Atif Aslam's performance at Ponds Ensemble

A night of fashion burlesque at the ‘Ponds Ensemble Spring/Summer Collection 09’ held at the prestigious DHA Golf Club in Karachi. The outdoor venue designed to host a stupendous red carpet with beautiful gowns and Pakistan’s most loved celebrities on view, it was a captivating moment. Ensemble one of Pakistan’s premier luxury boutiques conceived and established by Zeba Husain.

Choreographed by Freiha Altaf, the ambience inside the pleated beige marquee certainly dazzled the crowd by creating a relaxed but secure environment for fashionistas to enjoy a top-of-the-line runway show and a world class performance by Atif Aslam. Atif is in the habit to make the event unforgettable and the audiences energetic. He has all the guts to make the show enjoyable through his outstanding performance and mind-blowing singing. He did the same this time as well.

With more than 10 top media channels covering the red carpet affair giving ample opportunity to take pictures and interview their beloved celebrities.

Miss Pakistan World 2009

Toronto, Canada - Miss Pakistan World 2009 took place in Mississauga on the 27th of June 2009. With contestants coming from Scotland, United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada, the 10 day pageant went well with the hustle and bustle of restaurants, photo sessions, video sessions, rehearsals and essay writing competitions.

The winners of the pageants were Ayesha Gilani from Washington DC, representing Lahore, Pakistan. The Runner up 1 is Yusra Mumtaz from Sugarland Texas, representing Karachi, Pakistan and Uzma Ali as Runner up 2 from Scotland representing Faisalabad, Pakistan.

The contestants went through a series of essay writing on Pakistani issues during the pageant, as well as singing the National Anthem of Pakistan, which were the prerequisites before entering the pageant. The contestants also learnt about the Founder of Pakistan- Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Monuments of Pakistan, the 4 Provinces of Pakistan, and the Kalash People of Pakistan.

An intense seminar of 8 hours was headed by image consultant and educational speaker Nyla Hasan which included self improvement, self confidence, dealing with the issues of the community and self improvement. The contestants had an amazing experience in Mississauga’s restaurants: Avani, Mandarin, The Host, Asian Garden, and many more.

Pageant Coordinator, Rania Iqbal and Pageant Choreographer Rodney Diverlus made sure the girls were well organized and the contestants were prepared for three dance number for the audience. The pageant started with the Black Evening Gown Opening Number on Pakistani singer Haroon’s Aashiqa and went on to the Pakistani Traditional Wear Round and finally the funky dance number on Ali Zafar’s Dekha Jo for the final evening gown dance! The stage lit up with the dance group called Adje, who performed on Pakistani songs by Faakhir, Jiya Na Jaye and Haroon’s Nahin Hai yeh Pyar. The final touch was by the Pakistani duo Asad Khan and Shoaib Khan, whose rising group Qissmet from Chicago made its first appearance in Toronto, Canada. Within a matter of minutes the crowd was singing Dil Dil Pakistan with Qissmet and enjoying the amazingly Pakistani atmosphere.

Former Miss Pakistan World 2004, Batool Cheema and Miss Pakistan World 2008 Natasha Paracha as well as the newly crowned Mrs. Pakistan World 2009 Sana Mushtaq were there to crown the runner ups and winner. The pageant ended well, with Ayesha Gilani winning the 7th title for Miss Pakistan World and who will now go on to represent Pakistan in international pageants.

Sonia Ahmed, the President of Miss Pakistan World and Mrs. Pakistan World carried on the pageant for 7 years and has sent the winners and runner ups to compete internationally in 21 beauty pageants around the world. An industry that never existed for Pakistan became alive in 2002 when the first Miss Pakistan pageant was announced. Pakistan’s entertainment industry has now seen 7 years of pageantry.

Charity Concert for IDP of Swat

The musician community put up a charity concert for IDP of Swat. It was a great unity seen among different singers and bands to make such an untainted effort to raise money for Swat people. The bands integrated in this community were Caramel, Overload, Mekaal Hasssan, The Trip and Coven. The event took place in Royal Palm and people who showed up their moral support were the who’s who of Lahore.

Ali Zafar in Geneva

Nickie Nina and the Swiss Pakistan Society collaborated to stage an exclusive Nickie Nina fashion show fundraiser in Geneva, at the prestigious Kempinski hotel earlier this month, on the 16th of May. Choreographed by Asimyar Tiwana with the event managed by QYT events, the Nickie Nina team also included Pakistani stylist Babloo, anchor Ayesha Sana, models Mehreen Syed, Sunita Marshall, Tooba Siddiqui and Nadia Ali, joined by London based model Sadia Siddiqui, Shrina, Gina and Hajra Ahmed.

Nickie Nina also teamed with up music icon Ali Zafar who staged an acclaimed performance at the show. All funds raised are being donated to the Pine Hill Academy School for the deaf & hearing impaired children

Shafqat Amanat Ali at Nippon Paint's event

Karachi, June 11, 2009: Nippon Paint, the largest Japanese Multinational paint manufacturer in Asia is presently ranked as the 3rd biggest Paint Company in Pakistan. Nippon Paint launched their latest paint innovation, Nippon Spot-less which is a water-based emulsion that repels stains and is highly washable. The event was managed by Catwalk Event Management. Catalyst invited guests included some of the most prominent media people in Karachi

The opening dance act was performed by Sonu Dangerous and his crew followed by a lavish dinner. For the main act Shafqat Amanat Ali was invited which left the entire audience mesmerized.

Mr Samad Zaheer, General Manager Nippon Paint Pakistan informed in his speech that
“Nippon Paint will be investing approximately USD 25 million in Pakistan over the next three years, which includes a manufacturing facility in Kasur, Punjab. In addition, to ensure that Nippon Paint products are easily available, a retail network of more than 425 outlets spreading from Gawadar and Karachi in South to the Northern Areas is successfully active.”

Nippon Spot-less is available in more than thousands of colours with Nippon Paint Colour Creations, an innovative computerized colour tinting system. This allows today’s savvy consumers the freedom to express their originality with their ideal colours which is available to them within minutes.

For the first time Pakistani film industry has failed to release a movie on Eid

For the first time in the history of Pakistani cinema, no film would be released on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. Pakistani cinema houses would remain vacant and film goers would be forced to watch Indian films. Pakistani Cinema Owners Association’s former chairman Jahanzaib Baig said in a news conference in Lahore that it is a critical time for the people related to Pakistani film industry that not a single film is going to be released on Eid. He also said that the Pakistani government and the concerned authorities should help restore this vanishing industry

The factors which contributed to the decline of Pakistani film industry are the inception of television and the infiltration of non-artistic financiers, who had no or little background, either in the arts, or business.

Consequently, senior Pakistani film-makers (directors and composers including) went into voluntary exile and the Pakistani industry was taken over by those rich people who invested money for purposes other than artistic.

Pakistani cinema or what's left of it is coming to an end. Though it wasn't always this way. Back in the 1960s and '70s, Lahore buzzed with movie shoots, red-carpet premieres and box-office hits. The Pakistani film industry has always been based here, and though it didn't have the restraint or dazzle of Bombay's Bollywood, Pakistani cinema thrived in a country staking out an identity distinct from its Indian neighbor.