The mainstream Urdu film Tich Button starring Farhan Saeed and Iman Ali featured a 15-minute sequence shot at the and the Makan Cafe in Phase 5. The scene, where the protagonist confesses his love overlooking the Hayatabad sunset, is credited with turning Makan Cafe into a tourist pilgrimage site for couples.

| Viral Clip | Description | Origin | |------------|-------------|--------| | | A bearded man making tea with dramatic slow-mo | TikTok (2022) – 20M+ combined views | | “Hayatabad Drift” | A Corolla drifting on the empty Ring Road connector | Instagram Reel (2023) – later debunked as CGI | | “Monkey on Phase 5 Plaza” | A langur sitting on a bank signboard, looking at camera | TikTok (2024) – 15M views | | “Rain in Hayatabad” | Cinematic rain over the hills, shot from a rooftop | Used in dozens of edits | | “Old Hayatabad vs New” | Split screen: 1990s film clip vs 2024 drone shot | Multiple creators |

Although largely focused on refugee camps and the Khyber Pass, this historic Swiss-Pakistani production utilized the outskirts of Peshawar near Hayatabad to tell the story of the Soviet-Afghan war. Celebrity Sightings: High-profile actors like Mahira Khan Alizeh Shah