Happily Married

Although A-list Pakistani showbiz jorri Sajjal Ali and Ahad Raza Mir decided to keep their mayun ceremony hush-hush, pictures of the couple dressed for, and participating in, the occasion appeared on the internet on March 12. They looked lovely in the photos. A little later, images of their nikah in Abu Dhabi came along as well. We understand that it’s wise to keep certain private happenings away from the mainstream media, and wish a happy married life to the couple!

Mehwish In My World

Mehwish Hayat is going places, figuratively, even though she’s choosing to remain tight-lipped about Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar’s misogyny. Let us explain. Angelina Jolie (yes, Angelina J, former Mrs Brad Pitt) has produced a programme for the BBC called My World whose objective is to find the ‘real stories behind the news’. For one of the episodes, an interview of Mehwish H has also been recorded. The Pakistani actress herself divulged this vital piece of info to us on social media, “Excited that my interview for BBC World will be out soon.” Everyone’s excited and waiting to hear her real story behind the news.

Unfazed Jacqueline

Making it big in showbiz is difficult on multiple levels, especially for actresses. On March 12, Jacqueline Fernandez revealed to a journo something that took many by unpleasant surprise. She said when she came from Sri Lanka to India to work in Bollywood, she was told by someone that, in order to get accepted by audiences, she would need to have a nose job and change her name. It didn’t stop there. Someone else advised her to drop the accent. Of course, the tough and beautiful girl that she is, she didn’t pay heed to such frivolous remarks and went on to become one of the most successful box office film stars in recent times. Well done, Jackie F for rubbing their nose(s) in their useless nuggets of advice.

Sushant and Rhea

Sushant Singh Rajput is proving to be a bit of a Casanova. After breaking up with Ankita Lokhande, his girlfriend of six years, he was rumoured to have been going out with Kriti Sanon. But that rumour too fizzled out. Now his relationship with VJ and actress Rhea Chakraborty is said to be going steady. In fact, sources say that he even wants to tie the knot with her. Well, going by his record, we take this khabar with a pinch of a salt, because he has just signed a film with Rhea C to be helmed by Rumi Jaffrey. It could well be just a publicity gimmick. Sushant shan’t do it.

Quarantine List

That’s how you face difficult times! On March 11, Hollywood royalty Tom Hanks and his wife, actress and singer Rita Wilson, tested positive for the coronavirus while they were in Australia, after which they were quarantined. Instead of feeling down, Rita W came up with a wonderful idea to kill time and stay strong. She told her admirers that she wanted to make a Spotify playlist and it’d be great if they could add songs to it. They replied with a fair amount of enthusiasm and, in no time, she was able to make a list of 29 tracks, including Locked Up by Akon and U Can’t Touch This by M.C. Hammer. That’s smart thinking Rita W. Now that she and Tom H have recuperated, she might want to pass on the playlist to Idris Elba who has now also tested positive.

Boat Idol

American Idol is one of the most watched music reality TV shows in the world. This year’s line-up of judges — Lionel Ritchie, Luke Bryan and Katy Perry — too has a role to play in the success of the programme. Part of the show’s charm is that they’re always coming up with something new to enliven the show. So last week, they decided to do the final auditions of contestants on a boat. Isn’t that cool? Now we will know what really rocks their boat.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 22nd, 2020