The year 2022 comes to a bittersweet ending for Pakistan.

This was the year when we finally stepped into a post-Covid-19 existence, celebrating having beaten the dreaded coronavirus pandemic by ditching face masks and going anywhere we pleased. We could go to a concert, watch a movie, travel, meet friends.

On the flipside, we could do all this but only while also grappling with a sinking economy. The post-coronavirus pandemic economic crunch, resulting in a consistent devaluation of the Pakistani currency, led to a debilitating, unrelenting wave of inflation that still persists. Yes, we could celebrate, but there were many who simply could not anymore.

Still, it was a year when the entertainment calendar was dotted with events. There were concerts, awards ceremonies, movie premieres and even the odd fashion show. The red carpet was dusted out and the stars came stalking down it, sparkling in designer-wear and jewels.

In the midst of it all, though, Pakistan was suddenly engulfed by the worst floods to have hit the country in its history. Almost a third of the country was submerged in water and millions lost their homes, livestock, crops and even lives.

From Arooj Aftab winning a Grammy to Ms Marvel celebrating Pakistani culture to Humayun Saeed in the Netflix series The Crown to the international box-office success of The Legend of Maula Jatt and oh so much more, 2022 was the year that Pakistan went truly international … and it’s about time too!

How could we celebrate in the face of such a calamity? How can I now write a glowing year-ender while the many displaced from their homes during the floods are still barely managing to survive?

Nevertheless, one has to recognise the year’s high points and most ostensibly in 2022, Pakistani entertainment and fashion truly went international.

From a Disney+ series helmed partly by a Pakistani director and featuring a selection of Pakistani actors, to The Legend of Maula Jatt behemoth breaking records at the international box office, to our actors touching Netflix’s lofty heights, to getting standing ovations at the Cannes Film Festival, the world finally woke up to the possibility of tapping into Pakistani talent. It was about time too!

Here’s a look at some of Pakistani entertainment and fashion’s global successes all through the year …

Arooj Brings Home the Grammy

The year 2022 started off on a high with our very own Arooj Aftab being nominated in two of the most competitive categories at the Grammys: Best New Artist and Best Global Performance. Arooj went on to win for Best Global Music Performance for her track titled Mohabbat from her third album, Vulture Prince. This is the same track that had been put by former president Barack Obama and Elvis Costello on their favourites list. It is the first time a Pakistani artist has won an award at arguably the global music industry’s biggest awards show, the Grammys.

And it’s not turned out not to be a one-time thing, either. Arooj has been nominated again this past year, this time for the Grammys due to be held in 2023, for her collaboration with sitar player Anoushka Shankar (daughter of celebrated sitar maestro Ravi Shankar) on the track Udhero Na. She’s been nominated in the same category she won in before, Best Global Music Performance. Here’s hoping, come February, she walks away with a second Grammy in the bag as well.

Meanwhile, Arooj has been going from strength to strength, performing in concerts across the world and adding to her number of fans with her haunting track on Coke Studio’s Season 14 as well. True to her name, she’s one sun that is rising. And all power to her.

Ms. Marvel celebrates Pakistani culture

Finally, a series helmed by a powerful international production house, set aside the usual terrorist storylines and celebrated Pakistani culture and history. For Pakistani audiences, Disney+’s Ms. Marvel’s charm lay in watching a (somewhat predictable) depiction of the idiosyncrasies unique to Pakistani culture, and also in seeing some of our most talented actors work in a major global project.

Ms. Marvel’s lead, Iman Vellani, is a Pakistani Canadian actress. The series also stars Mehwish Hayat, Fawad Khan, Samina Ahmed and Nimra Bucha, and is co-directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. The story includes throwbacks to the pain and loss suffered in the India-Pakistan Partition, and you hear Nazia Hassan’s Disco Deewanay and Coke Studio Season 14’s Pasoori playing during scenes. You even see Ms. Marvel wearing Pakistani street-wear fashion brand Rastah!

There’s so much in Ms. Marvel that we are familiar with and now the world got to see it all too.

