Depression Issues

It was brave of actor/singer Mohsin Abbas Haider and actress Nausheen Shah to talk candidly about their struggles with depression on a chat show hosted by Ahsan Khan. Mohsin AH mentioned the time when he even contemplated suicide, and Nausheen S, agreeing with her colleague’s description of the illness, told Ahsan K that she was ‘there’ (in a dark place) for seven years — yes, such a long time.

Thank heavens they are now in a much better state of mind. It goes to show, as we have often iterated, that artists are just like any other human being and that all is not always hunky dory in celebrity lives, a fact that sometimes those on the outside conveniently overlook.

Shaan and Eid Films

Film star Shaan has become a bit of a social commentator. He doesn’t hold back from giving his comments on the subjects that he finds within his purview of commentary. On July 16, when actor Faysal Qureshi expressed his excitement on social media about the Eidul Azha Pakistani releases, Shaan came up with an opposite standpoint, arguing that it’s not good for the industry to release all films on the same day.

He backed up his argument by saying these films (three of which will be released on Eidul Azha) are the ‘best’ films of this year and all will be ‘spent’ in one day. To be honest, it’s a worthy point. But how did he come to know that all of them are the ‘best’ movies of the year? Does he know something we don’t. Or is he just being uber-optimistic?

Virushka in UK

Although the Indian cricket team wanted to return to India as quickly as possible after their defeat in the semi-final on July 10 against New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup, they couldn’t get air tickets for before July 14. This made them stay back in the UK, and gave a chance to captain of the team Virat Kohli to have a good time in London with his wife Anushka Sharma.

You know, the paps don’t miss such opportunities, so on one such occasion, a fan got hold of the couple and had their pictures snapped with him, which was later carried by the shutterbugs in their newspapers. In the photos, both Virat K and Anushka S are seen wearing ripped jeans. No, no… it’s a style statement; it has nothing to do with angry fans trying to vent their anger for the defeat in the semis…

Photobombed!

Brad Pitt comes across as a serious, no-nonsense guy. He is not. Last week, he was in Los Angeles for a photo-call for his film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, along with his co-stars Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio, and director of the movie Quentin Tarantino. When the photographers asked Margot R for a solo shoot, she came and stood in front of the camera, elegantly dressed up. But just when the camera was about to go ‘click’, Brad P jumped into the middle of the actress and the camera. Thankfully, she did not mind and gave him a smile. Obviously, she understands, he is 55 years of age and has just come out of a long, fraught relationship with Angelina Jolie, in which pranking might not have been allowed.

Country Pratt

Hollywood hunk Chris Pratt is riding a nice little wave of success. His films are doing well at the box office, he just got married to Katherine Schwarzenegger and, now, add another floating feather to his cap: the man can sing country songs like a pro.

On July 11, Chris P and his wife were in Nashville at Robert’s Western World where, unexpectedly, Chris P went up the stage and sang Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues. His rendition was pitch-perfect. It was no one-hit thing, though. Earlier, he had performed Papa Loved Mom by Garth Brooks at another upscale venue, taking many by a pleasant surprise. Cool. Chris P should not be worried about critics who take his acting skills with a pinch of salt. If his movies don’t do well in the future, he has another career to fall back on.

Simba On Repeat

Finally, Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan has joined showbiz. Well, sorta. The son of the king of Bollywood has voice-dubbed for the Hindi version of The Lion King, playing (or voicing) the character of Simba. Uber happy, SRK posted a clip of the movie and his son’s voice (which sounds pretty much like his father’s) on Twitter, and it went viral in the blink of an eye.

Celebs, such as Karan Johar (of course), Riteish Deshmukh and Ranveer Singh congratulated the Khans, suggesting the younger one has a bright future ahead. Aryan K’s mum Gauri also took to social media showing her excitement and saying that she’s “watching this [clip] on repeat.” Madam, if he sounds like SRK, we’re not sure if it’s a good idea to hear him on repeat.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 21st, 2019