The popular TV show will be hosted at the Sapphire Plaza Hotel with Dania Group as the main sponsor of the event. It was earlier slated for July 31, however, the dates were changed due to the death of one of the members of the cast, said Khan.
“The stage is set in Sapphire Plaza Hotel. We are inviting about 400 people but the audience participation will be invitees-only besides the tickets. The new offer on tickets is only QR150 for participation in the show,” said the organiser. He added that necessary arrangements for the show have already been made.
It will be the first time that the political-satire TV show will be telecast from Doha, outside its familiar home settings. The entire team of the show with their complete show format will participate in the episode.
However, the participants will change from the traditional home audience back in Pakistan. The majority is, however, likely to come from the local Pakistani community living in Qatar.
The show host, Aftab Iqbal, will come to Doha with his entire team. It is part of the show’s Middle Eastern tour — they are also planning to go to Dubai. Aftab Iqbal is a journalist and television anchor from Pakistan.
Khaberdar premiered on September 10, 2015 and has quickly become one of the most-watched comedy shows in Pakistan and around the world in Urdu- and Punjabi-speaking communities.
Aftab quit Geo News after hosting and writing a similar version of the show called Khabarnaak for almost five years. Previously, he had hosted the show Hasb-e-Haal on Dunya News before leaving the channel. Aftab is the son of the Urdu poet Zafar Iqbal.
From 1994-95, Iqbal served as Media Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab. He also writes a column in The News titled ‘Buk-up’. He has also written for Newsweek Pakistan. As a columnist, Iqbal has written for a number of publications, including the Urdu language Nawa-i-Waqt. He graduated with a master’s from Government College Lahore in 1985 and studied history at San Jose State University in California in 1986.
Hosted by Iqbal, Khabarnaak featured Mir Mohammad Ali as many different celebrities. With the antics of Hakeem Sahab and Agha Majid, the show was an instant hit. Honey and Saleem Albela also started appearing on the show in 2011. They would discuss politics, current affairs and social issues. The first episode of Khabarnaak was aired on September 11, 2010.
The episode’s cast included popular stage artistes like Naseem Vicky, Nasir Chinioti and Badr Khan along with Amanullah Khan (Hakeem Sahab) and Sakhawat Naz (Jeeda driver). Later, Naz and Khan became regular cast members and they were joined by Honey and Saleem Albela in 2011. Iftikhar Thakur joined the show just before the 2013 General Elections.
In another surprise break-up, Amanullah Khan, Sakhawat Naz and Iftikhar Thakur left the show in August 2013 due to undisclosed reasons and started appearing on Dunya TV in the programme Mazaaq Raat. Naz and Khan were part of the show since its inception.
As replacement, Agha Majid aka Aroo Grenade (who had earlier appeared on a few episodes), Rubi Anum (Sadiq), Wajid Khan and Farhat Abbas Shah (Master jee) were added to the regular cast. Lucky Dear, Majid Jehangir, Abid Farooq and Akram Udaas also appeared on some shows.
In May 2014, Aftab Iqbal left the show at Geo and started the latest show, Khaberdar with Express News. Parody star Mir Mohammad Ali took over as the host of Khabarnaak. After a period of 2-3 weeks, Iqbal re-joined Geo News and started hosting the show again.
Aftab Iqbal left the Geo show once again in August 2015 and came to Express, where he has been since.
