CREDIT CALL

Six months ago, vocalist and composer Shiraz Uppal drew the attention of singer Aima Baig to the fact that she didn’t give him due credit for the song Funkari. He has now given the details of the issue on a talk show: “People are experts in denying artists credit where it’s due. So for the newcomers, at least, I want to set a precedent… That song was written, composed and recorded by me. Whenever I do a project, I keep proof of it. I simply asked Aima to go through our chat to check when we did this song. The lyricist she was talking about [Shakeel Sohail] was one of my best friends who wrote for me for two decades. Unfortunately, he passed away in June 2020. May Allah bless his soul. And I wrote Funkari in November. [But] Aima kept insisting that Sohail sahib had written it.” Aima B needs to respond to this argument without any funkari.

NISAR QADRI, RIP

On Dec 25, actor Nisar Qadri, who worked extensively on television and radio, passed away. He was 82. He had started his career in the mid-1960s as a radio artist and went on to do a good number of plays for television. His most memorable character was in the TV series titled Aik Haqeeqat Aik Afsana in which his line, “Maachis ho gi aap ke paas?” [Would you have matches on you?] became extremely popular. Some of his other noteworthy plays were Aatish, Iztirab, Nijaat and Angaar Wadi. May he rest in peace.

LOVE ACTUALLY

Sonya Hussyn can simplify complex or philosophical issues in no time. Take the example of the subject of ‘love’. The Pakistani showbiz celeb questions whether there’s a shortage of love in the world; rather, she believes, there’s a dearth of professing love. She qualifies her statement by claiming that when love is professed, one feels good. Isn’t that profound! We think it is. She also needs to explain what happens when one doesn’t feel good after love is professed.

WAXING INELOQUENT

The latest addition to Singapore and London’s Madame Tussauds Museum is the wax statue of, wait for it… Bollywood star Ranveer Singh. Yes, the same Indian actor who is married to the dimpled doll Deepika Padukone. Interestingly, to see his own wax figure, he took along his mother and not wifey dear. Don’t read too much into it. Perhaps Deepika P was busy shooting a film with other important figures.

IN THE ‘60S

On Dec 18, Hollywood A-lister Brad Pitt turned 60. To celebrate the occasion, he threw a party on December 19 at the swanky Italian restaurant Mother Wolf in Los Angeles. And yes, his girlfriend Ines de Ramon was alongside him (they’ve been going out for a year now, almost immediately after she got divorced from actor Paul Wesley). By the way, she also celebrated her birthday the same day (her birthday is Dec 19). She has turned 31. This means it’s a December-December relationship, not a May-December one.

SHOUT-OUT TO SHERNI

Actress Saheefa Jabbar Khattak had a bit of a showdown with a troll on the internet, who wanted her to drop the ‘Khattak’ from her name. (She’s happily married to Khwaja Khizer Hussain). The girl took a stand and replied she won’t be bullied by anyone. Actor Yasir Hussain liked Saheefa J.K.’s attitude and came to her support. He wrote on her timeline, “Jio sherni, chukh ke rakh.” Sherni means lioness in Urdu. And it was lion-hearted of Yasir H to not worry about the trolls going after him for it.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 31st, 2023