Why do we keep casting young girls in adult roles in dramas?
Instead of casting them as adolescents navigating education, identity, or friendships, dramas show girls as marriageable adults, romantic interests and wives.
What in the world was 2025? We know we say this every year, but 2025 truly was a rollercoaster, one in which there was almost a war, Indian propaganda and memes galore.
This year, India was one of the most talked about topics in Pakistan — from their lack of understanding of Pakistani geography to their destruction of their own bakeries just because they have ‘Karachi’ in their name, an Indian film that ‘explored’ Lyari’s underbelly and even their cricket team trouncing ours. We had memes, celebrities calling out celebrities across the border, everyone calling out bad fashion and moments of self-reflection.
Before you come for us, remember this list is based on how much you read these stories.
Published on December 29
Honestly, we‘re shocked by this one too. Dhurandhar, the Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna propaganda film that ‘exposes’ Lyari’s underbelly, complete with women wearing mini dresses and multiple out of place adaabs, has taken the top spot on our most-read list this year. In just 24 days, the spy thriller raced to INR 6.9 billion at the Indian box office, becoming the highest-grossing Hindi film domestically. Not only does the film have Singh crying while eating beef at a langar (who serves beef at a langar?!) it also features Khanna playing the infamous Rehman Dakait and Sanjay Dutt as the late cop Chaudhry Aslam.
You can read the full story here.
Published May 12
Never in a million years did we think we would ever be doing a story like this. When tensions rose in the country, the youth apparently turned on their televisions and latched on to Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed. While the military spokespersons were busy holding press conferences, people were fawning over AVM Ahmed’s charm. Gen Z lost their collective minds — in their own vocabulary, of course. That led to many from the older generation being introduced to some new and rather confusing words, such as ‘pookie’. Naturally, we had to give them a crash-course in stan lingo.
You can read the story here.
Published on May 9
Colour us surprised — but not really — that one of our top stories of the year is on memes about the tensions with India. Things were tense, people were initially shaken, but when India attacked the ‘Lahore port’ all gloves were off and Pakistanis unleashed a series of memes so potent that everyone kind of forgot about the impending war and decided to start roasting Indians online instead. The memes were hilarious and even had some Indians chuckling.
You can read the story here.
Published on July 8
A story that shook the country was that of the tragic death of actor and model Humaira Asghar Ali in July. Her body was found in her Karachi apartment months after she had passed away, prompting shock and horror, particularly amongst members of the entertainment fraternity who took it upon themselves to offer shoulders of support to anyone in their circles who had no one else to speak to. Ali’s story also started an important conversation about community, support and loneliness, even in a generally close-knit society such as ours.
You can read the story here.
Published on May 14
A tale of two bakeries — Indians vandalised Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad as tensions from the Pahalgam attack and subsequent clash with Pakistan rose. In return, Pakistanis celebrated their love for Bombay Bakery, a longtime favourite of those with a sweet tooth. Many shared their fond memories of the very famous Bombay Bakery Coffee Cake and said that a name is, after all, just a name.
You can read the story here.
Published on February 23
Pakistan‘s Champion’s Trophy loss to India is not something we want to relive, but here we are with it in our most-read stories list. There was momentary hope that inevitably turned into rage as fans of the Pakistani cricket team watched the game slip through our fingers. Hearts were broken and vows were made to never watch cricket again — but you know how that promise always goes.
You can read the story here.
Published on May 14
One very important story this year was on the weaponisation of feminism and women in India‘s ‘Operation Sindoor’. From its name and the imagery of two women leading the charge, to the image that went viral of a young woman sitting stoically by the body of her husband who was killed in the Pahalgam attack, India positioned its offensive against Pakistan as a triumph for its women. But when the young woman, Himanshi Narwal, made an appeal for peace, she faced slut-shaming, hatred and rape threats. The operation and its name drew an equivalence between the honour of the nation-state and its women nationals, assigning a woman’s marriage a higher value than a woman’s full life. It conflated a gendered religious marker with militaristic aspirations and in doing so, it attempted to expand the meaning of what the sindoor means in Indian imagination.
You can read the story here.
Published on May 8
A wave of fury spread across Pakistan after India attacked six sites in the country during May’s tensions. According to the ISPR, the unprovoked attack claimed 31 lives and left 57 injured, including women and children. What shocked people — though should it really have? — was that Bollywood stars celebrated the attacks, praising their armed forces for “fighting terrorism”. Pakistan’s stars couldn‘t take this lying down and called them out for their callous disregard of human life. From Hasan Raheem to Talha Anjum, the stars took issue with India’s celebration of the loss of human life, especially so soon after many Pakistanis expressed their horror at the loss of life in Pahalgam.
You can read the story here.
Published on May 6
This was a surprising addition to the list but we guess people cared about the Met Gala this year. The theme was “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” but many stars seemed to have missed the memo, deciding to dress as boring as they could or in blazers — we’re looking at you Hailey Bieber. One of the strangest moments of the nights was BLACKPINK’s Lisa with Rosa Parks’ face on her underwear. Talk about a faux pas.
You can read it here.
Published on May 7
Pakistani celebrities rallied together to condemn India‘s strikes on six locations in the country back in May. The stars called out India’s “cowardly” attacks in the middle of the night. “My Pakistan, I love you. May we do the right thing. May we never stoop to that level even after this heinous provocation. May peace prevail,” wrote Mahira Khan, echoing the words of many of her colleagues who called for restraint and peace.
You can read the story here.
If you want to know more about what people read on our website, you can also check out what our most read stories were in 2024, 2023, 2022 and 2021.