Abida’s Devotion

Abida Parveen needs no praise. She is a legend, an icon in the field of music. Following the success of this year’s Coke Studio’s opening song Jhoom Jhoom, co-performed with Naseeb Lal, comes the singer’s collaboration with the Indian composer duo Salim-Sulaiman, a number titled O Mere Maula. It’s a wonderful devotional piece, evocatively sung by Abida P and Salim. The video of the song has seasoned actor Pankaj Triphati at the centre of a sensitive little story which also goes well with the composition. Give it a listen.

Going Coachella

We know we have been writing a lot about Arooj Aftab lately. Can we help it, though? She is accomplishing one feat after another. The latest from her sparkling career is that the vocalist — we should add, the Grammy-winning vocalist — performed last week at the famed Coachella Music Festival. She is the first Pakistani to do so. Isn’t that awesome! Now we want Arooj A to come back to her country and do a gig or two here for her fellow countrymen as well!

A Thousand Apologies

It was thoughtful of Akshay Kumar to have apologised to his fans after appearing in a tobacco brand advert — actually an ad for elaichi [cardamom] marketed by the tobacco brand — alongside Ajay Devgan and Shah Rukh Khan. The ad drew a lot of flak from the healthy-living promoting actor’s admirers. So Akshay K uploaded a video on Instagram with the following message: “I would like to apologise to all my fans and well-wishers. Your reaction over the past few weeks has deeply affected me. While I have not and will not endorse tobacco, I respect the outpouring of your feelings in light of my association with Vimal Elaichi. With all humility, I step back. I have decided to contribute the entire endorsement fee towards a worthy cause. The brand might continue airing the ads till the legal duration of the contract that is binding upon me, but I promise to be extremely mindful in making my future choices.” But now social media is calling Akshay K out for lying about never endorsing tobacco because an old cigarette ad of his has been dug out. It’s a cancer, this social media, innit?

Coffee With Indifference

Indian producer and director Karan Johar is super active on Instagram and Twitter. Although he has restricted his posts to those about his upcoming film and streaming platform productions these days, he is still followed by a huge number of showbiz buffs. Giving an interview on a talk show, after claiming that now trolls don’t upset him, he said, “Love me, hate me, for heaven’s sake don’t be indifferent to me, because that’s something that might kill me. Indifference is something that I can’t bear.” Hmmm… K-Jo, there are countless people in this world who don’t follow you, and you are still alive.

Motherhood Begins

On April 21, Hollywood star and Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence gave birth to her first baby. She and her husband Cooke Marooney have so far remained secretive about the details about the child, and we totally respect that. Not everything needs to be public domain. In any case, congratulations to J-Law for becoming a mother. We’re sure the birth of the child would have been a prouder moment for her than winning the Oscar.

Lively Drinks

Actress Blake Lively can be seen in a new advertisement for a non-alcoholic drink, pouring the fizzy liquid and commenting on it in her typical ‘lively’ style. Supermodel Gigi Hadid — whose birthday falls on April 23, two days after that commercial hit the airwaves — saw it on Instagram and couldn’t help saying to Blake L in her post, “Hi, what’s your rate for three hours of bartending for a birthday weekend… Nothing hits like one mixed by B.” Well, the actress didn’t respond to her query publicly, which could mean that Gigi H either can’t afford her or that a deal has been struck behind Direct Messaging.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 1st, 2022