Adnan Faisal has recently been a guest on Ahmed Ali Butt’s podcast, where he candidly talked about a range of things. Throughout the interview, Faisal gave an insight into his business endeavors, such as his taking over the rights of the Pakistani franchise for the world-famous international fashion magazine FHM. He disclosed that he had procured a declaration certificate from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of Pakistan, and as a result, he is the exclusive owner of the franchise of the magazine in Pakistan.

Faisal continued and narrated that ten years ago, when FHM Pakistan had first been launched, Veena Malik had gone to India and done a semi-nude photo shoot for FHM India. The move had raised hackles in the Pakistani government and security agencies, who had first made things difficult for him. But with time, agencies realized the story better and stopped harassing him.

He went on to explain that the “FHM” in his case referred to “For Him and Her Magazine,” which was different from the original global magazine, which he indicated was known simply as “For Him Magazine.”

In response to a question about his future plans for podcasts, Faisal talked about how he would love to be back at podcasting with Behrooz Sabzwari. As per him, after their last podcast together, Sabzwari got angry at him and even insulted him. Faisal stated that he would love to sort out the issue and clear the air by openly talking about things with Sabzwari in another podcasting session.

Faisal also shared an interesting meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, saying that it was Bhutto himself who personally called him directly to appear on a podcast. He stressed that it was not through his team, as is common with such invitations. Faisal said that Bhutto never gave any conditions or instructions prior to the podcast, and Faisal himself did not ask any hard questions during the session.

In yet another shocking revelation, Faisal alleged that a popular Pakistani celebrity had requested him to pay a whopping 60 lakh rupees for appearing on his podcast for a mere one and half hours. While Faisal chose not to identify the celebrity, he indicated that he had been earlier caught in a similar predicament with actress Hania Aamir, who purportedly had requested payment of 20 lakh rupees for appearing on a podcast. Faisal declined to work with Aamir on the money request.

He emphasized that he had done more than 500 podcasts previously and had never paid anyone once for being a guest on his programs. Faisal’s complaint regarding the excessive demands of Pakistani celebrities points to an emerging pattern of celebrities asking for large amounts of money for being part of media ventures such as podcasts. His remarks offer a fascinating insight into the economic forces at play when celebrities make their appearances, revealing the expectations and business models that tend to dictate the entertainment industry in Pakistan.

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