Veteran Criticism

Rubina Ashraf likes to point out the weaknesses of her contemporaries and juniors if and when their performances, according to her, don’t meet the required standard. It doesn’t necessarily go down well with those who receive her negative comments. Expanding on her candidness to an interviewer, the seasoned actress argued that if retired cricketers can offer correction (to youngsters) then senior actors can do it, too, with other actors. Rubina A, you’re right in theory of course, but the thing is, not all cricketers take criticism well either and not all ex-sportsmen are worthy of doling out advice.

Wish List

Make no mistake: Sajal Aly is a good artist. There is no other actress of her generation who emotes on screen the way she does. Naturally, she is ambitious and wants to challenge herself as a performer. She has been quoted as having said that she looks forward to working with Bollywood A-lister Ranbir Kapoor and top-notch filmmaker Imtiaz Ali. Hmmm… the thing is Sajal A: such a collab only happens when both parties are equally desirous of working with each other.

Insta Queen

Instagram is, arguably, the most important social media platform for the showbiz community. So it means a lot when someone wears the crown of the most followed celeb of their country. We’re saying this because Hania Aamir has become the star with the most number of followers on Instagram, with 14.1m followers. She has knocked Ayeza Khan, who has 14m, off her pedestal. We congratulate Hania A and at the same time would like to tell her that followers don’t make you a great artist. Great art earns you true followers. Keep working on your craft, please.

Same Same

In the recently held Indian general elections, one of the candidates looked like Pakistani singer Ali Sethi. This was brought to the notice of the vocalist by one of his Indian fans, who also mentioned that the lookalike lost the election by a huge margin. To this, Ali S replied, “apparently I lost some votes in India.” The exchange unleashed a series of comments from netizens, one of whom wrote, “Ab ki baar Sethi sarkaar [This time around, Sethi’s government]” — a version of a famous election slogan. Well, if nothing else, an Ali Sethi sarkaar would, hopefully, re-open the doors to Pakistani singers performing in India, which would certainly get him more votes there and here.

Neighbourly Love

Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi lives in Dubai. Last week, while he was recording a cookery show in the UAE, a Pakistani fan grabbed his attention when he expressed his love for the Indian celeb. The actor, whose father Suresh Oberoi was born in Quetta, responded warmly. Afterwards, talking to the host of the show, he wondered: “I mean it is quite controversial to say this, but the way they [Pakistanis] love our food, our culture, our films, the way they love us, they give us so much love and respect, where is the hate?” Vivek O, you could also ask the same question of Kangana Ranaut and Anupam Kher.

Swift Anatomy

Everyone knows that pop icon Taylor Swift is a fan of the TV show Grey’s Anatomy. The star of the medical drama Anthony Hill has revealed that she still watches GA with fondness. He got to know about it after meeting her boyfriend Travis Kelce, who, by the way, doesn’t watch the show with her. He doesn’t like it. After their meeting, Anthony H posted a message for Travis K on social media, urging him, “Time to start bruh!” Well, we don’t think it’s the right time for Travis K to start watching the programme. After all, it hasn’t been long since he began going out with Taylor S. Last thing he would want is to be referred to in a Taylor S song as the boyfriend who watched Grey’s Anatomy.

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 16th, 2024