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instep
analysis
Turning up the heat
on the Lux Style Awards
In terms of high voltage drama, this year's Lux Style Awards
went up in flames as Shaan and Iman Ali went head to head on stage,
Ali Azmat sparked off distaste with his crass sense of humour and
short circuiting sent out smoke signals from an actual backstage
fire!
By Aamna
Haider Isani
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ground reality is that this year's Lux Style Awards were the most
disappointing yet. They were initially meant to be a black tie affair
in solidarity with the constant crisis the country is in, but as time
approached, the ceremony had grown into a show that was much smaller
than what the LSAs have come to be associated with and yet much bigger
than what was originally planned. The result: an event that was neither
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The show itself was
marred by mismanagement, interrupted by constant hiccups thanks
to last minute changes in the program, delayed and stretched to
3 am despite the actual program being short enough to be wrapped
up in an hour. The seventh annual Lux Style Awards, held at the
Golf Club in Karachi, bubbled down to an evening that reflected
more as a 'function', a private event or even a wedding, which was
all too affected by undercurrents of bad vibes, personal likes and
dislikes and complete chaos because of good old-fashioned bad management.
The evening was disappointing but it wasn't a disaster; there were
enough fiery moments to save it from being that. In fact, in terms
of high voltage drama, the 7th Lux Style Awards were fiery with
a capital 'F'. The LSAs this year were built upon a bed of controversies,
boycotts and threats of cancellation; they were presented amidst
flaming hot exchanges on stage as well as a fire burning backstage
and they were followed by the usual round of rants and raves. It
was a loaded round!
The horror and
the humour
The horror of the show went way beyond logistical goof ups. Ali
Azmat was back behind the podium as emcee but his jokes seemed a
little more personal than they were funny. He was out of control
and at times it appeared that the stage had become his personal
space, used to take the mickey out of anyone he so desired to. While
he did praise newcomers Zeb and Haniya, there was no need for him
to pull Fakhir's leg in such an embarrassing (albeit hilarious as
watching someone get ridiculed is always funny) way. Fakhir was
obviously not prepared for the verbal assault in which Ali called
him a "pretty boy" followed by a jibe that Fakhir was
dressed like a waiter or rather a joker. "The waiters want
their clothes back," Ali said, followed by, "Hey I'm acting
like a joker and you're dressed like one." The humour fell
into bad taste as Ali repeated the crass jokes, taking digs at all
and sundry, Pakistan included. No where in the world will comedians
crack jokes running their own country down to the ground but apparently
Mr Azmat was above all that.
It all became way too offensive and continued with Shaan later taking
Ali a peg down for cracking unpatriotic jokes.
All LSA photography by Faisal Farooqu
Apparently Shaan and Ali had a tiff at rehearsals where Ali Azmat
started tearing Lollywood apart in his characteristically crude
way. What one witnessed was a karaoke type stand up comedy that
was more suited to a shanky nightclub but not to a ceremony like
the LSAs. Humour is necessary to make these ceremonies work - Shah
Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan put people in fits of laughter at the
Filmfare Awards in India - but that humour shouldn't be at the expense
of pulling the stars down. The audience was left between cringing
and giggling embarrassedly. These bad vibes prevailed throughout
the show, making way for the ultimate Shaan-Iman Ali showdown at
the end.
Between the absent Shoaib Mansoor, Shaan and Iman Ali, it was three
way warfare with poor Fawad Khan stepping in as referee. The animosity
that Shoaib and Iman have against Shaan is no secret; they have
all been making public statements about it but the last episode
was absolutely cringe worthy. Shaan should not have taken the LSAs
as a platform to tear Shoaib Mansoor down but then again Shoaib
Mansoor should have given him the respect he deserves as the hero
of his film. Mr Mansoor had apparently requested that Iman and Fawad
receive his award for Best Film and not Shaan. Iman then further
provoked Shaan by telling Fawad that 'he' was the best part of the
film, indicating that Shaan got the award instead as "there
was a bias".
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Eager
to act the mediator, Fawad called Shaan on stage to "complete
the picture" and that was just the cue Shaan needed to start
tearing Shoaib Mansoor down. Once again, people in the audience
could be seen looking everywhere but at the stage. In a way, Shaan's
tirade was more unpatriotic than Ali Azmat's cheap jokes. If you're
part of a film that has won praise all over the world, then as an
actor you promote that film and your team; you don't "go home
and feed your dog" as Shaan clarified he did. Between Shoaib
Mansoor's absence (he always gets away with his public image of
being reclusive though he should have been there to receive his
award), Iman Ali's pettiness and Shaan's egotistical monologue,
one was left in an uncomfortable situation. If these are our top
stars, then God help the industry from self destructing!
