KARACHI: The QMobile Hum Style Awards (QHSA) held at the Expo Centre on Saturday night gave away trophies in 21 categories based on voting and jury sessions and were interspersed with song and dance performances by some of the finest talent in the country that continued till early Sunday morning.

The ceremony hosted by Saba Qamar, Farhan Saeed and Ali Kazmi started with Saba Qamar’s visually striking Bang Bang (Kaise Kaise Log Star Ban Jaate Hain) opening number where she pulled all the punches while addressing various malpractices in the entertainment industry. She also won hearts by stating “Meri pehchan Hindi Medium nahin Pakistan hai” and pointed out on a somewhat light note that her film raked in three times more at the box office than Khoobsurat, adding that in Fawad Khan’s case it was Hum TV and its blockbuster serial Humsafar that shot him to stardom. In fact it was the first among many jibes aimed at both Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan, who are otherwise regulars at such ceremonies and were particularly conspicuous by their absence and hence at the receiving end of most of Saba Qamar’s jokes and sarcasm throughout the night.

Saba’s parody of a starstruck Mahira totally in awe of Shah Rukh Khan during the act titled Magic Hat drove home the point even more vehemently. It seems some bad blood has seeped into the three-way love affair.

Also, some hardcore speeches were delivered by the winners while receiving their awards. Saheefa Jabbar called upon all young women to “focus on achieving their goals in the face of adversities” while Hamza Abassi stated “We have fought very hard for these freedoms in Karachi so don’t take it for granted and do attend such ceremonies even if you’re not among the winners, or not nominated” aimed at his fellow artist community.

Shoaib Malik said it was the only platform that recognised the immense contribution made by athletes and sports persons.The lackadaisical performances included those by Syra Shehroz and Asim Azfar, Sijal Ali, Urwa Hocane and Ayesha Omer, while those by Ahsan Khan and Polish entertainer Ilona Bekier, Atif Aslam and Quratulain Baloch were received with aplomb.

Among the sports personalities spotted were Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Akram besides Wasim Akram’s wife Shaneria Akram. The recipients of the QHSA trophy in various categories are: Most stylish model (Female): Sadaf Kanwal, Most stylish model (Male): Salman Riaz, Hair & makeup artist of the year: Shoaib Khan, Rising star (Female): Saheefa Jabbar Khattak, Rising star (Male): MHM Photography, Fashion photographer of the year: Ashna Khan, Fashion publication of the year: Diva, Designer of the year (Lawn): Sana Safinaz, Designer of the year (Demi-Couture): Zaheer Abbas, Designer of the year (Bridal): Shehla Chatoor, Designer of the year (Menswear): Ismail Fareed, Most stylish actor (TV): Feroz Khan, Most stylish actress (TV): Ayesha Omer, Most stylish performer (Male): Farhad Humayun, Most stylish performer (Female): Meesha Shafi, Most stylish television hosts: Hamza Ali Abbasi (viewers’ choice) & HSY (jury vote), Most stylish sports personality: Shoaib Malik, Most stylish actor (Film): Osman Khalid Butt, Most stylish actress (Film): Sanam Saeed, Best retail brand: Generation, Outstanding achievement brand development: Khaadi, Out­standing achievement & contri­­bution to social service award: Ronak Lakhani, QMobile style icon: Atif Aslam and Best designer (Jewellery): Reema Taseer.

The hair and makeup for QHSA was by N-Pro and N-Gents by Nabila’s with PR and media management by Tehmina Khaled and her team at Take II.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2017