Daily Times

Actor Fawad Khan and actress Mehwish Hayat received awards at the launch of the Filmfare Magazine in Dubai on Friday. Fawad was honoured with the title of Best Cinematic Icon Pakistan/India at the Filmfare event held at Bollywood Parks in Dubai, while Hayat received the Pakistan Icon award.

While Fawad sported a suit by his go-to designer Omar Farooq, Mehwish donned a pale pink gown from UAE-based label Amato Couture for the occasion.

Khan has previously graced the cover of Filmfare, being the only Pakistani to receive this honour. He is also the first Pakistani in Filmfare history to win in the category of Best Actor (Debut) for Khoobsurat.

Deepika Padukone, looking resplendent in an all-black ensemble, was also present at the event and unveiled the cover of the first edition of the magazine.

Javed Sheikh and Hasnain Lehri were also those in attendance from Pakistan. From India Karan Johar, Dia Mirza, Jackie Shroff, designer Manish Malhotra were among those who attended the event.

Filmfare Middle East aims to cover celebrities from Indian, Pakistani and Arabic cinema. The event brought together celebrities and people from both sides of the border in an exciting ceremony.

It was heartwarming to see videos of Fawad hanging out with Karan Johar and Manish Malhotra, in a sort of a mini-reunion. The trio worked together in ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’, Fawad’s last film in Bollywood after which a ban was imposed on Pakistani artists working in Bollywood. The ban was implemented almost two years ago.

However, this does not stop artists from interacting with one another on neutral ground and are often spotted making merry. Moreso, Bollywood filmmakers are still keen to cast Pakistani talent and the fact that Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan continue to lend their vocals to Bollywood songs reiterates this.

Published in Daily Times, April 1^st 2018.