Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, winner of two Academy Awards and countless others, has a reputation for creating content that is socially relevant and creates awareness on grassroots level, catering particularly to women and children.

Earlier this month, it was announced that SOC has now been honoured with an award by the British Human Rights Organization, The People’s Portfolio for her “inspiring leadership, [and showing] great courage and compassion for fellow human beings” through her films and documentaries. SOC shared the news on social media, noting she was humbled by the award.

“To amplify the stories and voices of women, we need friends and partners that will help us advocate for change at all levels of society,” adding, “The People’s Portfolio and its founder Platon are allies in the fight to change cultural norms that violate women’s fundamental human rights like domestic abuse, forced marriage, rape, so-called honour killings, and acid attacks around the world. I’m grateful for their partnership.”

Founded in 2013 by renowned British portrait and documentary photographer Platon, the NGO champions human rights defenders around the world. The People’s Portfolio organizes an annual fundraiser in order to generate donations to help “lift the voices of human rights leaders around the world and give them the resources and tools to amplify their essential stories in 2021—and beyond.”

Taking to Instagram, Platon posted an image of Sharmeen and wrote, “The highlight of the event is always awarding a human rights defender, who has shown extraordinary leadership of our time, in light of which, this year’s award is going to Obaid-Chinoy in honour of her directorial efforts in creating extraordinary movies about women’s rights in her country.”

Past winners include Nobel Peace Laureate, Dr. Denis Mukwege, and Lonnie G Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and many others.

In addition, SOC Films joined hands with The Legal Aid Society (LAS) and National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) to launch an animated series, called Inheritance Rights of Women According to Pakistani Law. Consisting of nine shorts, the first in the series, Inheritance Laws, has been released.

SOC, who has also forayed into films in recent years with the animated franchise 3 Bahadur is also the first Pakistani filmmaker who will helm a Marvel Studio’ upcoming project, Ms. Marvel, which will be MCU’s first Pakistani and Muslim superhero called Kamala Khan.

Shoaib Malik and Sania Mirza to host a chat show

The idea of celebrities hosting chat shows is not new to Pakistani audiences. It has been done on more than a few occasions with more as more artists embrace digital formats.

Adding to the list is sports power couple Shoaib Malik (cricketer), and Sania Mirza (tennis player). After launching their signature scents in collaboration with J. Fragrances last month, the couple is ready to host a chat show called The Mirza Malik Show. During a press conference, held in Dubai, it was revealed that the show will be released on Pakistan’s OTT platform, UrduFlix.

Speaking about their show, the couple shared that they enjoy doing new things together as well as individually so they were more than excited to shift from sports to media when the opportunity presented itself. Sania Mirza added they it would be akin to “a good family show” that would make their audience smile. “Ours won’t be a comedy show but the humorous element is very important,” she said, adding that the duration of each episode would be 60 minutes. While Sania shared that she wants the one-hour show to have a feel-good vibe, Shoaib Malik agreed and confessed that the whole idea behind it is to promote positivity.

Dubbing it as one of the biggest shows of the subcontinent, Farhan Gauher, Urduflix founder stated that the guests would be from both Pakistan and India. He added that primary goal is to promote love.

“We do a lot of endorsement and ads [advertisements] together and we just launched our new perfume too… We have fun,” said Sania. She stressed that their chat show won’t be “catty”. Though the guest list hasn’t been revealed so far, it will certainly be interesting to note what cross-border and Pakistani names appear on the upcoming show.

Zoha Rahman to make her Bollywood debut

One of the stronger acting names in acting, British-Pakistani actor Zoha Rahman is going from strength to strength. At present, Zoha, who is appearing in drama serial Dil-e-Momin on Geo Entertainment, has expanded her horizon beyond local productions.

Apart from portraying the character of the first veiled woman in Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) production, Spider-Man: Far from Home, she also featured in Apple TV+ series called Foundation.

Zoha Rahman is now looking towards Bollywood and is set to make her debut in the high-profile film, 83. The film features Ranveer Singh in the role of Kapil Dev who captained Indian cricket to its first World Cup in 1983. Directed by Kabir Khan, a teaser of the film was released recently. It shows the recreation of the most stressful moment from the 1983 World Cup Final at Lord’s where India defeated West Indies to claim their first win in a World Cup.

Zoha Rahman is also featured in the teaser as she is shown watching the match from the bleachers and impatiently waiting to see what happens next. The young actor is portraying the character of a first-generation immigrant living in the United Kingdom.

According to Zoha, it’s an honour to be part of such a huge project next to some of the greatest actors of our time. “It’s definitely one of the most exciting experiences of my life,” she said in a press statement. Here’s hoping her career continues to shine and follows a thriving path.