Amidst a plethora of award functions that keep happening every year all over the world, that honour and recognise Pakistani stars, another one took place on Friday. It was called the Pakistan International Screen Awards (PISA) that was held in the United Arab Emirates at the flashy Coca Cola Arena. Let me walk you all through the stellar awards night and apprise you of the exciting highlights but most importantly, what went down as well. HIGHS — the awards night brought together the entire film and television industry of Pakistan; from the veterans, stalwarts and the pioneers, to the Legends and the Contemporaries and of course, the up and coming ones. It was a well-attended affair and that added to the warmth and excitement that was in the air. After a long time, perhaps after Lux Style Awards 2017, the fraternity came together. Actor and host Fakhr-e-Alam’s rap song was nostalgic, heartfelt, energetic and very entertaining. He rapped about the beauty of Pakistan, the daring men and fearless women of the country and of course, our resilient nation. He reinvented and remixed his famous “Bhangrra Rap” song and got everyone to their feet. The major highlight of the event was when musician Attaullah Khan , dressed to the nines, got up and the crowd went berserk. The audience chanted his famous song ‘Pyar naal na sahi’ which made the superstar belt out this track, as the bewitched crowd listened. It was truly a moment to behold The major highlight of the event was when musician Attaullah Khan , dressed to the nines, got up and the crowd went berserk. The audience chanted his famous song “Pyar naal na sahi” which made the superstar belt out this track, as the bewitched crowd listened. It was truly a moment to behold. Mani Liaquat was a fun addition to the otherwise mundane scripts and hosting we see at our award shows. For those who don’t know him, Mani Liaquat is an England-based comedian. He is known for his bizarre rants, portly figure, witty voice and mixture of Punjabi/Urdu/Hindi and British everyday-humour. Liaquat is best known as the winner of ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.’ He was funny, energetic, natural and very engaging. Ali Zafar’s performance was indeed memorable. No doubt, the star is immensely talented and a people’s person through and through. He broke into an impromptu performance on some of his biggest hits and had his fans in the crowd mostly singing along with him. There were demands of most of his biggest global hits and the singer and actor just couldn’t say “no”. Humayun Saeed walked into the ceremony a tad late, but the audience was quick to catch him walking in. There were excited screams and crazy shouts from fans as the superstar was spotted walking in. Truly, it was a hero’s welcome. Mustafa Qureshi, Reema Khan and Sangeeta were honoured for their endless contributions to Pakistani cinema and each were invited onto the stage to say a few words. LOWS – the awards night began very late. The invitation card had said red carpet would be at 5:30pm and the awards ceremony would begin by 8:30pm maximum. However, that was the case. The event began around 10pm when most felt their behinds getting numb from all that sitting around. There was also no apology in an announcement. We love Sarwat Gilani and we think she is super gorgeous and an extremely humble and down-to-earth person. Also, she was one of the most well-dressed women of the night, wearing a stunning sari by Vesimi. However, her dance performance with her husband Fahad Mirza on songs such as ‘Coca Cola pila de’ and ‘Don’t be silly’ seemed actually silly without any energy, coordinated dance moves or well rehearsed appeal The script was unfunny, humourless, not well-scripted at all with many segments seeming unnecessary. For instance, the one with Hira and Mani, where the only ones laughing at their jokes were they themselves. We love Sarwat Gilani and we think she is super gorgeous and an extremely humble and down-to-earth person. Also, she was one of the most well-dressed women of the night, wearing a stunning sari by Vesimi. However, her dance performance with her husband Fahad Mirza on songs such as “Coca Cola pila de” and “Don’t be silly” seemed actually silly without any energy, coordinated dance moves or well rehearsed appeal. It wasn’t just Sarwat Gilani’s performance that was disappointing but so was Hareem Farooq’s and Sara Loren’s. Some awkward moment happened when wrong categories were announced whereas the presenters had come to give out awards for some other category. Umair Jaswal, on winning the PISA for Best Song of the Year, said in his speech that up and coming singers should not do covers and rather be original, which was followed by Mesmerise Events Founder Faisal Khan’s son performing on cover songs for 15 to 20 minutes at a stretch. There were some undeserving award recipients for instance, Best Film Actress award to Mahira Khan for ‘Superstar’ and Best TV Actress Award to Ayeza Khan for ‘Mere Paas Tum Ho.’ The Award for Best YouTuber went to Ducky Bhai and Best Influencer went to Hira Attique. We really think Meera Jee deserved the award for Best Film Actress as ‘Baji’ was her super-hit comeback film, as opposed to ‘Superstar’ that left many people leaving cinema halls, yawning away. Sanam Baloch or even Sajal Ali were more deserving than Ayeza Khan for Best Drama Actress. Rahim Pardesy was more worthy for Best YouTuber. You watch one of his videos and spend the night laughing away. As far as Hira Attique was concerned, most have not even heard of her, leave alone being called an Influencer. Nadia Afghan was given the award for Best Comedienne instead of the much-deserving Hina Dilpazir. The award for Best Designer was handed over without even the mention of nominees. Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhary got on stage to give a very uninspiring speech on how the artists themselves should be uniting to make the industry strong, rather than mentioning what the government was doing in terms of investment or boosting our culture sphere. Winners Best TV Play Meray Paas Tum Ho Best TV Play Director Meray Paas Tum Ho (Nadeem Baig) Best TV Writer Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar – Meray Paas Tum Ho Best TV Actor Humayun Saeed – Meray Paas Tum Ho Best TV Actress Ayeza Khan – Meray Paas Tum Ho Original Soundtrack Meray Paas Tum Ho Best Song of the Year Baari by Bilal Saeed & Momina Mustehsan Song of the Year (Critic) Umair Jaswal – Chal Raha Hoon Best Actor Critic Adnan Siddiqui – Meray Paas Tum Ho Best Actress Critic Sana Javed – Ruswai Best Actor in Comedy Role Adnan Samad Khan – Ehd-e-Wafa Best Actress in Comedy Role Nadia Afghan – Suno Chanda Life Time Achievement Award (Male) Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi Life Time Achievement Award (Female) Abida Parveen Best Picture Superstar Actor in a Leading Role Sheheryar Munawar – Parey Hut Love Actress in a Leading Role Mahira Khan – Superstar Actor in Supporting Role Ahmed Ali Butt – Parey Hut Love Actress in Supporting Role Zara Noor Abbas – Parey Hut Love Cinematographer Salman Razzaq – Parey Hut Love Director Asim Raza – Parey Hut Love Music Azaan Sami Khan – Superstar Best Model Sadaf Kanwal Best Designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin (HSY) Instagram Influencer/Blogger Hira Attique Prankster YouTuber P4 Pakao Vlogger Zaid Ali – Funny Skits YouTuber Ducky Bhai – Roaster