It was just last month that J. Fragrances organized a star-studded event in Karachi, celebrating the launch of two perfumes by Ertugral actors, Cengiz Coskun and Nurettin Sonmez - aka Turgat and Bamsi respectively. Once again the brand has collaborated with power players – literally – as they bring on board Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik to launch two new star scents, Smash by Sania Mirza and All Rounder by Shoaib Malik. The duo were in Karachi as a part of the J. signature fragrance launch, which was organized at the residence of Owner and Managing Director J. and Almirah, Mr Sohail Hamid, and hosted by Faizan Haqqee.
Both Shoaib and Sania joined Mr Sohail Hamid on stage, who shared that the brand’s initiative to join hands with popular celebrities make them stand out from their competition. Later, the unique All Rounder and Smash bottles were revealed to the audience. As for the fragrances, the All Rounder perfume has a distinctive fragrance with a unique blend of woody and spicy notes, while Smash is inspired by Sania Mirza’s feisty persona, relayed through its tangy, floral notes.
Some of the celebrities spotted at the occasion included Humayun Saeed, Adnan Siddiqui, Ayesha Omar, Aijaz Aslam and Anoushey Ashraf.
In the past J. has joined hands with various superstars, including Fahad Mustafa, Wasim and Shaniera Akram, Aisam ul Haq, and Jehangir Khan, among many others.
Established in 2002, J. has over 100 outlets in Pakistani and more than 30 international outlets across US, UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.
“The industry needs your support.” Fahad Mustafa urges bloggers to hold back negative reviews
Actor, host and producer Fahad Mustafa, who was last seen on the big screen in Load Wedding alongside Mehwish Hayat, took to social media urging bloggers to not share their reviews online as soon as the movie hits theatres. According to Fahad, these movie reviews impact public opinion about a movie without even watching it. He wants the audience to decide on their own, once they have watched the movie.
“To all the bloggers: With all due respect, let people go and watch the movie first, your reviews can wait.” Fahad Mustafa wrote on his Instagram and Twitter handles.
“You coming up with reviews (be it right or wrong) can damage the film big time and it won’t help the industry in any way. This industry needs support. Let the people decide if the film is worth watching or not,” he added.
Though many people along with some fellow actors, such as Mehwish Hayat, Sami Khan, Aijaz Aslam and Naveed Raza, agreed with Fahad Mustafa’s point of view, his post received a lot of backlash as well. Someone responded to Fahad’s tweet and wrote, “The work speaks [for] itself.” A few went on to comment that film reviews are quite common abroad, so why is it a problem here.
Fahad’s comments come after Pakistani cinemas reopened with Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan-starrer, Khel Khel Mein. The Fizza Ali Meerza and Nabeel Qureshi directorial, which revolves around the Fall of Dhaka, received criticism from bloggers and film critics soon after the film was released on November 19.
We understand that our film industry needs all the support mainly because it still has to go a long way, but that doesn’t mean film reviews should not be shared with the public. For Khel Khel Mein, if reviewers bite back their urge to comment on the way history is rewritten and represented, they risk compromising their integrity. No reviewer has thus far commented on the entertainment value of the film, with most agreeing that it is a classic Nabeel Qureshi outing, but all have questioned the treatment of fact, and sensitive matters.
Having said that, we’re just happy the world is slowly coming back to life, and that cinema screens may light our lives up again.