STUDIO MANDARINS

Speculations are rife about who is going to hold the reins of Coke Studio’s next season (or from the next season) now that Strings have departed. The name that emerged as the front-runner for the job was of the pop band Noori. Another name that was being discussed by the rumour mill was that of Xulfi, the musician who has over the years successfully produced Nescafe Basement. Since both are originally from Lahore, and Coke’s head office is also in that city, it was considered a fait accompli that the Studio was going to be run from the Punjab capital in the future.

But hold on a sec! Why can’t they hire younger musicians, ones with contemporary sensibility and at the same time rooted in their culture? Shuja Haider or Abbas Ali Khan, for example. It will add the kind of zing to the show that’s been missing from it for a few years. Just a thought.

He sings for kings

The Pakistan Super League is around the corner. The franchises are preparing hard to do well in the tournament. As part of their promotional campaign, the Karachi Kings have hired the services of pop star Shehzad Roy to do their theme song. To boot, cricketer Shahid Afridi will appear in its video.

Wow! This sounds exciting, although Shehzad R could have easily played the part of a cricketer in the video himself. It could have saved them a lot of time and hassle.

MORE VISITS FROM THE GOON SQUAD

These are really difficult times for artists in the subcontinent. So much so that even the dictum ‘difficulty induces growth’ has begun to ring hollow.

Ever since cameras started to roll on the sets of filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming film Padmavati, he has been under severe pressure from a certain right-wing Hindu group that believes the story of his film distorts ‘facts’ — even though the historical accuracy of the Padmavati character, which the group reveres, is itself in doubt. At least on a couple of occasions, the film’s set was vandalised and the director and his crew were manhandled. A petition was even filed in the Supreme Court to stop the movie from releasing (on December 1), which the court has dismissed.

Now the president of Shri Rajput Sabha, Girraj Singh Lotwara has threatened that he (Singh) will not be responsible if young men beat up the director wherever and whenever he is seen. Sad. And it seems there is no one in India who can give goons such as him a shut-up call.

What inspires her

That’s what you call a true fraternity or, in this case, sorority. For a long time, people thought that the spunky Jacqueline Fernandez didn’t like the pretty-as-a-picture Katrina Kaif’s guts. They were seldom seen together, and if they were invited to the same party, they would hardly be spotted talking to each other. Well, it turns out that it ain’t true.

Last week Jacky F told a friend that the work that Katrina K and Alia Bhatt does “inspire” her. Isn’t that magnanimous of her!

Mind you, at the same time, she doesn’t want to do a movie with any of the actresses that inspire her.

Pakistan, just once

This is downright emotional and worth pondering over. Indian actor Rishi Kapoor is known for speaking his mind. His no-holds-barred posts on social media often land him in controversies, sometimes making him lock horns with the high and mighty. One of the actor’s latest tweets is about his wish to visit Pakistan before he breathes his last and see his ancestral home in Peshawar. He also wants his children to accompany him. Sure, sir. Darn the politics on both sides of the Wagah border!

SAGET ENGAGED

Bob Saget, the star of the ’80s hit sitcom Full House and now its sequel Fuller House on Netflix, got engaged to Kelly Rizzo on Nov 8.

In case you are not familiar with Kelly R, she hosts the TV show Eat Travel Rock. The thing is that it’s a bit of a May-December relationship because Bob S is 61 years of age and she is 38. He was previously married to Sherri Kramer for 15 years. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1997. The actor has three grown-up daughters with his first wife.

Interesting. Perhaps by getting married for a second time, he intends to turn his fuller house into the fullest house.

Published in Dawn, ICON, November 19th, 2017