Daily Times

The 18th edition of the country’s leading film, fashion and television awards ceremony was held on Sunday at the Expo Centre.

Talking Point handled the media and public relations and the very enterprising Frieha Altaf did the choreography for the entire event. Acclaimed filmmaker, actor and performing artist Sarmad Khoosat penned the script for the awards ceremony.

As routine has it, the Lux Style Awards 2019 were filled with some pleasant, delightful and thoroughly moving highs along with a few lows that could have easily been avoided. Here’s our roundup of the ceremony.

HIGHS — the ceremony was well attended. A major chunk of the who’s who from the film and TV industry was present. There were a couple of attendees representing fashion, beauty and music as well but mostly nominees. Big names like Shabnam, Nadeem Baig, Bushra Ansari, Mahira Khan, Atif Aslam, Meera, Ali Safina, Maya Ali, Saba Qamar, Ahmed Ali Akbar, Mehwish Hayat, Fahad Mustafa, Mawra Hocane, Ushna Shah, Sangita, Zara Noor Abbas, Asad Siddiqui, Yasir Hussain, Iqra Aziz, Emad Irfani, Momina Mustehsan, Feroze Khan, Sana Javed, Shehryar Munawar, Uzma Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Ali Rehman Khan, Munib Nawaz, Nomi Ansari, Ahmed Ali Butt, Hina Dilpazir, Nida Yasir and Nida Azwer were just some of the attendees not to forget leading lifestyle and entertainment journalists.

The award ceremony subtly touched upon the topic of cyber bullying which was effective and not forcing it down your throat dosage. Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Medal of Excellence) recipient Mehwish Hayat got on stage to express the bravery with which not only her but public figures have to face negative criticism, mockery, cyber bullying and hate. She was joined on stage by fellow actress and ‘Chalawa’ co-star Zara Noor Abbas to clarify a misconception among masses how two actresses can never be friends. The two held hands and pleasantly brushed aside this spreading misconception going to the extent of even calling each other “off-screen and on-screen sisters.” Now that was cute!

Mahira Khan is undoubtedly the biggest female superstar in the country owing to her immense achievements and her recognition abroad. The preceding award ceremonies haven’t let us forget this as the petite actress dominates these events by winning big and performing all the major skits and dances. This time, the actress gracefully clapped and applauded for the winners and the performers. This time, it wasn’t about her and honestly, we did miss her up there.

Speaking of making way for others, comedian and rapper Ahmed Ali Butt was also not the official host this time. He did present a brief skit and an award to the recipient but fresh faces did all the major hosting.

The highlight of the event was when Atif Aslam said to Shabnam that the award ceremony was just for her and to honour her only. The immensely-talented veteran actress was paid a tribute by playing the songs she was picturised on and the current actresses dancing on their remixes. Shabnam was called on stage to rub shoulders with Nadeem Baig, her co-star of yesteryears.

Actor Yasir Hussain proposed to his rumoured girlfriend Iqra Aziz, making their relationship official. He put a ring on her finger as the stunned actress smiled tearfully and the couple indulged in PDA. The crowd went berserk with applause and “awws” all around. We hear the couple had already gotten engaged a while ago, but even if it was an act to rake in ratings, we’d say, job well done. The thing is, we’ve been copying and emulating so much of Bollywood awards content in the past, maybe this act would give their award functions something to learn from. I’m guessing Ranbir Kapoor popping the question to Alia Bhatt during an award ceremony next.

We loved how four prominent filmmakers including Sangeeta, Saqib Malik, Asim Raza and Sarmad Khoosat got on stage together, each mentioning one favourite Pakistani director of theirs and announcing their upcoming films. We don’t think we’ve ever seen that happening on national television. For all those saying, Pakistani film industry is dead and gone, need to rethink.

A very important topic was touched upon — all the stars we lost from last year to 2019’s July, were remembered and paid tribute to. These included Roohi Bano, Anam Tanoli, Annie Ali Khan and others.

Watching Meera shake a leg with all the energy she had was beautiful. The current lot needs to learn a thing or two from Meera who is older but carries the energy of a diva. It truly was a night honouring true legends. Meera’s big smile was enough to tell us how happy she is with her recent hit and now the LSAs being her celebratory premise.

LOWS — the comedic part of the script was unfunny, lame and unnecessary. We know it’s not easy to make people laugh but I doubt if the writer himself laughed or even chuckled while he wrote it.

Perhaps the arrangement and sequence of the event could’ve been shuffled. Dance performances were held quite later in the night when the unfunny script had most of the people yawning or maybe leaving.

Where there was star power, some of it was absent. We missed Ali Zafar, Shaan, Javed Sheikh, Hareem Farooq, Urwa Hocane, Farhan Saeed, Sajal Ali, Adnan Siddiqui, Reema Khan, Sana Fakhar, Resham, Saud, Sahiba, Babar Ali, etc.

Wasn’t the perfect night for Momina Mustehsan as soon after delivering a lacklustre and unnecessary dance performance, announced the winner of a different category than the nominations of which were played. She was flanked by Azaan Sami Khan. Another glitch was when the presenters announced Atif Aslam’s performance earlier than it was scheduled. A backstage staff member very awkwardly came on stage to whisper in the presenter’s ear of the folly. An unrehearsed Saba Qamar had to repeat most of her script to get it right when the “newscasting segment” began. She was flanked by Yasir Hussain.

Perhaps the air conditioning could’ve been taken care of as most of us were fanning ourselves to get through the night.

Winners

FILM

Best Actor Viewer’s Choice — Ali Zafar for ‘Teefa in Trouble’

Best Actor Critics Choice — Fahad Mustafa for ‘Load Wedding’

Best Actress Viewer’s Choice — Mehwish Hayat for ‘Load Wedding’

Best Actress — Sohai Ali Abro for ‘Motorcycle Girl’

Best Film — ‘Cake’

Best Director — Ahsan Rahim for ‘Teefa in Trouble’

MUSIC

Best Original Sound Track — Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for ‘Khaani’

Best Playback Singer — Atif Aslam for “Tham Lo”

Singer of the Year — Mohsin Abbas and Sohail Haider for “Na Jaa”

Song of the Year — Khumariyaan for “Ya Qurban”

Best Emerging Talent — Saakin for “Saqi-e-Bewafa”

TELEVISION

Best Actor Viewer’s Choice — Feroze Khan for ‘Khaani’

Best Actor Critics Choice — Nouman Ejaz for ‘Dar Si Jati Hai Sila’

Best Actress Viewer’s Choice — Iqra Aziz for ‘Suno Chanda’

Best Actress Critics Choice — Iqra Aziz for ‘Suno Chanda’

Best Play Viewer’s Choice — ‘Suno Chanda’

Best Play Writer — Beegul for ‘Dar Si Jati Hai Sila’

Best Play Director — Kashif Nisar for ‘Dar Si Jati Hai Sila’

Best Emerging Talent — Rida Bilal

FASHION

Model of the Year (Female) — Sadaf Kanwal

Model of the Year (Male) — Shahzad Noor

Achievement in Fashion Design — Prêt — Chapter 2

Achievement in Fashion Design — Luxury Prêt — Sana Safinaz

Achievement in Fashion Design — Menswear — Republic by Omer Farooq

Achievement in Fashion Design — Bridal Couture — Kamiar Rokni

Best Fashion Photographer — Rizwanul Haq

Best Hair & Make-up Artist — Qasim Liaqat

Best Emerging Talent — Mushk Kalim