YO YO & MEH

Here’s a collaboration that might get a lot of people wondering how it’s going to work out. Our very own Mehwish Hayat and Indian rap artist Yo Yo Honey Singh will team up for what the actress has described as a ‘killer track’ to be released soon. By the time this news item sees the light of day (since it’s Eid time), the song may have hit the airwaves. The bottom-line is: it’s a good sign that Indian and Pakistani artists have begun to work together again, given the jingoism that exists in modern-day India. Will the collab be fab? Remains to be seen. Or has already been seen…

INSECURITY ISSUES

Actors Hassan Ahmed and Sunita Marshall are a happily married couple. Since their married life is worth emulating, the subject of how celebrity pairs come to terms with insecurities after tying the knot came up during an interview. Hassan A said, “If two actors [who are] married deny that these things don’t come in between them, they’re lying.” The wife added, “But we’ve never had an argument over the fact that we’re in the same field, or we aren’t able to give each other time, or Hassan speaking to someone in a way I don’t like and vice versa.” Hmmm… the detail in this sentence about the issues never discussed is striking.

THE SURVIVAL MODE

Nadeem Baig is one of the most successful (if not the most successful) filmmakers of Pakistan. Since this is the era of podcasts — big, small, noteworthy, unworthy, fluffy, stuffy, meaty — he appeared on one in which he was asked about the current state of film business in the country. He replied that he will never say that the industry won’t survive. Well, Nadeem B, a brief visit to the multiplexes and single screens in Karachi, the most populated city of Pakistan, even on public holidays will suggest otherwise. It’s good to be an optimist, but not bad to be a realist, either.

DELETED IRE

It is for a second time that vocalist Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has come in the line of fire in a few months’ time. After the video in which he’s seen beating a young man, an Instagram story of musician Sahir Ali Bagga about Rahat FAK put the former in a terrible light. We are not using the word that was used for him by Sahir AB because the latter deleted the post after an intervention from another singer, Ali Zafar. These are strange times. Instead of settling your differences one-on-one without creating a scene, people now opt for shaming on social media the people they have differences with. That’s not the right note to hit now, is it?

MONEY TALK

Indian businessman Mahesh Ambani’s daughter Isha and her husband Anand have, sorry had, a mansion in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. The two spent some time there after they got married. Now that place has been bought by Hollywood A-list pair Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. Those of us who are interested in numbers, well, they had to cough up a touch more than 61 million dollars to buy the house. Apparently, the mansion has 12 bedrooms and 24 bathrooms. Question: how many times do two persons need to go to the bathroom or hit the bed in a day? Difficult question to answer.

PALESTINIAN PLIGHT

Recently, actor Ramy Youssef hosted the famous sketch show Saturday Night Live. He did a very nice job. He mixed his monologue with humour about cultural differences in Western society. But as expected, he didn’t forget to mention the most pressing issue of our time. His words: “Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine, please… And please free the hostages, all the hostages, please.” Well done, Ramy Y! Hope more of your Hollywood colleagues will muster the courage to make the right noises.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 14th, 2024