Well Done CS

Season 12 of Coke Studio continues to impress us for more reasons than one. The producers of the show were to release Episode 3 of the 2019 edition on November 2, but on November 1 they announced they’re not doing it “in solidarity with the families affected by the Tezgam train tragedy” in which more than 70 innocent lives were lost.

Well done, CS12. Artists, after all, do take such catastrophes more seriously than others, especially more than those who are in government.

Baji in Vancouver

Congratulations to director Saqib Malik and the entire team of Baji! The film has been selected for screening at the Vancouver International South Asian Film Festival on November 16. It has already been shown at the DC South Asian Film Fest in the US and the Mosaic International Festival in Canada. While it’s a healthy sign for our film industry, we have to say that our films are being screened, mostly, at events that have to do with South Asia. It’s time to think beyond.

The Non-Woman Issue

It would be easy to condemn writer and now director (of Kaaf Kangana) Khalil ur Rehman Qamar for saying that what makes a woman beautiful is her “modesty and loyalty”, and that the one who doesn’t have these qualities is a “non-woman”? But in actual fact, what Khalil Q has said is an opinion held by many in Pakistani society.

Unfortunately, this line of thinking is deep-seated among Pakistani men and something that needs to be psychoanalysed and addressed as a wider societal issue. It is incumbent on the media, thinkers and writers to offer a corrective to such antiquated and misogynistic mindsets. As for the writer/director, if he keeps making movies and TV dramas with this kind of mindset he’ll soon understand how easy it is to churn out a non-product.

Rabi exits showbiz

How callous can we get in spreading things about people’s private lives without thinking that they can permanently affect their hearts and souls? Singer Rabi Pirzada announced on social media on November 4 that she’s quit showbiz. Let’s not talk about what prompted her to take such a big decision. Let’s just hope that sanity prevails in our society and we start respecting people’s personal spaces.

They’re An Item

In case anyone didn’t know who Timothee (Homeland, Interstellar) Chalamet is dating, well, the answer is: Lily-Rose Depp, the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. The two have worked together in The King, which can be seen on Netflix, and have been promoting the film in different parts of the world. The rumour that they’re going out was doing the rounds for some months, but it was confirmed right after a screening of The King in New York when the two moved away from the venue to lock lips and were spotted by prying cameras. (This, by the way, happened on a couple of other occasions as well.) Now we know what Lily-Rose D’s favourite film is: Call me by his name.

Not Easy To Be Mum

We have often said that artists face the same problems as lesser mortal beings. Here’s a piece of evidence. Last week, pop star Pink’s chitchat with a magazine about how difficult it is for/as a mum to tour for concerts made many empathise with her.

To contextualise, she has been on a world tour, extremely successful we might add, called ‘Beautiful Trauma’ since 2018. The artist explained, “There have been many times when I have been sitting in the corner of arena bathrooms crying and saying to myself, ‘There’s a reason why women don’t do this, there’s a reason why moms don’t do this,’ because it’s frigging impossible at times … The last couple of months, Willow [daughter] was over it. She wants to be home and do BMX and swim team and gymnastics and all the stuff that an 8-year-old wants to do. So she was asking to go home, and that’s when I knew: from here on out, it changes.” See dear readers, moral of the story is, fame and money don’t necessarily earn you comfort and peace of mind.

Published in Dawn, ICON, November 10th, 2019