The Secret

At last, Mohib Mirza and Sanam Saeed have said what quite a few had already known all along. The two are a married couple. They said that on a talk show formatted for the ongoing cricket season. The good thing is that they know — since both have been in relationships before — the key to a successful married life. Sanam S, in response to a related question, remarked that the secret is to give as much attention to hubby dear as much you will give to your child. Nice piece of advice. We agree and hope, in general, that husbands don’t keep acting like children all the time.

Another Feather

Pakistani cinema is now getting international attention pretty regularly. After the global success of Joyland and The Legend of Maula Jatt, a short film titled Noor directed by Umer Adil has won the Best Health Film award in the January online edition of the Cannes World Film Festival. Its story highlights the issues surrounding visual impairment and has Omair Rana and Sarwat Gillani as its male and female protagonists, respectively. Congratulations to team Noor! May success always remain in your sights.

FIR of Better Half

If you thought that FIRs are only filed against Indian actors for not subscribing to the state’s point of view, well, here’s something new. King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan’s wife Gauri Khan is in trouble. A man named Jaswant Singh has lodged an FIR against her for endorsing a real estate company, because of which he claims he bought an apartment in Lucknow’s Sushant Golf City for 8.6 million rupees. But the company has given the piece of property to some other guy. Hmmm… Gauri K, time for some Pathaan reaction?

Borders of Art

The reverberations of Javed Akhtar’s words which he uttered during his visit to Pakistan last month are still being felt on both sides of the Wagah border. The Pakistani artist community came out strongly to condemn the Indian lyricist’s statements. Shaan and Faysal Quraishi led the pack, and to be honest, they made sense. In fact, last week when Shaan was further asked about the subject of art not having borders, he replied that whoever says that should try and apply for a visa first. Even if you don’t sometimes see eye to eye with the actor, he is right about it. The interview that novelist Chetan Bhagat did of Javed A after his return to India from Pakistan is reason enough to realise that the gulf between the two nations is widening by the day. Ain’t a good sign.

Frogmore No More

Here’s the latest about the always-in-the-news pair, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. A little before the birth of their first child, Archie, if they happened to be in the UK, they would live in the royal residence Frogmore Cottage. (They have made Santa Barbara in the US their permanent home). News is that the two have now been asked to vacate the cottage gifted to them by the late Queen Elizabeth. The request has been made only a couple of months prior to the coronation of King Charles III. Alrighty then! It seems that all the king’s men have finally decided to march, sorry, go past the prince and his wife.

All Our Dua

Pop star Dua Lipa isn’t single anymore. Yes, folks, the Levitating singer on February 28 was seen holding hands with the French video filmmaker Romain Gavras (who directed, among others, Kanye West’s song No Church in the Wild). Where did that happen? The answer: it happened during Saint Laurent’s Paris Fashion Week. The couple left the venue after the event in each other’s comfy company, hand in hand. This means, these days Dua L is, for sure, levitating.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 12th, 2023