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Gabriel Garcia Marquez: Journalist, writer and carpenter
Most of us tend to believe, for good reason, that journalism is inimical to creative writing. Exceptions apart, the Urdu writers who have ventured into journalism have not returned to the world of...
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Manto doesn’t let you forget
My first ‘experience’ of Manto’s work was with his short story ‘Khol Do’ - a deceptively simple tale set in the turmoil of pre-partition Pakistan that artfully depicts the horrors that ensued from and...
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Manto: A realist par excellence
Saadat Hassan Manto (1912-1955) is a name synonymous in the annals of Urdu literature. Considered among the greatest contemporary Urdu short story writers of the 20th century, he has left a legacy that...
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Would Manto be happy with Ali Sethi’s Aah Ko Chahiye?
Aah Ko Chahiye is the second track in the Manto OST. The video seems more like a trailer with numerous sequences from the awaited movie flashing past in rapid fire, contrary to the bland and tasteless...
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Rajinder Singh Bedi: Film-making is not child’s play
September 1st marks the birth centenary of Rajinder Singh Bedi, one of the most gifted and greatest fiction writers of the 20th century, completing the quartet whose membership also extends to Saadat...
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Manto: A legend untold
You walk into the cinema to learn about the crests and troughs of the life of a legendary and notoriously controversial writer and you come out somehow transformed, armed with the knowledge of what it...
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A Kashmiri Indian in Pakistan: “It is a magical land of freedom”
It is said we were born twins at the stroke of midnight long ago, when brows were wet with the anticipation of liberation. A 100-year-old subjugation was coming to an end. At the stroke of the midnight...
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Chronicling Safia Manto’s support for a man who courted controversy
Chronicling Safia Manto, my grandmother, would be no mean feat. A woman who lived in the shadow of her beloved husband and renowned short-story writer, Saadat Hassan Manto, her story went largely...
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Ho Mann Jahaan plays it safe with its music
This year has probably been the first year in decades where film soundtracks have had a significant cultural and commercial impact on the music scene. As film productions increase, the music industry...
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Forget Bollywood, here are Lollywood’s most popular and most impactful movies...
Pakistan’s movie industry met its downfall during the 1990s and 2000s. This was the time when big screen actors migrated to television, because there was no variety and Punjabi movies ruled the...
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Why did PML-N let Musharraf go?
Those who had anticipated the former military dictator lingering behind bars, for monopolising power through unlawful acts for nearly a decade, are reminded of Manto’s masterpiece, Naya Qanoon. The...
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Hijrat: A step back for Pakistani cinema
Since Pakistan’s cinema industry began its journey towards improvement and development, directors began sharing unique stories through their movies. Where Na Maloom Afraad, Waar, Karachi Se Lahore, and...
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Mor Mahal is great creative effort but not Sarmad Khoosat’s best work
You know when Jon Snow (although he knows nothing!), stands at the edge of the great wall looking down at the steely snow filled north, he is actually glaring at the camera. Duh! But he is not standing...
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“They started beating Aapi. Then they burnt her, right in front my eyes”
A few days ago, I overheard my cousin talking to someone and saying, “Have you seen the news? Even CNN and BBC reported on the instances of violence that our women endure. Clearly it’s more serious...
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Boys will be boys but Qandeel was defiant – so she must be eliminated
The first video I watched of Qandeel Baloch was shared by a friend on his Facebook wall. She was clad in a skimpy grey dress showing off her voluptuous curves. Swaying suggestively and looking straight...
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Actor In Law: Manmohan Desai’s brand of cinema
Let me admit that I did not know who Nabeel Qureshi was before entering the theatre to watch Actor In Law. I did not watch Na Maloom Afraad (2014), primarily because of its eerily similar appearance to...
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Banning Pakistani actors or Indian movies won’t stop me from dancing to Kar...
Art is art. Art does not know a nationality or a region or a religion. Does a German heart move more than a non-German heart while listening to Beethoven’s symphonies? What if nobody outside France...
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Sex Aur Samaaj: Because a dialogue is important
Sex: that taboo word. Not only is it deemed sinful to discuss openly in more conservative societies, it is also about our own reflection and a repressed understanding of it. There is a compelling need...
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Banned Books Week: Rahi Masoom Raza’s fight to never stop swearing
This week (September 23rd-29th) is being celebrated as the Banned Books Week around the world, especially in the United States, where this tradition took inception during the Ronald Reagan era back in...
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In terms of script and execution, Mirzapur is far better than Sacred Games
Web series are a game changer for filmmakers and storytellers alike. After the popularity of Sacred Games on Netflix and Inside Edge by Amazon Prime, the latter is back with yet another web series...
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