SPEAK UP FOR PALESTINE

It’s good that a big number of local and international artists are speaking for a lasting peace in Palestine and for an end to the atrocious Israeli attacks on Gaza. Our very own Grammy winner Arooj Aftab is one of them. She has signed a letter from a collective called Musicians for Palestine, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. She has poignantly pointed out that silence is not an option. Spot on, girl! Straddling the fence or keeping mum on the issue will only reveal the inner selves of those who opt to do so.

KAMLI CALLING

Congratulations to Team Kamli for making it big on the international circuit. It continues to garner accolades around the world. The film directed by Sarmad Khoosat has earned three awards in Belarus at the Minsk International Film Festival in the following categories: best actress (Saba Qamar), best director (Sarmad Khoosat) and the viewers’ choice award. It’s fantastic to see good Pakistani cinema be recognised by even non-Pakistanis. Gives us a bella-rush.

WONKA ADVICE

Timothee Chalamet is playing Willy Wonka in an upcoming film Wonka. Naturally, comparisons are being drawn between his portrayal of the character and the same role essayed by Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005. Timothee C has said in an interview that he hasn’t taken any advice from Johnny D to prep for the part. In fact, he grew up on Willy Wonka played by Gene Wilder way before Johnny D. Here, it needs to be mentioned that Timothee C dated Johnny D’s daughter Lily Rose from 2018 to 2020. So advice was out of the question, anyway.

THE WAQAR-NIDA FEUD

First, it was Nida Yasir who accused Waqar Zaka of trying to ‘sabotage’ her career as the host of a morning show by sending emails against her to the TV channel’s management. Now Waqar Z has come back with his riposte, claiming that he didn’t do that. He claims that Nida does uncalled-for things to get the ratings for her programme. “There was a child abuse case in Karachi. She invited the parents to her morning show. These morning shows have a norm of making people cry for ratings. To make the parents cry, she asked them such inappropriate questions that they genuinely burst into tears.” Hmmm… Given that both hosts have done enough cringe-worthy things on TV, we think that this feud is inappropriate, too.

DRY FRUIT LOVER

Hollywood A-lister Jennifer Garner has a backpack that she usually carries most of the time when she steps out of the house. In a video she has told her fans what’s usually there in the bag: “Notebook, two-sided glasses case. If you’re over 50, you understand. And a little pouch of pens, because pens are life.” While she was doing that, she also pulled out eight packs of… nuts. And remarked, “I’m so scared, I’m not going to have nuts.” After watching that, an admirer called her the Mary Poppins of nuts. He must be a nutcase

NEPO DAD

The debate over nepotism in Bollywood doesn’t seem to have subsided. The latest in that regard is filmmaker Zoya Akhtar’s film The Archies in which she has cast Shah Rukh Khan’s daughter (Suhana), Jhanvi Kapoor’s sister (Khushi) and Amitabh Bachchan’s grandson (Agastya). Lyricist Javed Akhtar at an event has defended his director daughter’s casting decisions in the following words: “She has all the right to take anybody under the sun. She shouldn’t be questioned. She is taking the risk. It is her project and she is backing it.” Well, sir, we’re not questioning anything. We’re just trying to look up the meaning of the word ‘merit’ in the dictionary.

Published in Dawn, ICON, December 10th, 2023