Out this week

Albums

l Begin. by David Archuleta: Fifth album by the runner-up of the seventh season of  American Idol; features nine cover songs, including Christina Aguilera’s ‘Beautiful’, Sarah McLachlan’s ‘Angel’, and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘True Colours’, and one original track, ‘Broken’.

l Southern Air by Yellowcard: Eighth album by the pop rock band, the follow-up to When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes (2011); includes the songs ‘Awakening’ and ‘Here I Am Alive’.

Movies

l The Bourne Legacy (starring Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton) - action thriller, the fourth instalment in the Bourne film series, expansion of the universe created by author Robert Ludlum; an operative must flee to save his life after a top-secret government program decides to eliminate the genetically modified killers it created.

l The Campaign (starring Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis) - comedy; two rival politicians (Ferrell and Galifianakis) try to win an election.

l Hope Springs (starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell) - comedy drama; a couple (Streep and Jones) attends a counselling session after 30 years of marriage.

l 2 Days in New York (starring Julie Delpy, Chris Rock) - comedy, sequel to 2 Days in Paris (2007); a woman (Delpy) moves from Paris to New York and has a good relationship with her boyfriend (Rock) till her family arrives on vacation from France.

l The Odd Life of Timothy Green (starring Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, C.J. Adams) - fantasy drama; a childless couple (Garner and Edgerton) meet a special young boy (Adams).

Q&A

What do you think about the future of Pakistan? Where do you think the country is heading, and where do you see it in the next few years?

n Haroon Rashid: Pakistan is full of incredible talent. Our biggest asset is our youth oriented population. I think it is time for the old guard of politicians to leave and let new people take charge. Currently, the most obvious outlook is to say Pakistan is doomed. However, I am personally very optimistic for the future. I believe that we are capable of great things and we will rise to the occasion and overcome this dark period.

 Naukhez Javed: Being a true Pakistani, if you ask us, we will say that the future of Pakistan is very bright and positive. Our country is full of talented individuals and our youth is striving hard to make our country a more stable, progressive nation. But  unfortunately if you speak realistically, it’s a very depressing situation. I think the future of Pakistan is going nowhere. Our politicians are fighting over trivial issues. They have their own interests and give no value to our country’s future. All they want is commission and money with no self-respect at all. They fight on channels, parliament, and courts everywhere and afterwards they work for their common goals and interest that is money. They try to make fools out of us. We all know this, but the whole system is corrupt. No one wants to see the bright future of Pakistan. No one is taking care of the basic rights of Pakistanis, and dealing with problems like load shedding, inflation, [high] utility bills, and target killing. In the next few years, if this situation goes on we will be in the Stone Age. Our youth is migrating to other countries for work, and this brain drain is causing a severe dent in our country’s progression. All we need is a revolution to change the whole course of the game and we should pray to Allah to do it as soon as possible.

 Junaid Khan: The future of Pakistan lies in the hands of our youth now. Rather than pointing fingers at the system or the government, we should check ourselves first and rectify what we feel should be improved in our nearby environment. The saying that ‘charity starts at home’ holds true here. We individually should do our bit, get ourselves right, follow the law, abide by the rules, and show discipline and progress ourselves so that we give inspiration to people around us and hence grow as a nation together. And soon there will be a time when a leader will rise amongst us who will work for the benefit of the nation. But that leader has to come from our youth who has experienced struggle himself and would want to improve [the conditions] for others in the country, too.