THE WEDDING

Congratulations to Mahira Khan for getting married to Salim Karim! (Remember, you heard it here first!) May the couple live a happy and prosperous life together! At the same time, we feel sorry for the countless trolls who wrote unwanted and, in certain cases, nasty comments on X (formerly Twitter) and other social media as the pictures of the Bhurban wedding went viral. What kind of a nation are we turning into? We can’t even be glad when someone famous tries to bring happiness to their lives? We need to learn to get rid of the churlishness that has crept into many of us… and let people live their lives.

GMA HONOUR

Pakistani music producer Sharif Awan, who is also the man behind the remarkable Tehzeeb Foundation, has won three gold medals (hat-trick) at this year’s Global Music Awards aka GMA in California, for his production Music in Covid Times. It won in the highest number of categories — best album, best producer and creativity/originality. The foundation’s Indus Raag — Beyond Borders had also won a gold medal at the GMA in 2016. This is all music to our ears.

THEATRE FESTIVAL

The Arts Council of Pakistan, Karachi, hosted an international theatre festival that lasted from September 8 to October 8 with more than 30 plays featuring theatre groups from more than six countries. It’s a huge achievement, both in terms of the event’s sheer size and the quality of some of the dramas that were staged. We feel the country needs thriving theatre activity alongside film and music if its cultural soft image is to be truthfully projected to the rest of the world. Waisay bhi, all the world’s a stage.

SPYVERSE

Bollywood leaves no stone unturned in aping Hollywood. News is that, after the mammoth success of Pathaan, Yashraj Films is busy making Tiger Vs Pathaan starring Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, who will share the screen after 18 years. The story doesn’t end here. In order to create a veritable spy universe, a movie with the two Khans along with Hirthik Roshan — who is known for his superhero character Kabir in War (meaning the characters of Tiger, Pathaan and Kabir in one story) — directed by Ayan Mukerji is on the anvil as well. It’s titled War 2. Wow! That’s gigantic and may well create a true spyworse, sorry spyverse.

WORKING CLASS LIE

What we’re about to narrate is both cute and a trifle strange. In a documentary on footballer David Beckham on Netflix, his wife Victoria (of Spice Girls) is seen claiming that she comes from a working class family. David B immediately intervenes and asks his wife to be honest. When she insists she’s being honest, he retorts: “What car did your dad drive you to school in?” To which the former ‘Posh’ Spice says, “OK, in the ‘80s, my dad had a Rolls Royce.” Wow! Workers of the world unite… and drive Rolls Royces to work!

YOU BET

Last week, Indian actor Ranbir Kapoor was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in India for taking part in an event in the Middle East involving the (illegal) Mahadev betting app. The app is embroiled in a money laundering case. The app was set up in 2018 by a man named Sourabh Chandrakar. Ranbir K has sought two weeks for appearing before the ED. That’s not all. Actress Shraddha Kapoor and comedian Kapil Sharma, too, have been summoned. What’s happening guys? Now that Bollywood seems to be moving away from the mafia’s clutches (arguably), they’re getting sucked into the money laundering whirlpool? Hmmm… is that why they make so many movies and web series with bloodletting and gambling scenes? Or is it a case of Ghalti Se Mistake?

Published in Dawn, ICON, October 15th, 2023