'Loved the people here and everyone should visit Qatar'

* Hosted by Qatar Tourism and co-ordinated by Fab Entertainment Doha, Pakistani actors Aiman Muneeb and Minal Ahsan, along with their actor spouses Muneeb Butt and Ahsan Ikram, were out and about exploring what Qatar has to offer in terms of history, culture, fun and adventure

 

If you are prone to vacation-envy, you might be advised to stay off Instagram these days: it’s filled with beautiful and bronzed celebrities living their most fabulous lives and now since Qatar is on the cultural map of the world, there’s no way you won’t spot a celebrity exploring the town with that Jacquemus hat every time you refresh the feed. Aiman Muneeb and Minal Ahsan are Pakistani show business’ most popular twins, and perhaps they know it. They’re both beautiful and energetic and when sitting across it takes you quite an effort to remember which one was sitting on which side. You can easily get confused if you’re meeting them for the first time. Completing a decade in the industry, Aiman and Minal’s struggle can be seen through their work. Since 2012, they both have had a busy roster, lined up with major dramas, before they got married and took a little step-back to enjoy the married life and time off with their spouses: Muneeb Butt and Ahsan Ikram, both who also happen to be a part of the industry, doing quite well in acting and giving hits one after another.

It won’t be erroneous to say that not much has changed for the twin sisters over the years. They’re still the lithe, jaunty girls with easy megawatt smiles and whose eyes grow big when excited. They were only 14 when they made their television debut but it’s the connection with the audience for all these years and, of course, the acting prowess, that kept them going. Practically anyone who is fond or is slightly even familiar with Pakistani dramas know about them and have seen them grow. Apart from that, both Aiman and Minal have figured out social media down to a science like nobody else in Pakistan's entertainment industry and perhaps this is what makes both girls the two most-followed celebrities in Pakistan on Instagram. What to post, how to post it and what works best — they know it.

 

When Gulf Times spotted the two celebrity couples sharing a photogenic family portrait from Qatar, we couldn’t help but catch up with them about their career, thought process and about exploring the country.

Hosted by Qatar Tourism and co-ordinated by Fab Entertainment Doha, the family was all about exploring what the country has to offer in terms of history, culture, fun and adventure. The acting realm Aiman was last seen in drama serial 'Baandi '(2018) before getting married to Muneeb and since then she didn’t return to the television screens. Why did she stop working? “I had my daughter and I thought that I would work after Amal’s birth but then, I just didn’t want to. Dramas used to be shot between 10am and 10pm earlier, but now there’s no schedule. I would miss out on Amal’s most special years if I got perpetually busy with work,” she says. The Pakistani dramas are now going on a different tangent altogether, exploring subjects that matter. “You do commercial and acting projects locally, but when you shoot and do something abroad in another country with a storyline outside the typical mother and daughter-in-law kind of narrative, you get to explore yourself more as an actor. Similarly with negative characters — they sort of give you a wide canvas for how far you can go with your skills and abilities,” says Muneeb talking about what interests him as an actor now, while sitting in the lobby of The Ritz-Carlton, Doha waiting for the car to arrive for their private tour of 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum scheduled for the day.

 

Aiman and Minal might be basking in popularity, but this has never deterred them from taking on a variety of characters with layers to portray. Minal racked heavy ratings last time when she took on a very negative role in drama serial 'Jalantarget="_blank"'>