British Cake off

The upcoming, eagerly awaited Pakistani film Cake, directed by Asim Abbasi, had its premiere on March 14 at Leicester Square’s Veu cinema in London.

It has become the first Pakistani movie to have its premiere there. Apart from the cast — Aaminah Sheikh, Sanam Saeed, Adnan Malik — and crew, the pride of Pakistan Malala Yousafzai also attended the event.

A proud moment for team Cake, indeed! One hopes that when the film releases on March 30, they will eat the cake and have it, too.

Daler and trouble

On March 15 a court in Patiala, India sentenced internationally renowned Bhangra singer Daler Mehndi to two years in jail for being involved in a series of human trafficking incidents that took place in the early 2000s.

Apparently, the singer and his brother Shamsher used to illegally send people abroad showing them as members of their band. Those who had complained against the brothers alleged that they had even taken 10 million Indian rupees for the purpose.

By the way, Daler M has been granted bail, so right now he is not in the slammer. To be honest, if he is responsible for the crime, he should be behind bars sooner rather than later where he will definitely do a different version of his famous song Bolo tara ra ra.

Elton’s albums

Good news for fans of Elton John! On April 6, they will have the opportunity to listen to two albums — Revamp and Restoration — in which some of the most eminent singers of contemporary times have ‘re-imagined’ the songs written by Elton J and Bernie Taupin.

The first album has a pop touch to it while the second has a country feel. And the artists who have sung the songs include, among others, the likes of Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Cold Play, Miley Cyrus, Mary J. Blige and The Killers. Wow! This is something every music lover will look forward to.

Pride of Performance

Last week, the government of Pakistan announced names of the artists who will receive this year’s President’s Pride of Performance awards. Khaled Anam and Qaiser Nizamani received the award for their invaluable contributions to showbiz on March 23.

They richly deserve it after having served the realms of theatre and television for a long time and are two of the most under-celebrated talented individuals. Congrats and way to go!

Prayers for Irrfan

Ever since the news about actor Irrfan Khan’s illness broke, his friends and admirers have been in a constant state of grief. What caused them more anguish was the fact that the media had been calling it a ‘rare disease’.

Now it has been revealed by the actor himself through his social media post that he is suffering from a medical condition known as neuroendocrine tumour. He is travelling abroad for treatment and has hoped that he will be back soon “with more stories to tell.”

Indeed, Irrfan K. Your fans in Pakistan wish you a swift and full recovery.

The breakup tattoo

Arguably the most popular under-30 celebrity couple has broken up. The reference is to pop star Zayn Malik and super model Gigi Hadid’s split that took place a few days back. It seems, though, that the former One Direction member isn’t yet over the breakup.

The reason: immediately after the two parted ways, Malik got a large, unmissable tattoo of a black and white rose on the back of his neck, something that reminds him of Gigi H. He also has his former girlfriend’s big eyes emblazoned on his chest.

Gosh! Now it will take an awful lot of time and pain to remove those things, whereas the super ramp-walker doesn’t appear to be bothered about colouring her body with anything that will remind her of him. After all, she’s a model.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 25th, 2018