The Guild

Last week, some leading directors working for the television and film industries of the country took oath as members of the governing body of the newly formed Directors Guild of Pakistan (DGP). They included Misbah Khalid, Mehreen Jabbar, Saife Hasan, Mohsin Mirza, Shehzad Nawaz, Wajahat Rauf and Rafay Rashdi. One of their main objectives is: “[to] negotiate and advocate industry-wide agreements governing the minimum compensation, benefits, working conditions and duties of DGP members.” This, on paper, seems like a good idea, and we wish the guild best of luck. But with Rafay R surprisingly resigning as General Secretary during the oath-taking ceremony, we can only hope this organisation doesn’t go the same way as plenty of other industry organisations before it.

THE DIG

Media person and former wife of a former prime minister of Pakistan, Reham Khan, gave her views on social media on overseas Pakistanis’ inability to see the ground realities in Pakistan and rounded off her comment by saying, “Celebrities look good as pin-up boys but are not usually statesman material, purely because they have never lived normal lives like the rest of the population.” This did not go down well with actor and producer Urwa Hocane who replied, “Just to expand your knowledge, most of us are self-made and started from scratch, just like myself, and we are still working very hard to get us the deserved recognition as an art industry that is representing our country, peacefully, and earning all of us immense respect and love around the globe.” We think Urwa H may have misinterpreted where the dig was.

The Apology

It seems overseas Pakistanis are the favourite topic in the world of glitz and glamour. Writer Vasay Chaudhry hosts a TV show called Mazaq Raat. In one of the episodes, model Sara Neelum made a derogatory remark about those who live abroad, suggesting they do menial work there and, when they come to Pakistan, they dress up ‘sharply’. To add fuel to the fire, one of the house comedians on the show also made a nasty remark. It sparked an angry reaction from netizens. Sensing what had gone wrong, Vasay C tweeted, “I want to publicly apologise on behalf of my whole team at Mazaaq Raat. A very stupid, vile and ridiculous comment was made recently about overseas Pakistanis by one of the guests in our show, which was followed up by an attempted joke by one of the comedians [again in bad taste].” Good of Vasay C to offer apologies. But they say it is easier to become wise in hindsight. Especially when there’s lucre in overseas shows.

Money Matters

Aalia Bhatt’s fans are super-happy to see her in the trailer for the Hollywood film Heart of Stone alongside the likes of Jamie Dornan and Gal Gadot. Not just her admirers, her dad Mahesh Bhatt is also uber-proud. Giving an interview about her latest achievement, he is quoted to have said, “I once remember asking her, ‘What is it that they [the West] have and we don’t?’ And her straight reply was, ‘Money’.” Hmmm… Well, to be fair, the West sometimes also makes films on shoestring budgets, such as The Blair Witch Project and Juno. It all boils down to the art of storytelling Mr Bhatt… and Ms Bhatt-Kapoor.

Father’s Day Love

That’s how you live amicably after the divorce! It’s been quite a while, well, eight years to be precise, since Hollywood A-listers Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner got divorced. But they share three children together. So, on Father’s Day (June 18) she wrote on Instagram, “Shout out to BGA [Benjamin Geza Affleck]. No one loves their kids like you love ours. Happy Father’s Day, Ben. X!” Aww… isn’t that sweet. We think J-Lo should have also written a similar message for Marc Anthony, no?

Tough Life

Now that her children have grown up and can fend for themselves, Kajol is busy with more acting assignments than in the recent past. Two of her OTT series, The Trial and Lust Stories 2, are already being talked about. Another thing that’s being talked about is her statement regarding the “tough” choices that she has had to make in her life, one of which, according to her, was marrying Ajay Devgn in 1999 “at the peak of my career.” By the way, it was also the peak of his acting career. Just sayin’.

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 2nd, 2023