Islamabad: Pakistani actor, director, and screenwriter Shamoon Abbasi is all set to play the role of an Indian pilot captured by Pakistan in February, local media has reported.
The announcement comes just days after Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi said he would produce a movie on Indian airstrikes in the Pakistani town of Balakot on February 26.
Indian pilot Abhinandan Varthaman’s MiG-21 jet was shot down by a Pakistani fighter during a clash over Kashmir following the Balakot strike, as two weeks of growing tensions between the two countries erupted into open hostilities in February.
The plane crashed on the Pakistani side of the de facto border that separates the two sides of Kashmir, a Himalayan region that has been a source of hostility between the two countries since independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan ultimately returned the pilot to India. Video clips released by the Pakistan army showing the pilot conversing with Pakistani officers over a cup of tea went viral, turning him into a social media sensation and a hero in his homeland.
“After India announced that a film was under works on the botched Balakot strike and the captured IAF pilot Abhinandan, Pakistan too has announced a film to counter it's neighbor’s attempt,” popular Pakistani entertainment website Oye Yeah reported this week. ” While India’s project will be a serious film in three languages, veteran Pakistani writer Khalil ur Rehman has announced that his project will be a comedy titled Abhinandan Come On.”
The website said Shamoon Abbasi had confirmed to it that he would be playing the role of Abhinandan in the film.
Shamoon Abbasi to play Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan in upcoming comedy
Shamoon Abbasi to play Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan in upcoming comedy
- Indian pilot’s MiG-21 jet was shot down by Pakistan during a clash over Kashmir in February
- Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi also making film on Indian airstrikes in Pakistani town of Balakot this year
Pakistani stocks breach 176,000 points barrier as investors expect further rate cuts
- Pakistani financial analyst attributes surge to falling inflation, investors expecting further policy rate cuts
- Pakistan’s finance ministry said Thursday that inflation had slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December
KARACHI: Pakistani stocks continued their bullish run on Thursday, breaching the 176,000 points barrier for the first time after trading ended, with analysts attributing the surge to investors expecting further cuts in the policy rate.
The KSE-100 benchmark gained 2,301.17 points at close of business on Thursday, marking an increase of 1.32 percent to settle at 176,355.49 points.
Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 50 basis points to 10.5 percent last month, breaking a four-meeting hold in a move that surprised markets. Pakistan’s consumer price inflation slowed to 5.6 percent year-on-year in December, while prices fell on a monthly basis as per data from the finance ministry.
“Upbeat data for consumer price index (CPI) inflation at 5.6pc in December 2025 [with] investors expecting a further State Bank of Pakistan rate cuts on falling inflation data,” Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Commodities Ltd., told Arab News.
The stock market witnessed a trading volume of 1,402.650 million shares, with a traded value of Rs48.424 billion ($173 million), compared with 957.239 million shares valued at Rs44.231 billion ($158 million) during the previous session.
Topline Securities, a leading brokerage firm in Pakistan, credited the surge to strong buying at the first session.
“This positivity can be accredited to buying by local institutions on the start of the new calendar year,” it said.
Pakistan’s Finance Adviser Khurram Schehzad highlighted that the bullish trend at the stock market reflected “strong investor confidence.”
“With lower inflation, affordable fuel, stronger reserves, rising digitization and a buoyant capital market, Pakistan’s economic outlook is clearly improving--supporting greater confidence, better investment sentiment and more positive momentum for 2026,” he said on social media platform X.
