Pakistan’s Got Talent is the official Pakistani adaptation of the globally renowned Got Talent reality competition franchise, created by Simon Cowell and owned by Fremantle. Produced by Pixel Entertainment and broadcast on Geo Entertainment, the show provides a mainstream television platform to performers from across the country, including singers, dancers, musicians, comedians, magicians, acrobats, beatboxers and stunt artists. The first season features a judging panel comprising Ali Zafar, Mehwish Hayat, Tabish Hashmi and Usman Bashir, who evaluate performers with a wide range of talents.

In a recent episode of Pakistan’s Got Talent, a contestant from Karachi Yousha Hussain grabbed attention with his bold belly dance performance performance. The contestant appeared in feminine attire, wearing makeup and jewellery, and performed a belly dance to “Jey Deyo Ijazat Tey,” the OST of the Geo TV drama Shahrukh Ki Saaliyaan. The performer’s outfit also drew attention for being relatively revealing, while the overall styling and dance performance also sparked backlash. Watch the performance here.

Social media users are bashing the makers for glorifying LGBTQ on the national television of an Islamic state. One wrote, “It is LGBTQ agenda and everyone is blindly inviting the punishment of the nation of Lut. What has happened to us?” Another said, “Going good Pakistan by promoting LGBTQ! Big shame.” Another wrote, “Is this promoting LGBT?” Another wrote, “An extreme level of shamelessness. Belly dancing is only done by women, and that too in Europe wearing semi-naked clothes. Where are our Muslims heading these days? Where is their religion and faith? And what is the name? Yousha — this is the name of a prophet. Shame, shame.”

Sarwat Gilani once thought she might be getting a Bollywood opportunity when Aamir Khan’s team reached out to her. What happened next, however, had nothing to do with a film role.

The Pakistani actor recently opened up about her unexpected connection with the Bollywood superstar and revealed that Khan contacted her after her web series Churails began receiving attention in India.

Speaking in a recent interview, Gilani explained that the show’s international success helped her connect with several people from the Indian entertainment industry. Among those connections was someone associated with Aamir Khan’s production team.

“When our web series Churails went abroad, we connected with a lot of Indian people,” she explained. Gilani said she already knew someone from Khan’s production team, which eventually led to the actor reaching out to her.

Naturally, when she heard that Aamir Khan wanted to get in touch, her imagination immediately went somewhere else.

“I thought, ‘Wow, Aamir Khan! Maybe now I’m going to be in a Hindi movie’,” she recalled.

But the Bollywood superstar had a completely different request.

Rather than discussing a potential acting project, Khan wanted something related to one of Pakistan’s most beloved television shows — Loose Talk.

“He wanted the episodes of Loose Talk,” Gilani revealed.

Khan’s interest was specifically connected to the late Moin Akhtar, whose extraordinary ability to disappear into completely different characters had clearly left an impression on the Indian actor.

According to Gilani, Khan told her that he had never seen an actor capable of portraying so many different looks and characters.

Loose Talk was created by legendary writer Anwar Maqsood and featured Moin Akhtar as its unforgettable performer. Maqsood wrote the show and appeared as its host, while Akhtar transformed himself into a different character for almost every episode.

The series first aired on ARY Digital in 2002 and eventually ran for more than 400 episodes over two seasons. Its simple interview format became a showcase for Akhtar’s remarkable range.

One week he could appear as a politician, another time as a sports personality, and then completely transform into an ordinary person from everyday Pakistani life. The characters were fictional, but Akhtar’s performances were so convincing that each one felt like an entirely different individual.

His comic timing, body language, accents and ability to switch personalities made Loose Talk a landmark in Pakistani television comedy.

For Gilani, the story also provided an amusing twist to what initially seemed like a potentially career-changing phone call. She had imagined herself being invited to act in a Hindi film, only to discover that the superstar was interested in getting his hands on episodes of a classic Pakistani comedy show.

The connection itself came through Churails, the 2020 web series that gave Gilani and her co-stars a wider international audience. The show was released on Indian platforms ZEE5 and Zindagi and quickly became a talking point for its bold subject matter and female-led storyline.

Gilani starred in the series alongside Mehar Bano, Nimra Bucha and Yasra Rizvi. The story revolved around four women in Karachi who secretly established a detective agency, taking on cases involving women facing difficult and often hidden realities.

The success of Churails opened doors to conversations across the border, but Gilani’s Aamir Khan story ultimately became less about Bollywood and more about the enduring legacy of Moin Akhtar.

Read more: Hina Bayat Reflects on Churails Controversial

A contestant from Tamasha Season 5 has unexpectedly found himself at the centre of an India-Pakistan social media conversation after Rakhi Sawant appeared to draw a hilarious comparison between herself and Babrik Shah.

A clip from the popular Pakistani reality show began circulating online after entertainment platform Galaxy Lollywood shared a post highlighting Babrik’s habit of turning tense situations inside the Tamasha house into comedy.

The post caught Rakhi Sawant’s attention, and the Indian media personality left a question in the comments that immediately grabbed social media users’ attention: Is Babrik Shah the “male Rakhi Sawant” of the show?

The comparison comes from Babrik’s increasingly noticeable style inside the house. Whenever an argument starts getting too serious, the actor often responds with a joke, a sarcastic remark or an unexpected one-liner, leaving his fellow contestants entertained.

His reactions have become one of the more talked-about aspects of his time on the reality show. Whether he is facing an accusation, caught in an argument or being questioned about his behaviour, Babrik rarely misses an opportunity to add a humorous twist to the conversation.

One particular moment highlighted in the viral clip shows just how quickly he can turn an ordinary exchange into a punchline.

When the discussion turns toward akhlaaq, or manners, Babrik picks up a sofa cushion and jokingly declares, “Iska naam akhlaaq hai.” The unexpected response leaves the moment feeling more like a comedy scene than a heated reality-TV discussion.

It is this tendency to turn uncomfortable or confrontational situations into entertainment that appears to have prompted the Rakhi comparison.

Rakhi Sawant has built much of her public persona around being outspoken, unpredictable and highly expressive. Over the years, her dramatic appearances and candid comments have made her a constant fixture in internet memes, viral clips and social media conversations.

She has also frequently used humour and theatrics to keep audiences engaged, even when the subject itself is serious or awkward. That similarity seems to be what made the “male Rakhi Sawant” comparison catch fire among viewers.

Babrik, meanwhile, has been carving out his own identity in Tamasha Season 5, with his sarcastic humour becoming increasingly noticeable as tensions rise inside the house.

Read more: Babrik Shah Calls Reema Overrated