KARACHI: The mood for the Hum Style Awards (HSA), which celebrated its fourth edition on Saturday evening at the Expo Centre, was set from the get-go when veteran actor Adnan Siddiqui, a hot favourite with the masses and who is riding the popularity crest these days as the antagonist Shahwar in the hugely-popular TV serial penned by Khalil ur Rehman Qamar, ‘Meray Paas Tum Ho’, aired by a ‘rival’ network (quite ‘incidentally’ the double episode airing date was also pushed forward by a week to the same day as the HSA) in which he shares the credits with fellow actors Ayeza Khan (Mehwish) and Humayun Saeed (Danish), introduced himself as the host of the evening and went on the pull a few punches and make a few thinly-veiled jabs at the present government and the manner it’s running the affairs of the state.

Assisting him in hosting honours were actress Aamina Sheikh and actor/director Usman Mukhtar. While Aamina managed to hold her ground, Usman wavered in his duties as host and drew mixed response. This time again the HSA was off by almost two hours, but clocked in just over three hours, ending at a decent hour of shortly after midnight, leaving some confused as what to do with all their time while allowing others to make plans as the night was still young.

Dance performances are an integral part of all award ceremonies and the HSA certainly does not lag behind in the department. From the rebellious and vigorous opening rap number full of youthful energy and by the Young Stunners to Ahsan Khan and Sara Loren’s breathtaking performance to outstanding Pakistani numbers, the choreographer duo Shazy & Ghani did a stupendous job of keeping things at fever-pitch and immensly fast-paced. Other acts such as Farhan Saeed and Urwa Hocane, Zara Noor Abbas and Abrar ul Haq thoroughly entertained all and sundry with their energy-packed colourful performances, and toe-tapping beats.

And now to what mattered most that evening, the awards. A total of 18 awards were given away, besides two special awards, in fashion, television, music, films and sports. The recipents are:

Rising Star Award 2018-19 went to: Hamza Khan Baande & Mushk Kaleem; Hair & Make-up Artist of the Year: Qasim Liaqat; Fashion Photographer of the Year: Alee Hasan; Most Stylish Model (Female): Zara Abid; Most Stylish Model (Male): Aimal Khan; Designer of the Year (Lawn): Zara Shahjahan; Most Stylish Performer: Asim Azhar; Timeless Beauty Award: Reema Khan; Excellence in Interior Design &​ Furniture: Uzma Mirza; Designer of the Year (Pret): Sara Shahid of Sublime; Designer of the Year (Demi-Couture): Zaheer Abbas; Designer of the Year (Menswear): Ismail Farid; Designer of the Year (Bridal): Shehla; ChatoorRetail Label of the Year: Chapter 2; Most Stylish TV Actor (Male): Mikaal; ZulfiqarMost Stylish TV Actor (Female): Sonya Hussyn; Most Stylish Film Actor (Male): Ahad Raza Mir; Most Stylish Film Actor (Female) 2018-2019: Mahira Khan (Popular) & Kiran Malik (Jury)Most Stylish Sports Personality: Hajra KhanStyle icon: Ayesha Omar.

The stylist for the HSA this year was Nabila’s (NPro & N-Gents), Dino Ali and Hira Tareen as the digital host, designer Munib Nawaz and supernova model Mushk Kaleem as the red carpet hosts, Mehek Saeed and Amal F. Qadri as the celebrity stylists, and digital and media management by Tehmina Khaled (Take ll).

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2020