Actor Farah Nadeem took to social media to react to a viral gym video featuring journalist and host Iqrar ul Hassan, and her commentary quickly became the bigger story.
The clip shows Iqrar performing a standing cable chest fly, pulling two resistance cables inward across his chest with a handle in each hand.
What caught Farah’s eye was not the exercise itself but the weight stack on the cable machine, which had only a single plate loaded, estimated at somewhere between 4.5 and 7 kilograms.
The contrast between that and the intensely strained expression on Iqrar’s face as he pulled the cables was what she zeroed in on.
Reacting to the video, she said, “Either hide the weights so no one can see how light they are, or don’t make a face like you are lifting 100 kg.” The video carried a sarcastic caption reading “Working hard in gym.. just like politics!”
The internet zeroed in on her observation fast. Comments flooded in, mostly poking fun at the dramatic effort for such minimal resistance.
One commenter wrote, “Is uncle ne apni bay izzati karwanay mein koi kasar nahi chorni,” while another simply noted “500g weight raka hua hy.”
A third added “1 plate” followed by a crying emoji. Someone else questioned the motivation behind the theatrics altogether, writing “Kia zarurat hai itna show off kerne ki,” and another observer joked that Iqrar appeared to be doing face exercises at the same time.
Iqrar resigned from ARY News on April 15, 2026, ending a 21-year association with the channel and stepping down as host of Sar-e-Aam. He cited his commitment to his political party, Awam Raah Tehreek, as the reason, saying that he could not continue both simultaneously.
