DEAR MALALA

We take pride in our very own Malala Yousufzai. But lately her acts and pronouncements have come into question. Take for example the fact that she has teamed up with Hillary Clinton to produce a Broadway play titled Suffs that focuses on the suffragette movement in the US. Social media was abuzz with disappointed comments that the Nobel laureate had chosen to remain silent on the women and children being killed in Palestine. Malala cleared the air by putting out the following message: “I wanted to speak today because I want there to be no confusion about my support for the people of Gaza. We have all watched the relentless atrocities against Palestinian people for more than six months now with anger and despair. This week’s news of mass graves discovered at Gaza’s Nasser and Al-Shifa hospitals is yet another reminder of the horrors Palestinians are facing.” Malala Y, it would have been good if you had given this statement a tad earlier, but teaming up with someone who has a clear blind spot with respect to Palestinian suffering was probably not a good idea anyway.

COLLAB GAB

Yesteryear Indian heartthrob (who still looks ravishing, by the way) Mumtaz was in Pakistan on a personal visit where she met quite a few of our showbiz personalities, including Fawad Khan. Her bayaan in that regard is doing the rounds. She has said that, although there’s no shortage of talent in Bollywood, Pakistani artists should be given a chance. Sorry Mumtaz sahiba, our artists are doing pretty well internationally because of their talent. They don’t need a chance anywhere, they’re pretty self-sufficient.

RELATIONSHIP SAGA

Seasoned actor Nauman Ijaz has worked in many television plays, but he is not happy with the way relationships are being shown in them. “You show a mother, sister, and mother-in-law as witches, and you show a father and brother as villains... Whatever is the most negative, people make that a super hit. There was a serial where the relationship of a nand [sister-in-law] was highlighted. People skyrocketed the ratings, I was shocked. I laughed and said that negativity prevails in our society. Society has become negative. It needs to be changed.” Sir, if you feel so strongly, one of the ways of rectifying the situation is either to convince the makers of these dramas or say no to working in them. Public statements are cheap.

THE SON SPAT

Actor Saba Faisal became the centre of a heated debate when she commented that having sons provides parents with a “sense of security” because “they’re always with you.” Actor Hira Khan did not like it one bit and labelled the comment “foolish”. Saba F’s daughter Sadia did not like what Hira K said, so she urged the latter to “have some respect for senior artists.” Till last reports came in, no further comments had been heard. They may be feeling a sense of security after the exchange of comments.

FOUR’S COMPANY

Whoever thinks that celebs don’t go on double dates, think again. Last week, Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce went on a double date with Gigi Hadid and her beau Bradley Cooper. Where did they go? To the beach town of Carmel-by-the-Sea in California! While both Taylor S and Travis K are 34 years of age, Gigi Hadid and Bradley C have an age difference of two decades — she is 29 and he 49 — between them. Hmmm… but what’s a number when you’re in love? Especially if you’re also the Maestro.

LARA LAPPA

During a speech in Rajasthan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Indian Muslims “infiltrators”. His hatred for the Muslim community seems to have no bounds. While conscientious people resented and condemned his remarks, actress Lara Dutta came out in support of Modi. “We are all human beings, [and] at the end of the day, it is very difficult to keep all the people happy all the time, and if we are not exempt from trolling, neither is the PM of this country. But I think all of us [should] take that in our stride.” Lara D, there are certain things that we cannot take in your stride — such as bigotry, hate speech, narrow-mindedness, xenophobia, jingoism — but perhaps you can.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 5th, 2024