Pakistani girls rock at Masala

Apparently, there’s no joint collaboration going on between Pakistani and Indian film and TV artists. Is that right? Because the kind of camaraderie witnessed at the Masala Awards held in the UAE proves otherwise.

The stunning Mahira Khan was given the Asian Woman of Substance award; the effervescent Mawra Hocane won the Social Media Sensation trophy; and the spunky Saba Qamar bagged the Best Breakthrough artist award for her film Hindi Medium.

Well done, girls! Keep telling the hate-mongers art and artists can never be pigeonholed.

That ’90s show

It’s both cool and a trifle strange. Four of our pop/rock bands from the 1990s have resurfaced with renewed gusto. Strings have just done a big successful concert, Aaroh have come up with a new song based on a Habib Jalib poem, The Milestones have released a song Socha Na Tha with a new vocalist Roop Ali and Rushk (formed in 2000, so close enough) are planning to launch an album. It can’t be a coincidence.

Also, it couldn’t have been something that they decided together. It can only mean that the vacuum that the pop industry had been experiencing for a decade got so deep that the bands took it upon themselves to change things around. It’s a good sign. One hopes that they will inspire a younger breed of musicians to follow suit.

The journo in Alia

Alia Bhatt is one of the finest, if not the finest, actresses of her generation. But no one knew that she had the germs of a reporter as well. Last week, at the We The Women summit, she interviewed renowned journalist Barkha Dutt. From the get go, she asked the senior reporter and TV anchor pointed, pertinent and well-phrased questions.

The chitchat impressed Barkha D so much that she paid Alia B a nice little compliment. She said that while she (Barkha D) could not act, Alia B could be a good journalist. Well, to be honest, Barkha D is not a bad actress either.

Rishi in rage

Someone should tell Rishi Kapoor to take a chill pill. His temperament is getting increasingly annoying for his friends, foes and fans.

On Dec 14, at the launch of a book on his father Raj Kapoor, Rishi K, while coming out of the restroom, saw three journalists, who were invited by the publisher, waiting to get into the hotel. He asked them who they were and despite the fact that they told him that they had invites, he sarcastically remarked that people come to events for a free drink and then asked the hotel staff not to let them in. This made the atmosphere at the venue very tense.

Interestingly, the hotel manager told the three men that they couldn’t help it because Rishi K had previously too created a similar scene. Hmmm … it seems Rishi K is not getting his drinks for free…

Foxy and Foxx

Finally, the beautiful Katie Holmes (or former Mrs Tom Cruise, if you will) has decided that she will no more keep her relationship with Jamie Foxx under the hat (though we knew about it all along).

On his 50th birthday (Dec 13) she joined him on the Paramount lot in Hollywood, had dinner with him and then left for Paramount Studios with him, hand in hand, where the Oscar-winning Jamie F was supposed to deliver a speech and dance with his friends. Good on you two!

That being said, don’t dance too hard Jamie. You know, at the age of 50, limbs and sinews can only afford to shimmy a little bit, not rock n’ roll with youthful vigour like a 39-year-old foxy partner.

Headphones handlers

They’re not just the most good-looking couple in the world but also the smartest. Recently, while travelling to the UK with their six-month-old twins, George Clooney and his better half Amal handed noise-canceling headphones to their co-first-class-passengers.

The headphones were accompanied by a note penned by the husband-wife pair that read: “Our twins just discovered squawking. Hope this helps make the flight quieter.” George C seems to be an exceedingly considerate and generous person — we heard recently also how he’d handed 14 of his buddies a million dollars each in cash, just to thank them for being there for him. Makes you wish you knew them, doesn’t it?

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 24th, 2017