The Speech Debate

Although we also wrote about the fact that it would’ve been good had Arooj Aftab mentioned the name of Mehdi Hasan in her Grammy acceptance speech, we feel that the issue has been blown way out of proportion on social media. Why? Answer: Because it’s taking the sheen off her marvellous victory. She is a remarkable singer and has been churning out some fantastic music over the years. We have a tendency of going overboard with our grousing, and this is a classical case of it. So, Arooj A, bask in the glory of your success!

The Verdict

The Supreme Court’s historic verdict on April 8 undoing the unconstitutional dissolution of the National Assembly is truly an historic one that a vast majority of the people of Pakistan appreciated. However, it seems to have divided the showbiz community. There were artists such as Quratulain Baloch, Zara Noor Abbas, Khaled Anum and Salman Ahmed who did not approve of the decision. And there were those, too, who nodded in the affirmative. Now, folks, this is the beauty of democracy… we can agree to disagree. Let every flower, especially in show business, bloom.

Pasoori Praise

Armaan Malik is one of the finest singers and composers India has produced in recent times. For the uninitiated, he is the nephew of music director Anu Malik. While he has many a fan in Pakistan, he himself seems to be a huge admirer of Pakistani music (read: Coke Studio). His recent tweet is testimony to it, in which he has said, “Coke Studio Pakistan is next level!” As expected, his favourite track from this year’s edition is Pasoori. Good to know that, Armaan M. This is next level appreciation.

Beast Ban

Kuwait has put a ban on the screening of the Tamil film Beast, directed by Nelson Dilipkumar and starring Vijay Chandrashekhar, due to its Islamophobic content. The decision to do that was taken by the country’s Ministry of Information. Expanding on it, analysts say that the main reason for the ban is its anti-Pakistan sentiment and the negative light in which Muslims are shown in the story. To be honest, Indian filmmakers are making such movies with far too much frequency. They should realise that an excess of anything and everything is wrong. Besides, more than 200m Muslims live in India. What artist would want to hurt the feelings of such a large chunk of their own population! The insensitive ones...

Mutual Admiration Society

It happens very seldom that one famous person praises another for their beauty and talent. Well, it happened last week when singer Britney Spears put up a picture of Drew Barrymore and Kate Hudson on her Instagram page with the caption, “I’ve met thousands of celebrities in the business, they were the only two stars that have left me genuinely speechless.” The gorgeous Kate H was quick to respond, “So much to unpack here, lovely woman. But I have three important things to say. I think 1) Don’t ever stop smiling at strangers… you can and have changed lives with that smile 2) Perfection is boring 3) I’m beyond flattered by this compliment.” Aw… so sweet. Is there anything between the lines here, though?

Engagement!

On April 7, the media broke the news that pop star Avril Lavigne and punk singer Mod Sun have gotten engaged. The news did the rounds when the former was spotted in Los Angeles wearing a diamond ring shining bright and sunny. The fact, which was later revealed, is that the two, who have been going out for more than a year, got engaged in March, and it’s only now that journalists have got wind of their official status. Unlike Avril L’s song, there’s nothing complicated about successfully hiding something like that from the media for a month.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 17th, 2022