The 17th annual Lux Style Awards took place in Lahore this past week. Whether the night was full of celebrities and glamor is debatable, but almost everyone in attendance would agree that the night was painfully low on the entertainment factor which resulted in it being one of the most boring and dragged award shows of recent times. From the outset, the event looked like the grand LSAs we’ve all come to love, but content wise the show was as weak as it gets.
The theme for the event was raising awareness about various social issues which was a commendable effort, but it was done via scattered acts here and there resulting in one of the most confused productions which was neither informative nor impactful. Thankfully, there were a few moments here and there which sort of made up for the lackluster event, but they were few. So what all happened at the event? Well here is our trademark personalized timeline from the event
5:00 pm
The invite I received mentioned 4 pm as the red carpet time, however, the e-invite which was circulating on WhatsApp said 5 pm. Thus I decided that 5:00 pm seemed like a decent time to leave for the venue given I had to cover the event for you readers.
5:45 pm
Arrived at the venue and I must say that the setup looked grander than ever and was sheer perfection. The red carpet area was slightly elevated, which made for better pictures. There was a barrier between the red carpet area where the celebrities were to walk and the area where spectators could walk which was probably the smartest move ever in the history of award shows in Pakistan. Generally, its all one big red carpet where the media is trying to cover the celebrities but the uncles and aunties who’ve somehow managed to score an invite are fighting their way for selfies. This divide meant smooth red carpet proceedings.
6:00 pm
The red carpet picked up steam as the media had all taken their positions on the lengthy red carpet. It was as if each specific patch on the red carpet was now the territory of so and so media house. Though here Id like to point that while one hand there were the respectable publications, print media, and bloggers, on the other side there was this plethora of so-called media which was basically a bunch of over-enthusiastic shady individuals who with a phone and a microphone in their hands were supposedly representing media houses nobody had ever heard of. What’s worst is that these nobodies were hogging most of the red carpet area and were conducting lengthy meaningless interviews with the celebrities followed by photo sessions of their own. *Sigh*
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfa869DnhBU/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
6:10 pm
Syed Noor while interacting with the media joked that given the nation’s obsession with selfies he is going to make a new film titled ‘Selfie’. We are still not sure if he actually meant it or was being cheeky.
6:45 pm
Lots of Lollywood veterans like Sangeeta Jee, Bahar Begum, Nishoo Jee, brightened the red carpet with their appearance.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfa-I7gH-j7/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
7:00 pm
Could someone give Osman Khalid Butt an award for being the most grounded celebrity ever? He made sure he talked to all the media present, interacted with fans and was the most pleasant person to talk too. We really hoped he win Best Actor, but as he said himself hell would freeze over if that happens. We love this guy!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbAjhwnBvq/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
7:30 pm
Team Cake made sure to make the most of the platform and promote their upcoming film. The trio was seen posing for pictures, making boomerangs and giving interviews. The film looks interesting and is on our must-watch list.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbEofrn3Qn/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
8:00 pm
Mahira Khan arrived and boy it was no less than a storm. She had an entire team of four to five people walking with her, and then the hysteria, she is definitely a superstar in the true sense of the word! She did pose for photos here and there and did try to accommodate the media as much as she could.
8:05pm
Interestingly Meera was being interviewed at the other end of the red-carpet when Mahira arrived. Everyone was suddenly interested in the storm on the other end to which Meera said “Kuch nahi hay udhar kuch nahi hay’. Also, there was this assistant girl with Meera who was guiding her as to what she should say to the media. Interesting
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbNvtUHniY/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
9:00 pm
By then the red carpet was almost over and it was time to head inside. The star power was definitely weak as one could judge from the red carpet. Half the nominees like Fahad Mustafa, Nehwish Hayat, Neelam Muneer, Humaima Malick, Adnan Siddiqui, Imran Abbas, Bushra Ansari, Kubra Khan and Saba Qamar didn’t show up. Then the big guns Shaan Shahid, Fawad Khan, Ali Zafar, Atif Aslam etc were absent too.
9:15 pm
The show opens with a performance by Mahira Khan and Naheed Siddiqui ( who was later awarded a Lifetime Achievement award) followed by another act performed by Ahsan Khan and Amna Ilyas. Somehow in the hustle of finding my seat, I couldn’t really fully enjoy the performance. I’m not exactly sure what they were trying to say but the renditions of ‘Bol kay lab azaad’ and ‘Gurus of Peace’ were probably meant to shed light on the social issues movement the LSAs wanted to kickstart.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbQ5obnqf4/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
9:35 pm
Ahmad Ali Butt comes on stage and actually opens the show with his funny rap where he takes a dig at almost everyone and has us laughing out loud. He is later joined by Vasay Chaudhry and the two make sure that the night begins on a high note with their funny one-liners and jokes.
