Saying Goodbye

Legendary comedian Umer Sharif’s death certainly saddened the entire nation. The first ones to express their grief at his demise were television and film celebrities, most of whom live in Karachi; they tweeted their messages of admiration for the late artist. Ironically, apart from Latif Khosa, no TV celeb was seen at his funeral, which took place in Karachi on Oct 6. The artists who did turn up belonged to the world of commercial theatre, who had worked with Umer Sharif for a long time. We guess the TV and film celebs were at home praying for his soul to rest in peace.

Pakistani Cast

After actress Ushna Shah’s comments against Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali making a web series about the Lahore locality Heera Mandi, actor and host Ahmed Ali Butt made a similar remark about the makers of the hit Netflix series Squid Game — for casting an Indian actor, Anupam Tripathi, in the role of a Pakistani man. His words: “It’s so frustrating to see Pakistani characters in big TV series being played by Indian actors. Why can’t these productions cast original Pakistani actors for such roles?” Valid question. Again, don’t we need a bit of introspection as to why that’s not happening?

Getting It In The Neck

Hollywood top gun Woody Harrelson was with his daughter in Washington DC walking towards their home on October 6, when a man, apparently inebriated, started taking their pictures. When the actor tried to stop him from using the camera and requested him to delete the photos, he became aggressive and moved towards Woody H with hostile intentions. According to a statement given to the police by the actor, he punched the amateur photographer in the neck in self-defence. This was corroborated by the people who witnessed the scuffle. Hmmm… Woody H is a natural born hitter, eh? Who would’ve thought!

Bieber Mum

We don’t know how to describe this, but it feels good to see someone as seasoned as Oscar winner Diane Keaton appearing in someone as young and contemporary as Justin Bieber’s music video for the song called Ghost. Before anyone jumps to any weird conclusions, the actress is playing the pop star’s mother in the story. To be honest, it’s a pretty decent storyline and Diane K is absolutely stunning in it and looks the part to a ‘t’. As for Justin B, he may be a good singer, but he needs to improve his acting skills. In front of Diane K, he comes across as a mama’s boy.

Narcotic Psychotic

The case of Shah Rukh Khan’s son Aryan’s arrest — along with seven others — by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) of India after a raid on a cruise ship, has surely been blown out of proportion. India nowadays appears to be a painfully divided country and there is speculation that Aryan K was targeted by elements within the ruling Hindutva party simply because he was SRK’s son. As soon as the news of his arrest came out, there were a huge number of people, including SRK’s Bollywood colleagues, who came out in support of the 17-year-old; at the same time, no less was the number of trolls on social media who tried to make fun of the actor and his offspring. Perhaps they should focus more on another son — the adult son of a BJP minister — who mowed down poor protesting farmers in cold blood, drugged only with power and hatred.

The Babysitter

Daniel Craig and Rami Malik are busy promoting their latest Bond movie No Time To Die (which is getting rave reviews). In an interview with late night show host Jimmy Kimmel, Rami M said that he once offered Kate Middleton to babysit her three children if she and her husband Prince William wanted to spend some time outside of their home. When Daniel C heard about it, on the same talk show the next day, he asked, “What was he going to charge an hour?” Interesting question, 007! It seems to have shaken, if not stirred, up your curiosity!

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 17th, 2021