Concert Scene

There’s a bit of a revival going on of the music concert scene in the country. While smaller gigs have been taking place off and on for some time, now big-time concerts have also resurfaced to remind us how potent our pop industry used to be two decades ago.

A case in point is a show that happened on December 8 at a club in the Sindh capital. It featured Ali Azmat, Strings and a wild card entry in the shape of Ahmed Jahanzeb. The audience liked the gig, and it was nice to see Strings do a cover of Bunny’s famous song Dil Mein Tum. We need more of such programmes. However, this makes one think: why are we still living in the ’90s? Our musicians should come up with new(er) stuff to make us realise that good music is not just a thing of the past.

Maula Jatt Time

Folks, the wait is over. The makers of the much-awaited and anticipated The Legend of Maula Jatt have announced that the film will be released on Eidul Fitr next year. Directed by Bilal Lashari, the movie has a stellar cast, with Fawad Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi essaying the roles of the legendary Maula Jatt and Noori Nath and the gorgeous Mahira Khan playing the love of Jatt’s life.

Given the young director’s penchant for using high adrenaline visuals, as he did in his previous film Waar, it is expected that he’s given a modern — perhaps a postmodern — twist to the ’70s saga. If that’s what it is, then brace yourself for the Jatt set.

Proud of Her

Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh’s daughter Sara Ali Khan’s first film as a lead actress, Kedarnath, has hit the cinema screens and, according to some renowned reviewers, despite the film being awful (10 years too late) the debutante’s performance is worth watching.

This has made the young lass super chuffed. She has been quoted to have said that her parents are proud of her because critics and cine-goers have given a thumbs-up to her acting. Good on you, Sara AK. But wait ... The young girl should understand that, in Bollywood, in the final analysis, performances are measured only by box office returns. ‘Achhi adakari to bohat loag kar laitay hain.’

In the Slammer

Indian playback singer Mika Singh has a roving eye. Everybody knows that. But on December 7 it came as a shock for his fans and colleagues when a newspaper reported that he was put behind bars in Dubai for sending ‘lewd photos’ to a 17-year-old girl.

Though he was released from jail after a few hours, investigations are on and the singer had to appear in a court on December 9 to present his side of the story (he says he’s been ‘framed’). Well, framed or not, it’s likely that Mika S has taken his latest hit song Aankh maare larrki aankh maare from the film Simmba way too literally.

Hart’s Oscar Miss

There’s nothing more prestigious for a Hollywood comedian than to host the Oscars. Ask Billy Kristol or Ellen Degeneres. And Kevin Hart, who on December 4 was given the opportunity to do that in 2019, has missed it in the most abominable way.

The actor got caught in a controversy when one of his anti-gay tweets was brought into the notice of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by some journalists, as a result of which, two days later, Kevin H announced that he’s not going to anchor the show. What many are pointing out is that, throughout this hullabaloo, he did not apologise for his tweets.

Tch, tch … heartless Hart.

The Anxious Bride

Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin got married in September. It’s just been a little more than two months and the bride is already under tremendous pressure. No, not from her in-laws — it’s social media that’s causing her anxiety.

On December 8, the supermodel wrote a little note on her Instagram page underlining the negative effects of the photo-sharing networking website. Apart from other things, she mentioned: “It’s hard to focus on your wellbeing and mental health when each time you open Instagram, someone is tearing apart your job or your relationship or essentially any of the things in your life that are positive.” Hailey B, the solution is simple. Get off of social media. Ironically, you’re using the same medium to vent your anger. There’s a famous Greek saying: ‘Everything has two handles, beware of the wrong one’.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 16th, 2018