Pakistan’s ‘Mr Wonderful’ in The Crown

One of the world’s most avidly-watched, award-winning series and one of our longest standing heroes made his Netflix debut in it!

Humayun Saeed gained weight, grew a staid moustache and parted his hair sideways, transforming himself into

Dr Hasnat Khan, the late Princess Diana’s ‘Mr Wonderful’ in Netflix’s The Crown. His role spanned about one episode in the series but he acted well and looked quite unrecognisable.

Shortly before the series’ worldwide release, Humayun attended The Crown’s international premiere, meeting up with his co-actors and director. The pictures from the event were splattered everywhere on local media. It was very exciting. We simply aren’t accustomed to seeing our actors on international red carpets at major events.

Maybe, hopefully, we’ll start getting used to it now.

Love, and all that’s got to do with it

What’s Love Got To Do With It, written and co-produced by Jemima Goldsmith, is yet to release commercially — the release is scheduled for early 2023 — but it has been ricocheting through the film festival route and getting great reviews. One of the main takeaways from the movie — and the one that we’re focusing on here — is that the story is a positive, colourful depiction of Pakistani culture.

Jemima Goldsmith, in an interview with Hollywood Reporter following the movie’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, had described the story as based on her own experiences of Pakistan and its people from the time when she lived here, for 10 odd years, while married to Imran Khan. “… there are definitely no terrorists in this film …” she had declared.

Another reason why we’re going to be lining up to see the movie is because it stars Sajal Aly, alongside heavy duty international names such as Emma Thompson, Lily James, Shazad Latif and Shabana Azmi.

Sajal has lately been travelling perpetually, visiting different star-studded festivals with the movie’s team. It’s been a proud moment seeing the respect and adulation that she has received worldwide. Most recently, the movie’s director Shekhar Kapoor introduced Sajal on stage at the Red Sea Film Festival, describing her as “one of Pakistan’s greatest actresses.” That’s certainly high praise.

A feel-good romance which evidently touches upon the topic of arranged marriages in a lighthearted way, focusing on Pakistan’s distinctive, somewhat more endearing, aspects and starring one of our finest actresses. We haven’t seen the movie yet — but we’re elated by the notion of it already!

A Coke Studio Year

In its 14th Season, Coke Studio (CS) finally ditched its long-hackneyed format and took a 180 degree turn. Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan aka Xulfi was brought on board as curator and producer, and he transformed the platform, breathing fresh air into it, making it the kind of show that ruled sound-waves around the world.

The reboots of old songs were eliminated entirely and a single season no longer needed to churn out 30 odd singles. Instead, this all-new fabulous CS season consisted of merely 14 songs, all original, shot in the form of well-conceived, carefully curated videos.

It worked. The music drew you in, the visuals held you hostage. CS was as much a visual experience as it was a musical one.

The world swayed to Abida Parveen and Naseebo Lal’s Tu jhoom, the season’s first release. We listened to Wahab Bugti, Kaifi Khalil and Eva B’s Kana Yaari on repeat, despite not understanding what the lyrics meant. The song was so catchy that Norwegian dancing sensations Quickstyle incorporated it in their wedding dance video which proceeded to become a huge YouTube hit.

And Ali Sethi and Shae Gill’s Pasoori was a globe-trotting force all on its own, breaking records, ruling charts, incorporated into international soundtracks, played by celebrities the world over in their Instagram posts, being the year’s most Googled song and even beating the extremely popular Korean boy-band phenomenon BTS in international Spotify charts! The song is admittedly very catchy, but the heights of success reached by Pasoori have been unprecedented.

CS went on to celebrate its success with its first-ever live concert in Dubai, where Quickstyle joined in on the show. The boys then visited Karachi as part of a special ‘Magic On Wheels’ collaboration, enjoying what they declared as the “fun, colourful, mad chaos” of the city.

