It finally happened. Host of the popular satire show on Pakistani television, Aftab Iqbal with his team for the first time recorded an episode from Doha. Hosted by Punjab Musical Group (PMG), the show was attended by a large number of people from the Pakistani expatriate community.
The popular Express News Show Khabardar with Aftab Iqbal, which its host claimed has more than 100mn viewers, was recorded at Sapphire Plaza Hotel where a stage was set for Iqbal and his team of comedians including Agha Majid aka Aroo Grenade, Rubi Anum, Honey Albela and Nasir Chinioti.
More than 200 people were seated in front of the stage and the host kept them engaged throughout the show in different segments such as ‘Naseer Bhai Ka Challenge’ (Naseer’s challenge)” where the audience is shown a clip of a song and they have to guess the lyrics, sing the song and tell the movie’s title to claim prizes.
The show also featured acts by a European illusionist Ceaser. “I have seen his craft and trust me he is the one of the most talented illusionists. I have made up my mind to take him to Pakistan and let him perform there,” Iqbal, the host of Khabardar, told the audience.
The performance by the illusionist added flavour to the show. Iqbal told the audience that the purpose of taking his show outstation and then out of the country is to highlight issues and create awareness about different people and places. He has taken his show to Canada, Dubai and now Doha where he has recorded the programmes and they would be aired as special episodes once a week for the coming few months on Express News.
Iqbal says he tries to educate people on different aspects of life through his programme. “I am not an expert. I study things and attain knowledge from different sources and then transfer it to my viewers. I also have my opinions which I also convey with the information and it is open for people to accept it,” said the Khabardaar anchor.
One of the segments of the programme is called ‘Zuban-o-Bayan’ where Iqbal corrects words that are commonly used wrong and also gives facts about things and places which people otherwise tend to overlook. “It is one of the segments that my viewers love. It is one of the most popular segments on the ratings even today,” said Iqbal. Addressing the Doha audience, he said he found them very energetic and forthcoming.
“I found you people less materialistic than the expatriates you would find elsewhere and I pray to God that you remain the same and give you more happiness. Besides your own role in it, I think the government of Qatar also deserves credit that it has kept you well,” said Iqbal.
The comedians on the show entertained the audience with their spontaneous jokes during the programme that lasted for more than 90 minutes. Iqbal promised he would make some amazing shows out of the recording which will be completed by the links to the programme he had shot in the desert in Doha. He said the shows will highlight the country, its places and people to his viewers in Pakistan.  
Iqbal scripts and hosts the programme while the format of the show allows him to invite guests who are mostly politicians or people from other backgrounds. The show also features a song and Iqbal is often seen correcting the pronunciation of commonly used Urdu words besides giving facts on popular places in Pakistan.
The group of comedians re-enacts different political and social situations often taking a dig at the local systems and governance failures in a comic way.
Aftab Iqbal’s show has been airing on Express News since September 2015 and gained wide viewership. He hosted a similar programme first at popular TV channel GEO TV called Khabernaak before taking it to Express News. Earlier, Iqbal was received at Hamad International Airport (HIA) by chief organiser of the event Nazakat Ali Khan who is the President Punjab Music Group (PMG) based in Doha. The show’s team includes Ruby Anam, Hani Albela, Naser Chinoiti, Agha Majid and others.