FIGHT NOT RIGHT

Talk about sorority! A young actress by the name of Minsa Malik has filed an FIR against a known actress Alizeh Shah for — and this is a bit strange — physically abusing her during a shoot of a drama series titled Mohabbat Ki Aakhri Kahani. She also accused Alizeh S of being under the influence of some drug. Boy oh boy… what the hell is going on in our industry? Come to think of it, it does sound like the end of all love.

THE ARRIVAL

After the success of Tere Bin, Wahaj Ali has become a household name. Some say he is the new superstar of Pakistani showbiz. But the actor has decidedly non-star airs about him. He has been quoted to have said, “I think we are unfairly measuring actors on the social media followers’ benchmarks that have been set for influencers. Without undermining the work and efforts of the influencers, I genuinely feel an actor is more about their craft on screen and behind the camera than the number of followers.” We think you are spot on!

BETTER HALF

Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter Suhana Khan is in the news. Yes, she’s working in a forthcoming film directed by Zoya Akhtar, but the reason she has recently hogged the limelight is her chit chat at a book launch which was widely covered by mainstream and social media. The media praised the way she spoke at the event (we thought she was just run-of-the-mill). In any case, basking in the compliments for her, daddy dear, SRK, remarked that the credit for raising their kids well goes to his wife, Gauri Khan. Undoubtedly sir, and for putting up with the king… of… whatever.

JINGOIST BOLLYWOOD

Art is supposed to bring people together, not set them apart. But this is a new India, under Narendra Modi’s premiership, full of jingoism and xenophobia. We have lost count how many anti-Pakistan films Bollywood has made in the last few years. The recent example is Gadar 2, which apparently is doing roaring business. The next (Diwali) release in a similar vein is Salman Khan’s Tiger 3, another high-action instalment of a franchise in which the actor plays an Indian agent fighting, again, Pakistani agents. What’s wrong with India’s film fraternity? This may earn them rupees at the box office but the loss it’ll incur is of a deeper nature — a loss of humanity.

THE DEPP-HEARD SAGA

Netflix has dropped a new documentary series on last year’s defamation trial that Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp filed, and won, against his former wife Amber Heard.

The purpose of releasing the show is being discussed because it, seemingly, tries to bring into focus the way the media went berserk with the whole story, and perhaps impinged upon it. We feel the streaming giant is running out of ideas, because it is doing exactly what it is advocating against.

Then again, who can resist easy revenue?

BRITNEY UNFAZED

Last week, Sam Asghari, husband of pop star Britney Spears, filed for divorce after 14 months of marriage (that was quick, no?). You would have thought that the singer would be a tad down in the dumps. Nope. On the contrary, she relayed the following message on Instagram: “Buying a horse soon! So many options, it’s kinda hard! A horse called Sophie and another called Roar? I can’t make up my mind.” Well, Britney S, do it before the horse that you like more bolts.

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 27th, 2023