happy. Let go of regrets, make peace with your past & move on.. You will be more than happy. Smile a bit more and you will be the happiest.
Do you know what turns a house into a home? Love, care and time. And the love and care is reflected through how one has decorated their home. Sadly in Pakistan we don’t have many options for décor and furniture however things have been changing. I see shops dedicated to home décor opening up and recently Interwood opened their showroom in Dolmen Mall Clifton, Karachi.
From grand to elegant furniture, doors, flooring options and accessories one could find multiple options to their liking. Personally, I loved they way they have decorated complete small areas in the showroom to give one an idea how to decorate their rooms, kitchen, children bedroom etc.
Here I have made a collage of all the things I want for my home!
Last week Supreme Court of Pakistan announced to
shutdown all the Sheesha cafés in the country immediately. The call was taken
on plea of health department. Now I wonder why all of sudden health department got
concerned with Sheesha consumption in a country where people smoke cigarettes
like chimneys in public space.
These cafes were operating within boundaries and
adults with consent were consuming Sheesha and paying taxes for it. Last I
remember Sheesha is not prohibited in Islam the way alcohol is and alcohol is
still easily available publicly in high end restaurants of Karachi. I don’t
see any authorities batting their eyelashes on that.
My only question is that if all the Sheesha cafes
are banned why aren’t we banning consumption of cigarettes, production &
sales overall? Why do restaurants still have smoking sections across the
country? Why isn’t health department concerned about sale of Gutka & Pan
which is the leading cause of mouth cancer in Pakistan?
These cafes were not doing anything illegal. They
had employed over hundreds. Did the court wonder what will happen to these
people? Why wasn’t a detailed report of how many deaths annually in Pakistan
occur cause of consumption of Sheesha shared with public? People who are consuming
it know the side effects of it as well & Law meddling in an issue so minor is
perplexing when we have much pressing concerns in the country.
The opening shot confirmed the fact that I am going to enjoy the movie immensely. Karan Johar did not deviate from his classic first half of fun & second half of drama but has evolved in terms of storytelling (for that I will give the credit to the flawless direction). Rishi Kapoor steals the show with his phenomenal acting. Fawad, Sidharth & Aliya all managed to shine in their roles & the support cast showed nothing else than brilliance. Overall the acting was effortless even through the drama phase. 
The last time I remember being extremely happy I completely forgot my phone, all the social networks and everything else in the world. What mattered to me was the moment in which I was truly happy. Yes once the initial bliss is gone one feels like sharing their joy with the world but looking at those pictures we can’t evaluate how wonderful the life of a person who is sharing those pictures is. Don’t evaluate anyone’s life because of their social media account because we as humans feel secure plastering our happy moments but we never advertise our struggles.
From grand to elegant furniture, doors, flooring options and accessories one could find multiple options to their liking. Personally, I loved they way they have decorated complete small areas in the showroom to give one an idea how to decorate their rooms, kitchen, children bedroom etc.