With Xulfi working his magic and the CS corporate heads finally realising that a reinvention was imperative and the right investments needed to be made, the show is back with a bang. There was a time, long ago, when CS was considered as representing Pakistan to the world. This representation had waned during the past few seasons. Now, though, we’re so happy that this young, innovative, brilliant new CS is shining bright. This is what Pakistani music is all about today!

Take a bow, Ali Sethi!

If this year belonged to Pasoori, it also belonged to its singer (along with Shae Gill) and composer, Ali Sethi. “Aan jaan di pasoori nu” he sang, and the world was hooked.

Ali’s name is hardly new to the music world, but he would earlier only be associated with revamped versions of classical forms of music. Now, with this original upbeat Punjabi track, which gets stuck in your head and refuses to leave, Ali’s career has taken a new turn. He went on international tours,

uploaded an acoustic guitar version of Pasoori along with Shae Gill, and made it to the very coveted Time ‘100 Next’ list which singles out emerging leaders from around the world.

Now that he’s become such a global hit, we’re hoping for more of the same from Ali Sethi.

Bringing ‘joy’ — and a slew of awards — to our ‘land’

Saim Sadiq’s Joyland narrated a poignant story, innate to Pakistan, reflecting upon human emotion, desire, love, friendship and the stifling weight of fulfilling staid conventions. The filming and the storytelling were so nuanced that it was hard to believe that this was the writer and director’s first ever cinematic project. Bolstered by some very fine performances, Joyland tugged at the heart and touched upon Pakistan’s transgender community and the taboos that they have to battle.

The movie’s very first screening was at the illustrious Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation and rave reviews. Joyland then proceeded to roam the world, screening at festivals where audiences unequivocally fell in love with the sensitive, well-crafted storyline.

Coming back home, Joyland struggled with censors merely days before it released, getting banned in cinemas in Punjab, while it was allowed to screen in other parts of the country once some scenes were edited out.

The movie has now been selected as Pakistan’s submissions for the Oscar Awards next year and has already made it to the first shortlist in the Best Foreign Film category. You never know, we might be celebrating Joyland again in 2023’s year-ender. Fingers crossed!

Asif Raza Mir continues leading his ‘gang’

The Raza Mirs have been very, very busy.

Asif Raza Mir was part of the first season of the Bafta-winning series Gangs of London, which airs on SkyTV and, this year, he was seen in the second season too, playing a Pakistani gang leader.

It’s interesting to see how so many of our actors are making an effort to build international careers that run parallel to the work that they do in Pakistan. The lack of interesting, promising scripts written for Pakistani TV and film may be one of the reasons why they do so. The devaluating rupee is probably another major factor. It makes sense to earn in foreign currency while Pakistan’s economy remains in limbo.

It also makes sense to pull no punches internationally, flaunting the best of Pakistan’s acting talent to the world.

Bollywood wants to wear Faraz Manan

How could any discourse on Pakistan’s global achievements be written without mentioning Faraz Manan, the designer from Lahore who also operates from Dubai and has smitten Bollywood?

Earlier this past year, Faraz put out a dazzling fashion show in Dubai, attended by the city’s rich and well-coiffured. Magazine editors, Bollywood stylists, the Pakistani expat community and a considerable crowd of Indians and Arabs came to see the line-up of beautiful, extremely detailed luxury-wear for men and women.

The show was followed by a constant deluge of major Bollywood celebrity endorsements. Indian actresses Kareena Kapoor and Karisma Kapoor have long been associated with the Faraz Manan atelier. Now many more stars and starlets joined the fray: amongst them, Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor, Ananya Pandey, Nora Fatehi, Disha Patani, Vaani Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit and Karan Johar.

Without any prior fanfare, a few images would suddenly filter through on Instagram and Pakistani social media would go viral, enthusing over how one of our own was now dressing India’s most glamorous! And Faraz simply sat back and enjoyed the show!  He’s never been one for unnecessary braggadocio. His workmanship and designs are in a league of their own and he’d rather let the world blow his trumpet for him.

