Media v Personal choices: Why are Pakistani celebrities pushing the boundaries too far?

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Where do Pakistani celebrities draw their line when it comes to bold scenes or dressing out of their comfort zone? Do they just go along with it for a bit of fame and money? Pakistani celebrities seem to be increasingly neglectful of how they portray themselves on social media and are consistently receiving backlash from fans...do they like being in the centre of attention like this? Let's take a look at all the trendy news and controversial tweets that may question their personal choices...

The 'modern' (but not so modest) representation of Pakistanis

The latest cover for Hello Pakistan features Shehryar Munawar and Sajjal Aly. The fashion film "The Anatomy of Melancholy" shows a love story of a director and his muse. Whilst the theme and idea seem innovative there are some questionable elements from the shoot that just don't sit right with fans.

Firstly, the drink. That's most definitely not rooh afza. The casual manner and direction of Shehryar Munawar almost looks like the normalization of alcohol. I feel like this is problematic and actually, the director wanted to create a social media outrage here- it can't be ignored because it's so obvious. How else did you mean for fans to interpret this? How can you explain yourselves- "oh they didn't actually drink it". Yes but you most definitely drew attention to this whereby fans look up to these people and some glorify them.

Secondly, Sajal Aly's outfits. We're going backless and sleeveless like sissy Saboor. Unfortunately, the fitting of the black dress and red dress gives emphasis to her bust area in a way that just looks besharam. Are these celebrities not allowed to refuse to wear such clothes? Don't they feel uncomfortable or immodest when they first appear in such an outfit? I understand they wanted to give a very western look to the shoot but this could've either used a European model or intricate gowns that don't have so much flesh on show...

Unfortunately, it seems like Pakistani actresses are slowly letting loose of the pride they should have in Pakistani fashion. I'm not saying they must only wear Pakistani clothes and only promote that but whatever they do wear and promote on social media they are accountable for representing Pakistanis because of the huge platform they have. Iqra Aziz who has a huge fan following of 8.6M and is consistently doing shoots with big Pakistani designers which fans love to see recently posted an outfit picture which we weren't quite expecting...

Ahhh Ushna Shah...an actress whose been progressively getting worse with her dressing on Instagram despite the backlash she consistently receives! She's too brave guys! She seems to be well aware that her dressing is problematic because under this post the comments are limited. So she knows her dressing does not sit well with followers but ofcourse at the end of the day "it's her choice". 

Back in March, I remember she posted photos in a short turquoise dress with bare legs...this photo has now been taken down from her Instagram page. Her caption read "I am trembling for fear of your trolling, so I am closing my comment box" and so comments were disabled under this photo. But these pictures went viral and fans found a way to let out their frustrations. 

Public appearances and personal choices

Just a couple months back, Hira Mani and her husband visited a school in Karachi for a storytelling session. Hira Mani received huge backlash for her inappropriate choice of dressing in a school setting. She was seen in a low-cut shirt and bootcut jeans. Would it have hurt if she did up one more button? Or maybe even wear a fashionable scarf around her neck? Young children are seen sitting on the floor right in front of her, how appropriate is this view for them? Although they may not understand or see this the way we do we feel Hira Mani could've acted more responsibly and taken into consideration her surroundings. It's not particularly a photo shoot or a public appearance between a swarm of fans where people would look celebrities up and down for their fashion sense. 

Just before the drama serial, Habs went on air, Feroze Khan and Ushna Shah were seen together very touchy and close to one another. This sparked rumours about them dating, despite the fact that Feroze is a married man with now 2 young children. Where do celebrities draw the line? Ushna was practically all over Feroze - and he allowed this. Public appearances like this can be avoided because it only creates rumours which negatively affect a celebrities personal life. Ushna must know that Feroze is married and she obviously knew there were cameras all around her so why did she act so childishly and immodestly? More importantly, why did Feroze allow her to come so close to him? Can he not gently push her off or take her to the side and tell her this is inappropriate? He continued to smile-suggesting he liked this? Additionally, it was only two years ago when Feroze Khan made a public announcement to quit showbiz but came back upon his Sheikh's advice. Feroze- a man that consistently preaches Islamic values on his Instagram stories...how can he hug another woman when he himself talks about abiding by religious values and limitations? 

Item songs and bold scenes for movies- Whose to blame?

The latest controversy sparked in the industry has most definitely got to be Ahad Raza Mir starring in the Netflix series Resident Evil. There has been a huge social media uproar by fans over his bold and "steamy" scenes, he is seen without a shirt and kissing another actor which goes totally against religious morals which he should know himself. Some say this is just a requirement for the role but does this mean Pakistani actors now have no boundaries? No ability to turn down projects like this? This really just shows what happens to celebrities after they get a bit of attention and fame and what they will do for money. Other Pakistani celebrities have down work in Hollywood and Bollywood whilst maintaining such boundaries so what is Ahad Raza Mir trying to showcase here? What reaction from fans was he expecting? Many have compared this to the time when Sajjal Aly denied a role in Hollywood because of such bold scenes. Sajjal knew that even if she succeeded in the film, the people of her country would negatively link such scenes to her and she would disappoint her Pakistani fans.

Neelam Muneer and Amna Ilyas- our very own "sasti" Katrina Kaif and Nora Fatehi have created a storm on the internet over the latest item song releases. Yes, you heard right- Pakistani celebrities are now doing item songs...is this the Bollywood-ization of the Pakistani industry? Honestly, I don't know what these two were trying to prove or what reaction they were expecting from Pakistanis. These songs could've been easily avoided but ofcourse it's "marketing strategies" for a film like Chakkar that did below average at the box office but received 2.8M views on Youtube...It's quite embarrassing actually when Pakistani movies are always promoted to be a family-friendly Eid release but what do you do when this unexpected item song shows up?? Where do the kids look? 

I'm also actually very surprised that veteran actor Sohail Sameer features in this video...did he not feel uncomfortable and that it was wrong to look at her in the way he is..? Yes ofcourse obviously "it's just acting" but that then means you can't even lower your gaze now...

Will item songs now be normalised in the Pakistani industry? More importantly actually what vulgarity is running through the minds of directors and producers now? Do they not see a problem here?