Laurel for Pak Doc

A Pakistani documentary titled Barefoot with Godfather of Soccer: Unwanted but Undaunted, directed by Khalid Hasan Khan, has won the best direction award for interfaith sport documentary at the 4th Global India International Film Festival (GIIFF), Mumbai. The film focuses on the lives of two former footballers and current coaches from the north and south of Pakistan. Congratulations to team Barefoot with Godfather! Keep scoring such goals.

Salam Sculpture

Actor, singer and fine artist Jamal Shah likes to do things his own way. Although he doesn’t usually make portraits, his bust of Pakistan’s Nobel laureate Dr Abdus Salam, which he’s made as a tribute to the scientist, was recently unveiled by the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, at the agency’s 61st general conference. Jamal S, it seemed, felt pleased when a Pakistani diplomat in Turkey tweeted about it and the artist wrote, “This is where my sculpture is displayed.” Great stuff, sir… and great tribute!

Valentine Kaput

The coming Valentine’s Day will be the first for the newlywed Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal as a couple. According to an Indian media outlet, the two were planning to celebrate it in a nice, romantic way but then it emerged that the shooting for the Salman Khan-Katrina K starrer Tiger 3 will begin from February 14 in the Indian capital. What a bummer! It is expected that Vicky K will come up with something interesting on the day. Whatever… we feel the dates for the shoot have something to do with Salman K. Old flames die hard.

Ain’t Afraid

It’s been quite a while since actor John Abraham gave a big box office hit, but as a producer his is a pretty decent success story — Vicky Donor, for example. When a pen-pusher asked him about his journey in the film industry, he replied, “If you don’t take the risk, you won’t reap the benefit. What’s the worst that can happen? At the most, you will fail. I have failed more often than not. So, I am not scared of failures and have always looked at that as my biggest positive.” Well, John A the producer could also tell John A the actor that the problem begins when failure becomes a habit…

On Your Bike, Mate!

On January 27, Simon Cowell, the famous judge on the reality shows America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent known for shooting from the hip and telling it like it is, fell off his electric bike in London. He was immediately taken to hospital and is now on the mend. In the span of two years, it’s his second motorbike-related accident. A few days later, he advised his fans on social media, “If you buy an electric bike, read the manual before you ride it for the first time.” That sounds like something Simon C would say… to one of the contestants on the reality shows he judges.

Can’t win ‘em all, eh Simon?

Suspended!

Oscar-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg is one of the hosts at the ABC network’s popular show The View. Last week, during a discussion, she said the Holocaust was not about race, it was about man’s inhumanity to man. Sounds innocuous enough, but the comment did not go down well with Jewish groups, as a result of which she had to apologise. Subsequently, she was suspended from the show for two weeks because, according to ABC president Kim Godwin, the apology wasn’t enough. Hmmm… so there are limits to freedom of expression even in the West?

Published in Dawn, ICON, February 13th, 2022