Battle Clutter

All of us loved the way Pepsi Battle of the Bands captured the attention of music lovers since its revival last year. The third edition that’s on these days has already made its presence felt because there are some genuinely talented bands showcasing their wares.

That said, the show itself needs a little bit of revisiting. The introduction of Ahmed Ali Butt as Ayesha Omer’s co-host is not a good idea. There’s nothing wrong with the guy but, after each act, when the two join the bands — which usually compromise no less than three persons themselves — the entire stage looks cluttered, and the hosts cut a comical figure. Then the new segment where the judges anticipate a band’s performance before the song is played gives the entire gig a phony feel and merely prolongs the time for no plausible reason. Lesson: keep it simple.

JPNA2 promo power

Let’s hand it to the makers of Jawani Phir Nahin Aani 2 for a powerful marketing campaign, which they’ve been running for the film that will be released on Eidul Azha. The latest and perhaps the most striking bit of all the promotions is the video for the song Tille Wali Jooti sung by Arif Lohar and Ahmed Ali Butt and featuring the principal cast of the film acting zany, which is competently directed by Sohail Javed.

It took the song only a couple of days to get over 600,000 views, immediately after which the cast and crew of JPNA2 (director Nadeem Baig and actors Humayun Saeed, Mawra Hocane, Vasay Chaudhry and others) flew out to London and North America for the last round of the film’s promotion. Now the question is: what if the film doesn’t turn out as good as the campaign prior to its release … or not as good as … Load Wedding?

Weekend with Jamil

This is what makes you feel so proud of being a Pakistani! The British Film Institute (BFI) screened Pakistani auteur Jamil Dehlavi’s films from Aug 10 to Aug 12.

The retrospective, curated by Timothy Cooper and Ali Nobil Ahmed, was titled Between the Sacred and the Profane — The Cinema of Jamil Dehlavi. And the films that were shown over the weekend included seven of Jamil D’s films including the critically acclaimed The Blood of Hussain, Towers of Silence, Immaculate Conception, Jinnah and Born of Fire, with the director introducing each film. In October, BFI and Powerhouse films will release five of his films on Blu-Ray. Congratulations, sir! And make some more movies, please.

John’s statement

Beware John Abraham: you do have an idea what kind of world we’re living in. In case you’re wondering what’s this warning is about, well, the brawny Bollywood star has given a statement that may get him into a spot of bother. He’s said that India is not a safe country for women and animals.

Talking to an Indian journalist, the actor elaborated that India is one of the few countries where “we disrobe a woman by just looking at her.” He went on to say that it’s “sad and getting worse.” You are absolutely right, John A. For your sake, though, we hope the right-wing extremists on your side of the Wagah border don’t come trolling you for this sachi baat. If that does happen, here’s another piece of advice: don’t use your muscles … use your wisdom.

Ranbir is Alia’s photographer

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt’s relationship, whatever you call it, is getting stronger by the day. The two are nowadays busy shooting for Ayan Mukherjee’s film Brahamastra in picturesque Bulgaria.

There, Ranbir, apart from doing some acting, spends his time taking Alia B’s photographs, which the actress happily posts on her Instagram page. To be honest, one of them, a black and white click, is pretty special, which goes to show that Ranbir K has a great eye for beauty… If you know what I mean.

Not with hubby

The stunning Mila Kunis and her handsome husband Ashton Kutcher are arguably the cutest Hollywood couple. The actress doesn’t work much in movies, and is known to be pretty picky. However, the one thing that she’s certain about is not to work in a film with Ashton K. Why? Because she says, “I can’t look at him and not be like ‘what are you doing?’… It’s weird. [Once] in a scene with him

I was like ‘we can’t do this, we can’t be together in a scene.”

Strange for a couple that met in front of the camera on the long-running sitcom That ’70s Show. To be honest Mila K, it’s not that weird. Even in real life celebrity pairs act out a lot of things. Wink.

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 12th, 2018