Bridging
the great divide
All that said, in no way could Pakistan's so-called stars take away
from the moments of glory, glory that belonged entirely to the younger
stars in the making, like Fawad Khan, for instance.
Fawad was clearly the show stopper as he danced with Saeen Zahoor
to the tune of 'Allah Hoo' (from the Khuda Kay Liye soundtrack)
and as Atif Aslam and Shehzad Roy joined the iconic sufi folk singer
Reshma and collaborated with her on the hugely famous 'Lambi Judai'
and 'Chori Chori'. These are songs which were picked up by the Indian
film industry almost two decades ago, when the Pakistani pop industry
was non existent. One was taken for blockbuster Jackie Shroff's
debut film Hero (1983), and the other adapted to Dimple Kapadia's
Lekin (1990) as 'Yaara Seeli Seeli', And now as Pakistani music
looms large over Bollywood, it was absolutely heartening to see
the generations coming together in acknowledgement of each other.
Watching Fawad Khan in his western avatar, grooving next to the
whirling dervish Saeen Zahoor dressed in folk magnificence, was
also a sight for sore eyes. The impact of the two coming together
was strong, almost soul stirring. And it sent out a very strong
message as to where entertainment in Pakistan should be heading.
It's all about paying tribute to legends - something the LSAs have
set the trend for by giving importance to Mehdi Hassan, Naheed Akhtar,
Runa Laila and now Reshma - as well as building new stars. And it's
as much about creating the right links.
When the Lux Style Awards started way back in 2002, their future
was uncertain and critics predicted the show would pack up within
a few years. Pakistan simply didn't have enough star quotient to
carry them through, they believed. But over the years the LSAs have
helped make stars just as much as they have helped keep the older
ones in the spotlight. And this is one of their biggest achievements.
And so this year's LSAs also paved the way for new talent, talent
that is soaring new heights these days. Jal walked away with three
awards - for Song of the Year and Album of the Year while sharing
the spotlight with the hugely talented Bilal Lashari, who had directed
the video of 'Sajni', for Best Video of the Year. Former winners
of this category, video directors Saqib Mailk and Asim Reza sat
in the front and clapped him on, which once again meant a lot in
terms of encouragement and industry building. The Jal boys were
of course ecstatic, even thanking Atif Aslam in their acceptance
speech though it wasn't clear whether they were being sarcastic
or simply thanking him in good faith.
Later the boys - Atif and Jal - performed live at the end of the
show. And despite bagging three awards, Jal were totally overshadowed
by Atif Aslam going live but they sat through the performance in
good spirit. The crowd went hysterical with delight as Atif belted
out the massively popular 'Pehli Nazar Mein' and the Jal boys applauded
with great dignity.
In fashion, Maheen Karim, Rizwan-ul Haq and Rabia Butt won awards
for Best Pret, Best Photographer and Best Emerging Talent respectively.
To witness the industry actually acknowledge talent this green is
indicative of how visions are broadening. Seven years ago, prêt
a porter was virtually non existent, fashion photography was overwhelmed
by Ather Shahzad and the only models the industry knew were Iraj,
Vinny, Aaminah Haq, ZQ and Iman. It cannot be about monopolies and
camps anymore than it cannot be about seniority. The show must go
on and it will; the defunct will be replaced by others and those
who truly deserve the platform shall continue being a part of it,
award or no award.
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But
those who walked away with awards emerged active players in the
industry. Maheen Karim is a force to reckon with and she has shaken
older prêt designers like Iman Ahmed and Sonya Battla out
of their comfort zones. Sara Shahid may not have won but she can
be called 'the Sana Safinaz of prêt' for being nominated every
year. And she is just as elegant; consistently being supportive
of the ceremony without any background histrionics. The extremely
talented Kamiar Rokni, of course, just adds more competition. For
Best Couture, most people were banking on Nilofer Shahid but again,
in the fabulous world of fashion Rizwan Beyg is definitely a more
active player. And he is incredibly talented to top it off.
Turning over to the television industry, one has to give credit
to the graceful and elegant fraternity for being so articulate and
gracious. Between Bushra Ansari, Atiqa Odho, Asif Reza Mir, Anjum
Shahzad, the Four Man Show, Saba Hameed and many more, the TV artistes
epitomized what real stars should be like. Unlike stars from the
music, film and fashion arenas, the TV artistes came forth with
an obvious and sincere love for showbiz. There were no attempts
of self glorification; there was no whimpering and whining. They
were all articulate while being humorous at the same time and it
took one's thoughts back to the LSAs held in 2003 which had been
directed by Asim Reza, and emceed by Moeen Akhtar. What a riot that
show was! One has to say that our TV stars are what legends are
truly made of and they make us proud.
