Soul Fry

We know Mahira Khan as a fine actress and a beautiful woman. We also know that she is an educated girl who weighs her words before uttering them. But we didn’t know that she also has a bit of an entrepreneurial streak in her. The Raees star has

decided to go behind the camera by producing worthy projects. Her first production is called Baarhwan Khiladi starring Danyal Zafar and Kinza Hashmi. And the name of her production company… well, it’s Soul Fry Films. Interesting name, by the way. We never thought souls were edible and could be fried.

Azaan’s Album

Like father, like son, they say. After proving his credentials as a talented music composer, Azaan Sami Khan, the son of Adnan Sami Khan, has come out with an album Main Tera. His fans will see, rather hear, him in it in the role of the vocalist as well as a songwriter. The musician says, “I wanted it to be extremely personal. It’s almost biographical in some ways. I have delved into the first time I fell in love with somebody, the first crush, the first heartbreak, you’d basically witness a lot of firsts in this as it’s my first album.” Hmmm… and the first album.

Grease Issue

Remember the 1978 classic Grease, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John? Well, with the passage of time, people’s perspective of looking at the movie has also changed, especially of those who are on social media, because they’ve been blaming the film for being sexist and lacking in diversity. Responding to the concern, Olivia N J in an interview has said, “I think it’s kind of silly because the movie was made in the ’70s about the ’50s. It was a stage play, it’s a musical, it’s fun. It’s a fun movie musical and not [meant] to be taken so seriously.” Well, Olivia dear, this is the 21st Century, and answers such as the one you’ve given sound fun but have serious connotations.

House Shift

Bollywood heartthrob Jacqueline Fernandez has shifted into a new, plush house in Mumbai’s Juhu area. It’s worth Rs7 crores. For the last seven years, she had been living in an apartment in Bandra. However, the point to be noted here is that the house that she’s moved into was once owned by Priyanka Chopra. And this is the same place where she was at when she got married to Nick Jonas. Cool. Perhaps Jacky F feels that after living there, her career might also take off in a big, international way… or better still, she might not remain single.

Christopher Plummer, alas!

Oscar-winning actor and the star of the iconic film The Sound of Music, Christopher Plummer, passed away on February 5. He was 91. He bagged the best supporting actor Academy Award in 2010 for his role in Beginners and the last time he earned a nomination was in 2018 for All the Money in the World. He also had a great voice, a piece of evidence of which is the part that he played of the bad guy in the animated film Up. May he rest in peace.

Farmers and Rihanna

A one-line tweet by pop star Rihanna about the farmers’ agitation that’s going on in Delhi, asking why more people were not talking about it, prompted a strange and mind-boggling response from Indian trolls and an overkill reaction the Indian govt. It is clearly indicative of the intolerant society that India is turning into. It wouldn’t be unwise here to quote another tweet from an Indian celeb comedian Vir Das that sums up the situation best: “As a nation we are literally becoming that uncle who beats his wife, is cruel to his kids, never stops yelling at his family, and then has his pride hurt when people from other houses hear the commotion.” Bingo!

Published in Dawn, ICON, February 14th, 2021