10:15 pm
The music awards have been done and dusted and now its time for a pointless fashion nominees presentation, because why not?
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbjYW0HTxj/?hl=en&taken-by=galaxylollywood
11:30 pm
The fashion awards are handed out after which Ahmed and Vasay did another of their comedy segments where they grilled celebrities. It started out as a funny segment but the entire part with Mawra Hocane was downright insulting and uncalled for because the questions were offensive and weren’t really funny. We are glad that Mawra fired back and made sure that the comments made by Vasay Chaudhry did not pull her down. It’s okay to joke about things but taking them on a personal level is not cool Mr. Chaudhry.
11:50 pm
Ali Azmat comes for a performance and tries to wake up the half-asleep audience with his singing and theatrics.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbfqfzHGpd/?hl=en&taken-by=galaxylollywood
12:00 am
As the clock struck 12 we finally got a little dose of something we expect from an event like the LSAs. Ahsan Khan and Mahira Khan do a little improv dance on ‘Zaalima’ and ‘Sadqa’ and this is the stuff LSAs are made off! We wished there was more because these two dancing together surely made one hot couple. We hope some film-maker is reading this.
12:30 am
Baaghi wins Best Drama, Ahad Raza Mir Best Actor for Yakeen Ka Safar and Saba Qamar Best Actress for Baaghi. It was surprising that Saba won, given she was not present in the audience while Sajal Aly was ( you do know these awards are all about attendance right) and since they both had done a phenomenal job it was expected that Sajal was going to win. Hell, Sajal probably sat there expecting a win because five minutes after the award was announced she left the venue.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfbncaEnUhG/?taken-by=galaxylollywood
12:45 am
And its time for the film awards, finally! Here is the list of who all won. Some interesting tidbits from this section.
- Aima Baig won Best Singer for the second year in a row! You deserve this and more girl.
- Mahira Khan won Best Actress film for the third year in a row. Last year she said she didn’t deserve it, this year we all knew she didn’t deserve it as the award belonged to either Mehwish or Uzma. Given it was a public choice we were expecting it to be Mehwish for she did star in the highest-grossing Pakistani film of all time.
- Humayun Saeed won Best Actor and dedicated his award to Mehwish Hayat.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BfeDpXcApq6/?taken-by=rraannaayy
1:20 am
As the stage gets ready for the much-hyped finale performance, Ali Kazmi invites the LUX girls, both past and current, on stage ( sorry not on stage but on to the space between the stage and the seats which was reserved for all comedy segments) for a segment that could have been so much more but came across more as a joke courtesy its treatment. The LUX girls definitely deserved better. Present were Nishoo Jee, Sangeeta Jee, Sahiba, Meera, Mahira Khan and Mawra Hocane
1:40 am
Time for the much-awaited closing performance where thirty-two musicians, forty-piece orchestra along with activists, survivors came on stage as the anthem for the ‘Mein Bhi’ movement was performed. Amongst those on stage were Abu Fareed Ayaz , Humeira Channa, Mohsin Abbas Haider, Aima Baig, Faakhir,Amanat Ali,the Viccaji sisters Kashmir The Band, Sounds of Kolachi, Lyari Underground, Abid Brohi, , Natasha Baig, Mussarrat Misbah and her many acid burn survivors, Mukhtara Mai, Ansar Burney and his work, Maheen Khan, and many others. Definitely a powerful closing to an otherwise lackluster event.
2:00 am
As the show ends and I’m on my way back home I realize that the LSAs are getting from bad to worse with each passing year. Last years show, the 16th edition, which was spearheaded by HSY was no doubt entertaining, but it seemed like a step down from the 15th edition in 2016 ( the last show under Frieha Altaf) which had the perfect dose of star power, comedy, dance, and entertainment. The 16th edition in 2017 was a step down with more focus on fashion and gen-next which gave a more niche show appealing to a certain audience.
However, the 17th edition this year, directed by Vaneeza Ahmad with opening and closing executed by Frieha Altaf, was an all-time low! Maybe it was the budget cuts or maybe it was the theme which didn’t sink well with the awards, but the end result was a show which was an absolute drag. Hope the LSAs can redeem themselves with their next edition in 2019. Maybe its time to call back Freiha Altaf as the show director, for she certainly knows how to put on a show!
So here’s what all happened at the awards. Hope you enjoyed this post. Stay tuned, we will be doing a fashion post where we will tell you who looked fab and who looked drab