An international Rastah

It’s the coolest street-wear brand to emerge from Pakistan. It’s also high-end, which makes it all the more covetable. Rastah, in the few short years since its launch, has carefully been building its image, relying heavily on international as well as local celebrity endorsements.

Actor Riz Ahmed — who incidentally won an Oscar this year — wears Rastah frequently. Iman Vellani wore Rastah in the Ms. Marvel series. Bollywood joined the club with director/producer Karan Johar and actor Anil Kapoor seen wearing the brand, the latter even wearing one of the brand’s jackets in his movie Jugg Jugg Jeeyo.

Plenty of Pakistani celebrities are seen wearing Rastah regularly — particularly Sheheryar Munawar, Asim Azhar and Hasan Raheem.

The brand’s image-building seems to have clicked, particularly with young fashion aficionados who are willing to splurge out in order to be seen in one of the country’s coolest labels. We’re beginning to spot more and more of Rastah at ‘it’ locations — in cafes, on the red carpet and even on college campuses!

From Gujranwala to Bollywood

Designer Mohsin Naveed Ranjha made waves towards the tail-end of the year with a campaign that was shot in Jaipur India and featured actress Jhanvi Kapoor in the designer’s latest collection of bridal-wear. Earlier, another campaign by the designer had featured Indian starlet Sara Ali Khan.

These collaborations, which obviously must have required detailed coordination and considerable expenditure, are testament to how this designer has built his brand over four odd years, starting off from his hometown in Gujranwala and expanding to a flagship store in Lahore, another just opening in Karachi and a steady stream of campaigns shot locally as well internationally.

His designs getting seen in Ms. Marvel, worn by actress Travina Springer, was yet another feather in the designer’s cap.

At a time when fashion has generally gotten stuck in a retail-centric rut, it is heartening to see the passion and ambition propelling the MNR brand forwards. What one hopes to see now, perhaps, is better planned international campaigns — the designer’s local efforts have been exceptional through the year — and more finely-tuned designs.

Just your ‘resident’ Netflix hero!

Netflix’s Resident Evil, which included Ahad Raza Mir in its cast, may not have been a success, but it was still a major achievement for this young Pakistani actor to land a major role in the series. A large number of die-hard Ahad fans tuned into the series the day it premiered on the OTT platform and their enthusiasm quickly led to him trending on Twitter. Of course, a certain ‘scene’ from the series also came under scrutiny, but let’s not go there, shall we?

It is undeniable that Ahad is one of Pakistan’s most talented young actors. He has often expressed his dismay at the generic scripts available to actors in the TV drama diaspora. Now that he has made his Netflix debut, perhaps international work is the way to go?

Having said that, we do still want to see Ahad in local projects as well. The more the merrier!

The gandasa goes international!

“Maulay nu Maula na maaray tay Maula nai marda!”

It may have gotten delayed extensively but The Legend of Maula Jatt (TLoMJ) proved that it had been worth the wait. Wielding his gandasa, fire in his eyes, Maula Jatt raged into the cinema and took over the box office. This was wunderkind director Bilal Lashari’s passion project, edited and streamlined down to every tiny detail, with the brilliant performances matched by high-end special effects, set design, costume design, dialogues, character development, action and a well-knit narrative.

We were so proud to call TLoMJ our own and the movie, as expected, skyrocketed at the Pakistani box office. Furthermore, even the international audience was enraptured by the iconic clash between Maula and Noori Natt. TLoMJ broke international records, becoming the highest-grossing Punjabi film of all time at the global box office with a large chunk of its profits having been earned internationally.

On a side note, it was also a relief to see a Pakistani movie that was at par with global film productions. Local filmmakers can no longer excuse shoddy storytelling by placing the blame on a nascent Pakistani film industry that is still learning the ropes. They can no longer get away with half-baked plots and amateur editing and declare that they are still on a learning curve.

We now know that, with the right effort, time, thought-process and budget, Pakistani films can be spectacular extravaganzas at par with the world. We’ve been spoilt. We’ve seen TLoMJ.

Published in Dawn, ICON, january 1st, 2023