Move away and make way all you ARY Film Awards and HUM TV Awards, because the biggest and the oldest running awards are back in town. Yes, we are talking about the prestigious LUX Style Awards (LSA) which are back and turn 13 this year.
What makes the LSAs more special this time around? Well, it’s the film nominations that unlike the last time around are again part of it in this edition. And film nominations mean time for Galaxy Lollywod to take the hot seat.
So here at Galaxy Lollywood, we’ll be analysing the film nominations and our editors, Momin Ali Munshi and Aayan Mirza shall be giving their commentary on the names nominated along with their predictions for winner.
Enjoy.
Best Film
- Main Hoon Shahid Afridi (Producer: Humayun Saeed & Shahzad Nasib)
- Siyaah (Producer: Imran Raza Kazmi)
- Waar (Producer: Hassan Waqas Rana)
- Zinda Bhaag (Producer: Mazhar Zaidi)
Momin Ali Munshi
For a second there I thought that Chambaili got royally snubbed, but remember how the makers of it made a public announcement that the film would not be participating in the local awards. Looks like they actually did not submit the film! Well, after the horrendous fate at ARY Film Awards, looks like they decided not to take part in any awards. Though the film clearly deserves many accolades. By the way where is Josh!? Which was one of the strongest films to come out last year (* snub alert*).
My prediction for the winner: Waar all the way. Though they might do a tie with Zinda Bhaag!
Aayan Mirza
Well yes Momin, you are right at pointing out the Chambaili and Josh miss out, but, with Waar there already on the list, everything else seems customary, even the names that are already part of the list. Had Chambaili been here, it would have still been on the runners-up list. Chmabaili, however, beats Waar by miles when it comes to story and screenplay, which is an integral part of a film, but I am quite surprised that there is no award for it.
My prediction for the winner. Waar baby, Waar all the way.
Best Director
- Syed Ali Raza Usama for Main Hoon Shahid Afridi
- Azfar Jafri for Siyaah
- Bilal Lashari for Waar
- Meenu & Farjad for Zinda Bhaag
Momin Ali Munshi:
*Yawns* Please wake me up Aayan when we get to the next nominations.
My prediction for the winner: Bilal Lashari without any doubt!
Aayan Mirza:
Come on Momin, there is some fair competition there, lol, joking. It is pretty obvious. There is only one man in the list who has redefined the modern Pakistani film in its entirety, only one who right away plucked a Pakistani film out of its Indian-inspired roots and put it right above all the Hollywood and Bollywood bigwigs on IMDB. Just that one man.
My prediction for the winner: Are you kidding me? Do I really need to say this? Okay, well, Bilal…Bilal Lashari.
Best Actor
- Gohar Rasheed for Seedlings
- Humayun Saeed for Main Hoon Shahid Afridi
- Khurram Patras for Zinda Bhaag
- Mohib Mirza for Seedlings
- Shaan Shahid for Waar
Momin Ali Munshi:
Mirror mirror on the wall which actor among these deserves this award? My mirror says Shaan’s acting was Oscar worthy. His acting was out of this world. The acting he did in Waar was spellbinding and magical. Shaan toh bas chaa gaya! On a serious note, Shaan did a way better job of “acting” in the Punjabi film “Ishq Khuda” which by the way should have gotten at least one nomination.
My prediction for the winner: As my mirror says, Shaan!
Aayan Mirza:
You see Momin, this is where I miss Chambaili; had it been here, Ehtishamuddin of the character Moosa in Chambaili would have given Major Mujtaba of Waar some good competition. Humayun Saeed, too, was good in his film, but he seemed to be playing in his comfort zone, whereas Shaan had to go out of that home zone of his and try acting in a film with English as its major language of expressions and dialogues.
My prediction for the winner: Full points to Shaan, he is so winning this one.
Best Actress
- Aamina Sheikh for Josh
- Aamina Sheikh for Seedlings
- Amna Ilyas for Zinda Bhaag
- Hareem Farooq for Siyaah
- Mahnoor Usman for Siyaah
Momin Ali Munshi:
Hmmmmm, this one is really difficult. I am really confused between these two actresses. This Aamina girl, and this other Sheikh girl. Looks like it shall be a tough competition between Aamina and Sheikh! On a serious note Aamina gave a stelllar performance in Seedlings and the award should go to her hands down. But after what happened at the ARY Film Awards, even Aamina must not be sure as to what to expect. But chill girl, as AFA people were crazy. See, the “actress” they gave the Best Actress Award isn’t even nominated here! This award is yours.
My prediction: Aamina Sheikh hands down!
Aayan Mirza:
Well, you have pretty much said it all Momin. Aamina Sheikh truly deserves this one, I would say for Seedlings more, but I won’t be disappointed much if they even give it to her for Josh. But I think Ayesha Khan should have at least been nominated, she too just like Shaan as I discussed earlier, had to leave her…Oh wait! With a Gulf and Canadian background, should English be her comfort zone or Urdu? Hmmm…But still, it was a decent performance, should have at least been given a mention. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone from the jury tells me that Mahnoor Usman was the first or second runners-up at the end of the day, she too had put up a good dark witchy show, specially at this young age.
My predictions for the winner: Aamina Sheikh definitely!
Overall
Momin Ali Munshi:
I like how there are really four awards and everything looks so clean unlike the AFAs where for eight films they had a zillion awards! Though I am really wondering what extra-ordinary element the jury found in “Siyaah” which gave it a whooping 4 nominations while my darling Josh only has one. Maybe it’s the *coughs* GEO *coughs* factor. Whatever, on the whole despite giving Josh a royal miss I think the nominations are pretty decent.
Aayan Mirza:
It may not entirely be the Geo factor, since LSA stands pretty detached from this media struggle, but it sure seems a little unfair, Josh should have been here, and so should Chambaili – doesn’t matter what the politics behind all of it was. The available nominations, however, sound pretty balanced and it should be a great competition – minus, of course, Waar. 😉
