Pakistan 2022: Riding High On Entertainment With Back To Back Mega Hits
Pakistan seems to be high on most fronts these days, from economic unrest to sports and from Spotify to Maula Jatt entering the 100 crore club, the Pakistani entertainment industry finally fueled its wings in 2022. Let’s take a look at what has made our entertainment applause-worthy.
1. The Legend Of Maula Jatt – First Ever Pakistani Movie To Enter The 100 Crore Club
The legend is becoming a legend in itself. Before the end of 2022, the movie entered the 100-crore club in Pakistan,10 million USD worldwide and still making more. The movie’s total budget was around 450 million rupees and has surpassed the expected revenue. The Legend of Maula Jatt is the highest-grossing movie of all time in Pakistan. The director, Bilal Lashari shared the news on his Instagram account and we felt overjoyed by that update.
2. Joyland
This Pakistani movie has been shortlisted for a 2023’s nomination and won 2 awards at the Cannes film festival. The director, Saim Sadiq has changed stereotypes of how transgenders are perceived in our society. Starting with his own curiosity about the life of the trans community, Saim Sadiq has raised many questions with his story, all in all, touching hearts and changing perceptions, one narrative at a time.
3. Grammy Award Winner- Arooj Aftab
With her rendition of Farida Khanum’s “Mohabbat Kerne Wale Kam Na Honge’, Arooj Aftab opened doors for many aspiring musicians and singers of Pakistan for global recognition. She is an American-based singer and has been working in the music industry for almost a decade now. Arooj’s rendition of ” Mohabbat” won her the “Best Global performance” award at the Grammy’s, making her the first ever Pakistani woman to have won and been nominated for such a distinguished award. Arooj announced her nomination for the song “Udhero Na” for Grammy’s Best Global Music performance for 2023 on her social media account.
4. Kamli
Kamli is an intelligent, provocative, layered and thought-provoking film, that entertains, then teases, and ultimately sets you on an inevitable path to multiple conversations. A must-watch as it released on 3rd June across cinemas in Pakistan. The story revolves around two characters, Hina and her sister in law performed by Sania Saeed. How loneliness and desire move them towards a single event in life that sets their calm and controlled life upside down with the duo of Nimra Bucha and Omair Rana entering their lives to fulfill the emptiness of not having a child.
5. Sajal’s Chic Moments at TIFF & Mahira Khan Concluded Red Sea FF’22
Two of the most loved leading ladies of Pakistan, Sajal Aly and Mahira Khan made headlines when they walked the red carpet for different events. The former took the internet by storm when she walked the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 2022 for her movie ” What’s Love Got To Do With It”. This marks Sajal Ali’s appearance in an international movie which is written and co-produced by Jemima Goldsmith and directed by the veteran Indian Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur. She wore a black dress and oozed confidence and grace as netizens lauded her contribution to putting Pakistan on the global map.
Well the latter, Mahira Khan stunned at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah. She has become popular in the Arab region and we are proud of her. She wore a black dress and her signature red lipstick which made her extraordinarily sensational. She also shared the stage with stars Jackie Chan and Hrithik Roshan in a shimmery gown. She appeared at the GQ Gala Dinner in her royal blue gown.
6. Parizaad
Produced by Hum TV, the drama serial Parizaad has set a new record with unprecedented storytelling and performances. Starring Ahmed Ali Akbar, Naumaan Ijaz, Ushna Shah, Yumna Zaidi and Mashal Khan in lead roles, this plot has broken new molds for content-based dramas. Parizaad is the story of an unconventional hero, who is dark-skinned with a seemingly unimpressive personality, unpleasant appearance and no bank balance. He also has zero confidence and struggles to mix well in society. But everything changes when he suddenly inherits wealth. His reputation touches the sky, regardless of his looks and people around him start to treat him like he had never been poor before. Hashim Nadeem penned down this story which is beautifully directed by Shahzad Kashmiri. Some other issues were also highlighted in this drama like sex change and gender equality.
7. Mere Humsafar
A love story with many twists and turns. Mere Humsafar is a story that evoked a mix of emotions in us. A joint family plot that felt so real that it kept us on the edge. A loving grandmother, a harsh mother-in-law and a family full of flaws and hatred and deceit. Hania Aamir plays the main lead opposite Farhan Saeed, along with Samina Ahmed, Waseem Abbas, Saba Hameed, Aly Khan, Tara Mehmood, Hira Khan and Zoya Nasir. Overseas Pakistanis loved the drama as well as the locals which made it a huge success.
8. Pasoori
A Coke Studio 14 song released on 6th February 2022 has created ripples in the music industry. Sung by Ali Sethi and Shae Gill, the song peaked at 109th weekly and 89th daily positions on Spotify. Pasoori was the first Pakistani song to climb on Spotify’s “Viral 50 – Global” chart and ranked number one on Spotify India’s “Viral 50” chart. According to data released by Spotify in December 2022, “Pasoori” was the most-streamed Pakistani song globally as well as the most-streamed song in Pakistan in 2022. It has around With 464 million views on YouTube as of 15 December 2022, which makes it the most streamed Pakistani song of all time. Pasoori is the most-searched song in the world in 2022, as per Google Trends’ “Year in Search 2022” report. It was also featured in Ms. Marvel Disney + miniseries’ episode 4.
9. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy
Recipient of the Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy made global headlines earlier this year as she became the first director from Pakistan to work with the Marvel Cinematic Universe [MCU. She directed two episodes of the highest-rated MCU show of the year, Ms. Marvel, featuring its first-ever Muslim superhero that has roots in Pakistan. Chinoy’s first film was for The New York Times, Terror’s Children, in 2002. Since then, she has made over 12 multi-award films across 16 countries. The only female director to have won two Academy Awards by the age of 37, Chinoy has also won four Emmys, the highest filmmaking accolades in the world. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is also the creator of the first Pakistani animation adventure feature film trilogy, 3 Bahadur.
10. Kaifi Khalil
We have all seen the famous Quick Style performance to Coke Studio 14’s song “Kana Yaari” (sung by Kaifi Khalil, Eva B and Abdul Wahab Bugti) and we are in love with the soundtrack “Mujhe Pyar Hua Tha”, both the songs were written and composed by Kaifi Khalil. Kaifi is a Balochi singer who was born in Lyari. He was inspired by his father who was also a musician. He did not pursue schooling and got his formal music training from MAD School which is a performing arts academy in Karachi. Kaifi’s Kana Yaari garnered 3.2 million views by the third day of its release, hence, making Kaifi Khalil a global hit to represent Pakistani on the music front.
Well, that’s all from our list of entertainment highs for Pakistan in the world and we are certain that these entertainers will keep our hopes alive for future stars to pave the way on the Pakistani entertainment map.
Tell us in the comments what else needs to be on this list!
Sources Wikipedia.org and wikibio.in
