KARACHI: With the LSA statuette presented in 31 major categories, the 16th Lux Style Awards, held on Wednesday evening at the Expo Centre, remained high on the entertainment quotient and celebrated all that’s new, positive and revolutionary in music, television, fashion and film. The show was also peppered with song and dance performances by leading showbiz divas and their male counterparts.

The ceremony, hosted by Atif Aslam, started late but still early by local standards, was preceded by a hi-tea and red carpet reception in the forenoon attended by an ensemble of stars and media representatives.

Actor, writer and host Osman Khalid Butt set the ball rolling by masquerading as a flight steward delivering make-believe instructions and tongue-in-cheek guidelines in a showreel for award winners and nominees along with female counterparts which set the mood for the evening to follow.

Interspersed between the proceedings were classic, memorable as well as heartfelt moments including a song and dance performance by Reema Khan and Mawra Hocane. ‘Television families’ were roped in as presenters including the Sheikhs, Subzwaris and the Kazmis. And then there were tributes by Imran Abbas to luminaries who passed away last year such as Fatima Surraiya Bajia, Habib, Intizar Husain, Jamiluddin Aali, M. Akram, Robin Ghosh, Ali Rizvi, Naseer Bhai, Qismet Baig, Junaid Jamshed, Shehla Baloch, Meesha Malik, Shamim Ara, Qudsia Bano, Yawar Hayat, S. Khurram Zaki, Om Puri and Farooq Zamir.

The LSAs also acknowledged contributions made to fashion by leading names such as Ali Xeeshan, Deepak Perwani, Élan, Fahad Hussayn, Faraz Manan, Kamiar Rokni, Karma, Nomi Ansari, Sana Safinaz, Sania Maskatiya, Umar Sayeed and Zara Shahjehan in a segment that featured their muses wearing three outfits each by the designer.

Most of the major theatrical releases of 2016 also received a nod in a segment dedicated to the art of film-making.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2017