WARM GESTURE

Indian playback singer Arijit Singh recently did a concert in Dubai. The venue was bursting at the seams. In the audience, among other celebs, was Pakistan’s Mahira Khan. During the gig, the vocalist managed to spot the star of Raees in the house, so he immediately acknowledged her presence with a nice gesture, which was reciprocated equally warmly by Mahira K. Ah, if only our politicians emulated our artists, this region could have cut a sweet-sounding, rosy picture.

MORE PRE-WEDDING FUN

Those of you who missed Pakistani stars’ presence in the pre-wedding celebrations of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, India, it’s time to feel okay. For the uninitiated, Anant A is the son of a businessman with unimaginable wealth and power, Mukesh Ambani. In the second leg of the celebrations in London’s high-end Stoke Park Estate owned by Mukesh A, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Atif Aslam were the most notable imports. They sang their hearts out and lived up to their billing. By billing here we do mean big billing.

PICS DELETED

It was a bit of a head-scratching surprise for fans of Ranveer Singh and his wife Deepika Padukone to see that, on May 8, hubby dear deleted all his wedding pictures from his Instagram page. The good thing about it was that no one suspected that it was because of some kind of rockiness that may have occurred in their relationship. Some conjectured that Ranveer S is preparing for a promotional thingy for a project involving the couple. We say, sometimes no picture is worth a thousand — good and bad— words.

NO AFFAIR

Filmmaker Imtiaz Ali is currently basking in the success of his latest film, Chamkila. But he also spoke recently about his 2015 film Tamasha which didn’t do well at the box office, despite its star cast including Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone. In an interview, talking about that film’s lead pair’s remarkable chemistry in it (they had just broken up as a real life couple), he has said that people feel the two had an affair at the time of shooting, but it wasn’t true. According to Imtiaz A, for actors there’s a love for “performing with each other”, which is far more significant. Well, sir, humbly, the love for screen or stage performance also stems from a personal space. Wink!

WEIGH YOUR WORDS

On April 24, when the legendary Barbra Streisand checked her social media pages to see who had wished her birthday, she saw a picture of Melissa McCarthy. She wrote to the film and stage actress whether she was using Ozempic (a controversial weight loss medicine). She instantly received flak from netizens. It led her to explain: “I thought she looked fantastic. I just wanted to pay her a compliment. I forgot the world is reading.” Not just that, Barbra S, the world is smart.

DEFLECTING SCHUMER

Comedienne Amy Schumer seems to be someone who uses words indiscreetly. Take for example her claim vis-a-vis the conflict in Palestine, about which she has remarked, in classic whataboutery, that the focus is inordinately on the Jewish people rather than Hamas (we’re not going to quote what views she holds on the people of Gaza). Our very own Rasti Farooq has rightly taken issue with her statement, taking Amy S to the cleaners on Instagram. We agree with Rasti F, and would like to add, it ain’t funny Amy S… just like your jokes.

Published in Dawn, ICON, May 12th, 2024