Anwar and Asma, alas!

Two blows in quick succession. First, renowned TV actor Anwar Iqbal died on July 1 in Karachi. He was 70 and had been ill for some time. He had acted in a large number of Urdu and Sindhi plays. In Fatima Surraya Bajia’s television series aired in the 1970s, Shama, his character’s catchphrase “Nana ki jaan Qamru” had catapulted him to national fame. He also produced and played the lead role in Pakistan’s very first Balochi film Hamal-o-Mahganj, which had to be shelved for a long time. The next day, on July 2, writer Asma Nabeel passed away. She had been battling cancer for some years. She was the writer of TV serials Khaani and Khuda Mera Bhi Hai. It’s been a sad week for television. May they both rest in peace.

Dilip Kumar Is No More

The first major superstar of the Indian film industry and a legendary actor, known among his admirers as the king of tragedy, Dilip Kumar died on July 7. He was 98. Born Yusuf Khan in the Qissa Khwani Bazaar area of pre-Partition Peshawar, Dilip Sahib worked in 60 commercially successful and critically acclaimed films such as Andaz, Mughal-i-Azam, Devdas, Ram Aur Shyam, Shakti and Mashaal. He was inarguably one of the finest actors the Indian subcontinent has produced. May he rest in peace.

Sajid as Host

Actor Sajid Hasan has come up with a talk show titled Zindagi with Sajid Hasan on a local TV channel. It’s a nice little effort, given the experience and influence that he has in the entertainment industry. So far, showbiz bigwigs such as Bushra Ansari and Humayun Saeed have appeared on his programme, and since Sajid H keeps the questions unscripted, there’s certain flair to the programme which is pretty good. Let’s see if he is able to add more zing to the scheme of things in the future.

Sonya-Sharmeen-Feroze Spat

First, Sonya Hussyn’s old interview emerges in which she’s heard saying that if she had the choice she’d have turned down doing Raees opposite Shah Rukh Khan because she wouldn’t want to be his sidekick. Then Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy takes her to task by arguing “don’t diss other women [Mahira Khan] in the industry, it reflects poorly on you,” after which Feroze Khan jumps into the fray, taking Sharmeen-OC to task and claiming the Oscar-winner never paid the woman on whom she made her documentary etc… Come on guys! Take a chill pill. You’re not teenagers anymore. Your tit-for-tat comments reflect poorly on the fraternity (or sorority) you’re part of.

Rawalpindi Express II

It was such a delight to see former fastest-bowler-in-the-world Shoaib Akhtar’s cute little son dancing to the famous Aamir Khan song Bum Bum Bole from the movie Tare Zameen Par. How do we know? Answer: Shoaib A made the video himself and put it up on his Instagram page, which immediately got noticed by his countless fans. They adored the young one’s moves and wrote commendatory comments. The cricketer’s caption accompanying the video was, “Aamir Khan’s work is still doing wonders for every kid…” Indeed. Not sure if it’s doing wonders for Aamir K himself, though.

Don’t Strike a Pose

Sad is the word that comes to mind. Last week, Indian filmmaker Raj Kaushal died of a heart attack at the age of 49. He was the husband of actress and TV anchor Mandir Bedi. Together they have two children. As is often the case, the media sought opinion on his demise from Bollywood stars, one of whom was Mahima Chaudhry. Much to the chagrin of many, before giving her views on his passing, the actress struck a pose for photographers, which can be seen in a video that subsequently went viral. It infuriated social media users. Uff… If she does this when she’s no more working in movies and is not in the limelight as much as she used to be, imagine what would have happened had she still been playing the lead role in films. Shudder.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 11th, 2021