In Distress

Renowned singer Asad Abbas is in distress. Recently, his request — made through a video — that he needs five crore rupees for a kidney transplant procedure has been widely shared, including by actor Adnan Siddiqi. We sincerely hope that the artist gets the amount because he undergoes dialysis four times a week, which is an extremely painful procedure. At the same time, it makes us wonder why our federal and provincial governments don’t have an endowment fund or such schemes to help the artist community. Asad Abbas, get well soon.

On Being Vocal

Ayesha Omar has given an interview to a foreign media outlet in which she has said the following: “There are a lot of limitations… you do lose out on work if you start raising your voice about things which are either taboo or will lead to a controversy.” In support of her argument, she mentioned a brand for which she was to do a project but when she mentioned ‘abuse’ by someone from the industry, the brand said that if she took the name of that person, they won’t be able to sign her. Ayesha O, the truth is that brands are here only to do business. They pay stars to appear in commercials to enhance their sales and hate controversies, no matter how righteous. And this is not just true of Pakistan. Better not to get deluded by corporate public relationing.

Madonna Hospitalised

On June 29, the queen of pop music Madonna was taken to the intensive care unit of a hospital in New York after contracting a serious bacterial infection. Since she was expected to stay at the hospital for ‘several’ days, her team had to postpone her forthcoming world tour, which was to start from late July. Till last reports came in, the 64-year-old star was on the mend and was expected to fully recover soon. We wish the ‘Material Girl’ a swift and complete recovery without any case of ‘True Blue’.

The Refusal

It seems that the world has begun to treat Prince Harry and Meghan Markle like… his family treats them. Apparently, Prince H’s recent efforts to have a podcast on Spotify have gone in vain and Netflix, too, is not giving the couple another stab at a documentary, unless they promise a commercial hit. That is all arguable. But what’s not is the fact that pop star Taylor Swift has refused to appear on Meghan M’s podcast Archetypes. Now that’s a right royal zinger!

Their Matrimonial Keys

Nowadays famous showbiz peeps are giving their views on how to have a strong matrimonial bond. Well, at least two of them have. First, it was Indian actor Vicky Kaushal who said that ‘patience’ is the key to a successful marriage, and then came Pakistani actor Yasir Hussain’s interview, in which he has articulated that having a child is the key... He is of the view that, while it’s up to his wife, actor Iqra Aziz, to decide how many kids she wants because it’s her body and her choice, he himself wants more children. Both are valuable and respectable thoughts. So, as per Yasir H’s assertion, Vicky K should have kids, and according to Vicky K’s belief, Yasir H should have patience. Let’s see who does what.

Fan Gifts

Pop star Pink was performing at the British Summer Festival in London when a fan gave her a big wheel of cheese — Brie de Meaux — to her pleasant surprise. The artist was so overwhelmed by it that she exclaimed she wanted to kiss the fan. Interestingly, the next day, another admirer presented her with a bag of ashes of her (the fan’s) late mother when Pink was singing Just Like A Pill. That got her confused and she remarked, “This is your mom? I don’t know how to feel about it.” And put the bag on one side of the stage. Boy oh boy, fans can be either too cheesy or leave you ashen.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 9th, 2023