Joyland To The World

Congratulations to team Joyland (directed by Saim Sadiq) for winning the ‘Un Certain Regard’ jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Joyland is the first Pakistani feature film ever officially selected at Cannes. It was heartening to see the warm way with which its cast and crew were received at the glittering event. The pictures and videos that did the rounds on social media made everyone feel proud of our comparatively not-so-big film industry, which is surely but slowly making its presence felt on the global scale. Bravo! We’re sure, with each passing year, more films with a vast variety of subjects will come out and dazzle the world.

Marvel Masti

All of us are eagerly waiting to see Ms Marvel because of, among other things, characters (and actors) belonging to our part of the world. Here’s another factor that will increase your curiosity for the venture. The soundtrack for the series includes Hasan Raheem’s famous song Peechhey Hutt. Yes, the same Coke Studio number also featuring Talal Qureshi and the Justin Bibis. Isn’t that awesome! Now apart from watching some Pakistani artists in the series (Nimra Bucha and Fawad Khan), we’ll get to hear our own music, too. So everything else, peechhey hutt…

Good-Hearted Arijit

Our profound admiration for singer Arijit Singh keeps increasing by the day. Not only is he a fantastic vocalist, he comes across as a human being full of compassion and care. The latest in that connection is that, while singing his heart out at a concert in Houston, Arijit S pointing at a Pakistani member of the audience remarked, “I will come to Pakistan.” That is thoughtful. In an atmosphere where politicians try their best to keep the people of the two countries away from each other, it is the creative souls who keep waving and keeping aloft the flag of friendship and bonhomie.

K-Jo At 50

On May 25, popular Indian film producer, director and television talk show host Karan Johar celebrated his 50th birthday. As expected, he did that with a bang and the crème de la crème of Bollywood attended the big do. They included the likes of Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif, Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor-Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. Apparently, as it usually happens, the party went on until the wee hours of the night. Just a little piece of advice for K-Jo though: don’t party too hard, you’re not a spring chicken any more.

The Postponement

Atif Aslam is touring North America these days. At a concert in Toronto, while singing Dama dum mast he held a placard made by someone in the audience on which ‘my fiancé moved our shaadi for this concert’ was written. After the finishing the song, addressing that man Atif A asked, “Where’s my food if the engagement has already happened?” He also offered to sign the placard. The singer is a good sport. But that fan of his needs to know that sometimes marriage delayed is marriage denied.

KK Gone Too Soon

The world of music in particular and showbiz in general received a shock on May 31 when renowned Indian playback singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, better known as KK, died of a heart attack after performing at a concert in Kolkata. He was only 53. He had an array of hit songs in multiple languages to his credit, including Ankhon mein teri ajab ajab si adaaein (Om Shanti Om), Khuda janey (Bachna Ay Haseeno), Tarrap tarrap (Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam) and Chhorr aaye hum woh galiyaan (Maachis) in Hindi. May he rest in peace!

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 5th, 2022