The Strange Effect

The internet is abuzz with the discussion about our local film producers’ complaint about the release of Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at a time when five Pakistani films had just been released on Eid-ul-Fitr, affecting their box office numbers. Now the thing is: Hollywood will keep coming out with movies, how many Eid seasons do Pakistani movies require for their projects to get the numbers that they would love to get! Perhaps, it’s in the interest of our filmmakers to work hard on upping their game and not shying away from competition.

Attitude Issue

Aijazz Aslam was on a chat show with his wife when the host asked him to name a showbiz celeb who has ‘attitude problems’. The actor, for reasons best known to him, named Urwa Hocane. It was surprising because, while expanding on his answer, he said he hadn’t worked with her but had heard such things about her from others. Now why would you name someone on a chat show without any real evidence, claiming they have a temperament issue, knowing full well that it’s going to be talked about? Or are we missing something here?

Her Love

Rumour had it that Bollywood A-lister Hrithik Roshan was dating actress Saba Azad. Well, it’s kinda confirmed. We’ll tell you how and why. Saba A took to Instagram to announce her upcoming movie Minimum, which is dubbed an ‘immigrant Indian drama’. When she posted the title of the film with her fellow actors, Hrithin R commented, “You gonna kill this. Oui? Oui!” To which she replied, “Fingers crossed mon amour.” Hmmm… mon amour… my love. We think that’s the bare minimum she could write about what’s going on between the two of them.

Trailer Talk

By now Kangana Ranaut’s credentials as a bigot are pretty much established. However, a paradigmatic, if not seismic, shift appears to be creeping into the attitude of Bollywood wallahs towards her and vice-versa. The trailer for her latest film Dhaakad has impressed many. Salman Khan is one of them, so he posted the trailer on his social media accounts with best wishes for the actress. Kangana R was swift to respond, “Thank you my Dabangg hero, heart of gold. I will never say again that I’m alone in this industry.” Okay then, more like a change of heart than heart of gold.

The Proposal

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake have been married for a decade. It’s no mean achievement, given the kind of lives that showbiz celebs are leading these days. Recently, on James Corden’s show, Jessica B revealed how Justin T proposed to her in 2011. “We were in Montana on a piece of property that we owned at the time. We had snowboarded all day.

It was in the middle of the winter, waist-high snow. We were head-to-toe snowboarding outfits — hats, gloves, everything. All of a sudden, he gets down onto his knees and just sinks into the snow, and then he looks up at me and holds up this ring. It was the most lovely, surprising, hilarious [moment]…” Aw… so sweet and icy.

Ms Marvellous

We can’t wait to watch Ms Marvel which is set to hit the airwaves on June 8 on Disney+. Sana Amanat is the producer of the show and has also been a Marvel comics’ editor for 13 years. Highlighting the significance of the series in an interview, she said, “I know how incredibly important it is for people to have this out there, especially for young Muslims and young Pakistanis and Indians and people of colour and young women. It just affects so many different communities, and that’s what was really exciting for me, just knowing how important this show is and hoping that we get it right.” Well, if intentions are pure, you’ll definitely get it right!

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 22nd, 2022