Again bridging the divide were the Unilever Scholarships that were
handed out to benefit seven third year students from the Asian Institute
of Fashion Design, the Pakistan School of Fashion Design, National
Academy of Performing Arts and the National College of Arts. These
scholarships would help them get through final year.
The
LSAs get hit by bad management plus bad behaviour
The mismanagement one witnessed throughout the show calls for some
serious structural changes in the LSA office. Frieha Altaf has been
with the Lux Style Awards since the show's conception seven years
ago, but the awards have grown and Frieha cannot handle them single
handedly anymore. This year the show was insanely delayed in starting
(the invites said 7.30 but guests like Bunto Kazmi and Maheen Karim
who were on time were requested to wait outside the marquee until
9.) The enclosure looked pretty but technically didn't spell out
'awards show' at all. The stage was too small, the podiums unsightly
and for people sitting anywhere behind the front row of lounges,
their vision was obstructed by huge pillars in the middle of the
venue.
The show itself was equally chaotic. Presenters messed up on what
categories to announce, the teleprompters stopped working in between
acts, performances were disrupted by lack of rehearsals (Shaan was
supposed to dance to 'Allah Hoo' with Fawad Khan but dropped out
because "there wasn't enough time to rehearse"), and ultimately
the short circuiting that resulted in the backstage fire. People
hurriedly exited the marquee and only half of them returned for
the remaining show. It's true that these hitches will be edited
out of the televised version and the producers kept insisting that
the LSAs are essentially a TV show, but again, their ground reality
was disappointing.
After seven years, these logistics should be well under control
and the only solution points at delegating responsibilities to more
than one person. If the show is handled by Frieha Altaf, then the
ambience should be given to someone else. It cannot be a one man
show anymore.
As for bad behaviour, the cribbing that envelopes the Lux Style
Awards every year is like a bottomless pit - it has no end and most
of it generates from the fashion industry, which has been least
gracious to acknowledge the platform that is rolled out for them
every year. The most amusing thing is that designers who had so
much fun last year in Malaysia (a free trip to Paradise city) were
the ones who complained about it most this year. Others conveniently
chose to not be in the country for the awards. Some came down to
Karachi but didn't bother to turn up that evening. And some suddenly
decided that this year they didn't want their name to be associated
with 'a soap'.
Unilever has been pumping in an average of 50 million rupees (5
crore) into each event. This year's show cost a lot less but still
a lot of money. And the fashion industry should be grateful that
someone is interested in giving them a platform; it would be safe
to say that this is more revenue than a lot of designers generate
in a year. It isn't about individual glory anyway - though the LSAs
have brought that glory to many - it's about industry building.
And why resent a multinational corporation for generating that platform?
They are the only ones who will. If designers can be okay with showing
under the sponsorship of a hair removing cream then why 'a soap'
poses a problem is unclear. As for the judging process and consequently
the awards, the jury consists of journalists and voters, who influence
the final results, come from within the industry. It's the industry
and not the LSA awards office that chooses winners.
But all said and done, the LSAs are all about entertainment and
every spark (whether it is set off by controversy or short circuiting)
rages through the industry like wildfire. And nothing generates
more steam than the annual Lux Style Awards. The rants came from
those who either lost or who felt left out of the whole affair this
year; the raves from the winners and the few people who wish to
see the show grow despite all odds. But at the end of the day, it
is all this brouhaha and more that make the show ever more delightful.
And this year it generated enough hype to make it one of the most
talked about LSAs ever.
Splitting
the spotlight
Splitting the spotlight is what it's all about and that was proven
effective in the style department more than anywhere else. The Lux
Style Awards have historically been stylized by either Tariq Amin
or Nabila - both giants in their own field - but this year, different
segments of the show were distributed between the new stylists.
For fashion, Maram Aabroo styled the Best Pret segment, Guddu Shani
styled Retail, Depilex handled Couture and Sajid styled for Best
Menswear Designer. Instead of sending out full collections or backing
each designer's work by visuals of his work, only one model walked
out wearing the creation of one designer and that model was prepared
by the given stylist. As for the presenters, performers and celebrities,
they all went to whomever they were comfortable with, just as it
is done internationally and just the way it should be done. Between
Maram Aabroo, Guddu Shani, Sajid, Depilex, Sabs, Nabila and Tariq
Amin, they were all involved and that ensured the variety in overall
appearances. It was a brilliant idea that worked well. |
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