Saba’s fan-base
These days the sprightly and endearingly garrulous Saba Qamar is as happy as a lark. Her performance in Hindi Medium has largely been appreciated on both sides of the Wagah border, and the fact that the Bollywood film has done fairly well at the box office has further validated her status as a bankable actress.
That aside, Saba Q felt super proud of herself when she received a message from Indian actress Vidya Balan singing praises for her performance. She in response said that praise coming from Vidya B is no less than an honour for her. True that. To be honest, Saba Q is pretty entertaining in Hindi Medium, and for her big Indian admirer, movies are all about entertainment, entertainment, entertainment … oh sorry, that was for ‘dirty pictures’, not the kind of pictures Saba Q does.
Story of Pure Land
Western directors of Asian descent are making their presence felt on a global scale big time. Sarmad Masud is one of them. The Nottingham filmmaker’s long-awaited My Pure Land will be screened at the Edinburgh Film Festival on June 24.
Starring Suhaee Abro, Eman Malik, Tanveer Hussain, Razia Malik and Atif Akhtar Bhatti, the film is based on a true story of a mother and her two daughters who are put in a situation where they have to protect their family home from a gang of armed men. It sounds like an emotional rollercoaster with a lot of action. And we, who live in the land of the pure, love an emotion-packed drama. And a great deal of action.
Sunny Leone escapes turbulence
Sunny Leone is a gal with a steely resolve. This means, she gets whatever she put her mind to. To boot, she’s darn lucky.
Last week, the Indian actress was travelling to Mumbai in a private jet with her husband Daniel. Mid-air and mid-way, the plane went through a terribly turbulent patch, so much so that the pilot had to warn the passengers to be prepared for any kind of eventuality. Fortunately, the plane managed to pass through the rough phase with no damage.
As soon as the situation normalised, Sunny L tweeted, “Our plane almost just crashed, and now we are in some remote place in Maharashtra. We are alive and we are going home.”
Wow! For some people, if they don’t tweet about it, it didn’t happen.
Setting them apart
A new rivalry in Bollywood is taking root. Actresses Taapsee Pannu and Jacqueline Fernandez are working opposite Varun Dhawan in Judwaa 2 which is being shot in London.
Apparently, the two beautiful women don’t get along (no surprises there). What’s surprising is that the director of the movie David Dhawan knows that very well, as a result of which he has made sure that both actresses’ scenes are shot separately — that is, when one is not around, the other’s scenes are recorded … unless both are together in a sequence.
Things are so sour between them that they barely acknowledge each other’s presence when they are in the same room. And Varun D is having a whale of a time, because when Taapsee P is not around, he gives his full attention to Jacqueline D, and when Jacky baby ain’t there, Taapsee P thinks her chemistry with him is electric.
Boys will be boys.
She is single
Shraddha Kapoor is miffed with those who are spreading the rumour that she’s having an affair with Farhan Akhtar. The actress said that she is so busy with her acting schedules that she doesn’t have time for a relationship.
She has also denied the reports that she met him a couple of hours before he left for the airport to fly out to Spain for a vacation. She is angry that gossip-mongers are making mountains out of molehills.
Right on Shraddha K! We get it. When you do have the time for a relationship, Farhan K will be the guy to have it with. Right? People don’t understand: it’s all about the time factor.
Crossing the line
Make no mistake: what comedienne Kathy Griffin did was utterly wrong and in bad taste. For those who don’t know, on June 1 she took part in a photo shoot of the fake beheading of US President Donald Trump.
The moment the picture was uploaded, it went super viral on the internet, receiving criticism from people of all political and social persuasions. Realising her mistake, the comedienne profusely apologised saying she moved the line, crossed it, and went way too far. She was also fired from CNN where she was doing a pretty decent job up until then.
Interestingly, A-list comedian and Hollywood superstar Jim Carrey has a different take on the issue. He believes, “It is the job of the comedian to cross the line at all times, because that line is not real …. We are the last line of defense. And comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing. It is impossible to get away from it.”
Hmm … Jim C, you may have a point and Trump’s antics are hard to ignore, but can’t agree with you on this one.
In youth’s hands
The girl with a winsome smile Syra Shehroz is fast becoming one of the leading screen beauties of Pakistani cinema. However, as far as her opinions go, she comes across as a trifle naïve.
She’s given a statement that now the reins of Pakistani cinema are in young people’s hands, and therefore everyone should support the industry. While the ‘support’ part is alright, it is hard to fathom what Syra S means by the word ‘young’. Jami and Anjum Shahzad (who have made two films), Nadeem Beyg (who is making his second) and Ahsan Rahim (who is making his first) etc, are no spring chickens.
And even the phrase ‘revival of cinema’ is now so old that it’s begun to rot.
Published in Dawn, ICON, June 11th, 2017
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