Project delayed is project denied?

What’s the deal with Project Ghazi? The film’s screening was stopped after its premiere because one of its actors, Humayun Saeed, had raised objections about its technical weaknesses.

It’s been a few months ever since and there’s no news whether those technical glitches have been removed. We hope they haven’t canned the movie because it did generate a fair amount of interest for being the country’s ‘first superhero movie.’

We also hope that it doesn’t take a superhero to save the film from its technical botch-up.

The return of EP

They’re back together. They’re not. They’re back. No, they aren’t. They’re back again. Yes, they are …. Fans of rock and heavy metal music, the rock band EP is ready to perform as a unit again, and its performance at the Pepsi Battle of the Bands finale is proof of it.

Actually, we should’ve guessed it when its lead vocalist Fawad Khan became a judge of the contest and a couple of bands played famous EP songs on the show, in which he expressed his interest, giving tips to the young musicians.

Ahmed Butt and Zulfi, the other two integral members are in the loop, as it were, and are roaring to get back on stage or into the recording studio as a band. Cool. Rock on, guys! Just leave your (film) acting skills behind when you do that.

Kashmir it is

It was so refreshing to see a worthy band of talented musicians called Kashmir win Pepsi Battle of the Bands after weeks of great live performances on stage.

The runner-up Badnaam too were good, but it was evident from the way judges praised Kashmir’s last couple of songs, especially Kaghaz Ka Jahaz, that they were a little ahead of Badnaam. The public felt the same way (through their voting). Also, the show has garnered a decent following, and therefore should continue in the years to come. And yes, this year Pepsi Battle of the Bands has upstaged Coke Studio.

Oscar and Pakistan

Good news for well-wishers of Pakistani artists! Britain has submitted My Pure Land, directed by Sarmad Masud, in the Foreign Language Film Award (FLMA) category for this year’s Oscar race.

Our very own, and the girl with oodles of talent, Suhaee Abro plays the central character of one of the women who resist a siege by their relatives on their homes in a Pakistani village. She’s been getting rave reviews for her performance from the western press. In case you are wondering why Britain and foreign language film have been mentioned in the same sentence, well, the film is in Urdu.

Meanwhile, on Sept 16, the Pakistan Academy Selection Committee chose Saawan, directed by Farhan Alam, as Pakistan’s submission for

Oscar consideration in the FLMA category. The film revolves round the struggle of a disabled kid named Saawan, played by Karam Hussain, trying to survive the machinations of a tribal society. Congrats to teams Saawan and My Pure Land, and wish you all the luck at the Oscars.

K-Jo, the Riddler

You can’t keep Karan Johar quiet for a long stretch of time. However, this time round there is an aura of mystique about what he’s trying to say.

Lately, the director (whose spat on nepotism with Kangana Ranaut has now assumed legendary proportions) has been posting tweets that sound like veiled messages for someone. It began with, “Dear talent, I wish you would stay away from overconfidence and delusion … they are constantly conspiring against you.” He followed it up with, “Dear love, you are extremely wealthy and flourishing, so please don’t try and hire ownership and entitlement.”

Wow! You wonder who these messages are addressed to. Kangana R might know.

No more action

That’s what you call knowing one’s limitations.

Two years back Liam Neeson had announced that he would quit action films by 2017; and that’s exactly what he’s done.

The tall Irish actor says The Commuter and Hard Power will be the last two films in which he will be seen performing stunts and doing action sequences. After all, he is 65 years old. Good call, Liam N. But if you were an Indian or Pakistani film star, you would still be dancing around trees and beating the pulp out of villains. For us, age is just a number as long as you’re not a female.

Published in Dawn, ICON, September 24th, 2017