Tony Navaid Rashid No More

On November 22, showbiz writer, photographer, actor, singer and television presenter Navaid Rashid, known as Tony to all his colleagues, friends and admirers, died of cardiac arrest in Lahore. He was a popular showbiz figure, with a wide knowledge of the showbiz industry, especially of Pakistani films and actresses, and was often seen on the morning show hosted by Nadia Khan, as well as Star & Style by host Asimyar Tiwana. Tony started his career as the Lahore correspondent for the popular lifestyle glossy Men’s Club and later joined Dawn as its culture reporter from Lahore. He also regularly conducted front page interviews, reviews and features for Dawn and did popular makeovers of many of the leading ladies of cinema, such as Anjuman, Reema, Meera, Resham, Sana, Madeeha Shah etc. His camaraderie with the stars lasted till his final days. May he rest in peace.

Acting Pitch

The young Pakistani fast bowler Naseem Shah has been in the news for months, for reasons not necessarily involving his vocation, cricket — an Indian model famously went gaga over him during one of the tournaments this year. Last week, former Pakistani cricketer Waqar Younis, who is reportedly fond of the young man’s abilities, drew everyone’s attention to a tweet that he put out, “Stay tuned everyone, something big is coming up. Naseem Shah, not only an excellent cricketer but also a very good actor.” Netizens construed the tweet as either referring to the naujawan pacer’s appearance in an advert or a movie. While we’re not averse to the idea, we still feel Naseem S can have people bowled over more through his cricketing talent than anything else.

New VC

Comedian, script writer and talk show host Vasay Chaudhry has been appointed Vice Chairman of the Punjab Film Censor Board by the Punjab Information and Culture Department. Congratulations to him! We think it is a good sign. After what happened to movies such as Joyland, it is expected of him to at least watch the film in order to analyse it with a fair degree of balance and understanding of the creative process. It will help him in deciding what can be given the go-ahead. No pressure, but all showbizy eyes are on Mr VC now.

Cover Pasoori

Arijit Singh is a fantastic singer. To boot, he’s always been an advocate for Indo-Pak peace and artistic collaboration. In the last week of November, the Bollywood playback singer did a concert in Mumbai in which he did a medley of songs in his typical style. One of them that got the loudest cheers from a large crowd was the Coke Studio hit track Pasoori. To be honest, no other vocalist could have pulled off such a cover tune with effortless ease. Arijit S did a lovely job and without any thought of political pasoori.

Old Flame

Cute is the word that pops to mind. Oscar winner Helen Mirren is now 77 years old and yet she, without a hint of any kind of denial, remembers fondly when she and another A-lister, Liam Neeson (70), dated in the 1980s. In an interview given to a magazine, the actress has said, “We loved each other. We were not meant to be together in that way, but we loved each other very, very much. I love him deeply to this day. He’s such an amazing guy.” Awww… she’s talking about the man whose most famous film is Taken.

Wedding Bells

Everybody knows that cricketer K.L. Rahul and actress Athiya Shetty (daughter of Suniel Shetty) are an item. In fact, they’ve been going out for a few years already. Here’s the big nugget of info: the girl’s father has confirmed that their wedding is around the corner, so it’s official. However, he hasn’t yet given a date for the ceremony, because he has to look at “the schedule of both Athiya and Rahul.” Well, we wish them a happily married new life. In fact, K.L. Rahul knows how to deal with the brand new ball, so newness is nothing new to him.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 4th, 2022