LAHORE: Pakistan’s prestigious Lux Style Awards took place amidst a star-studded affair at Lahore’s Expo Centre on Tuesday. Celebrities put forward their best fashion fronts making the event a glamorous one.
Mahira Khan, Hamza Ali Abbasi, Sajal Aly, Ahad Raza Mir, Sadaf Kanwal, Sarmad Khoosat, Humayun Saeed, Ayesha Omar, Sanam Saeed, Adnan Malik were among those who graced the event with their presence.
While the star power was in full form at the event, Lollywood’s answer to Hollywood’s #MeToo and Time’s Up movement was what took centre stage with most of the performances based on that.
After a long session of photographs, interviews and selfies on the red carpet, the event commenced with Mahira reading Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem of freedom, Bol kay lab which was translated into a sensational music and dance performance by renowned kathak maestro, Nahid Siddiqui collaborating on empowering women and encouraging to speak up.
Ahsan Khan and Amna Ilyas then took to the stage, dancing to the song Gurus of Peace by AR Rehman and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan along with children to highlight child abuse.
Following these performances, Ahmed Ali Butt and Vasay Chaudry then stepped on the stage as the first hosts of the nights and uplifted the mood of the audience by adding light humour to the event. The first round of awards which were the music awards were hosted by Ayesha Omar and Ahmed Ali Butt.
The second round of awards were the fashion awards which preceded with a stunning fashion presentation of all the stars from the fashion industry including the likes of Deepak Perwani, HSY, Hasnain Lehri, Sadaf Kanwal, Saheefa Jabbar Khattak, Amna Baber, Khadija Shah, Sania Maskatiya and Sana Safinaz among others. This segment was hosted by Aamina Sheikh and Ali Kazmi.
Saheefa Jabbar, who won the award for the best emerging talent, was the only one who made a statement on the red carpet as she donned a shirt which read ‘Educate your girls.’ Khattak, who is very vocal about her opinions, while exclusively to Pakistan Today, said that she tries her best to do whatever she can to raise her voice. However, she said that she is always usually met with backlash with people labelling her to be an attention seeker. Nonetheless, she added that she does not let these things bother her and that she will continue to fight back. Moreso, in her thank you speech, Khattak dedicated her award to her mother-in-law, whom she had brought with her to the event.
Frieha Altaf was then awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by social activist Mukhtara Mai bringing the #MeinBhi movement to the spotlight once again. Needless to say, it was heartwarming to see Mukhtara Mai on stage and being recognised for her tragic suffering and her efforts to continue to make a change.
Sahir Ali Bagga and Ali Azmat then took the stage presenting an electrifying music performance featuring traditional instruments such as the duff, dudak and baghlama.
Ahmed Ali Butt and Vasay Chaudry returned to stage with their ‘confession box’ to which they summoned the stars and bantered with them about their latest doings. While the other stars which included Mahira, Noman Ejaz, Hamza Ali and Humayun Saeed took this lightly and played along, Mawra turned defensive.
The television category, which was up next, was hosted by Mahira Khan and Ahsan Khan who added some much-needed entertainment to the event with the duo couple dancing to tune the of Mahira’s Zaalima and Ahsan’s Sadqa.
Baaghi took home most the awards in this category, while Ahad Raza Mir won the award for the best actor for his performance in the hit drama, Yakeen ka Safar. Speaking exclusively with Pakistan Today, Mir remarked that he never expected this award so early in his career. “I literally have no words to express how I feel right now. This is all thanks to my fans and family who supported me at every step and inspired me. However, this has raised the bar and expectations have increased so I will have to work harder,” he said.
Sarmad Khoosat then came to stage to pay a tribute to the late human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir, who was given an award, which was received by her daughter Muneeze Jahangir. This again highlighted the #MeinBhi movement and brought forward the topic of women empowerment. While this was appreciated, it was a little disappointing to see that the late veteran actor Qazi Wajid received no attention. Wajid, who was an active part of the entertainment industry until the end received no mention, let alone a tribute.
The film awards category followed, which was hosted by Sanam Saeed and Vasay Chaudry. As predicted, Punjab Nai Jaungi made a clean sweep and Humayun Saeed who won the award for the best actor credited his award to his late parents and his co-star Mehwish Hayat.
The event concluded with a grand finale where the stage was transformed into an orchestra where the anthem for the ‘Mein Bhi’ movement, Shehzad Roy’s ‘Kya Darta Hai‘ was performed by 36 music artists, which included a combination of young and old singers, rappers, rockstars and qawals. The theme of the performance was inclusiveness and was powerfully expressed through music. Massarrat Misbah with acid burn survivors, Mukhtara Mai and Ansar Burney were also present on stage during the performance.
While, credit must be given to the entire team for putting up such acts and performances which highlight important social causes and propel the audiences to think, at the end of the day it is important to note that the purpose of the event was to celebrate the entertainment industry. However, that was missing from the event, which is probably why by the time the event ended, the audience had reduced to less than half. Many notable stars also exited from the venue midway through the show, and only a few of them stayed for the entire duration. This could also be credited to the fact that the ceremony began very late and hence ended late.
The star quotient was also less compared to the previous years with many notable stars including Fawad Khan, Ali Zafar, Saba Qamar, Mehwish Hayat, Maya Ali, Farhan Saeed, Hareem Farooq, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Bilal Ashraf and Shaan missing in action. However, this could be due to the fact that the opening ceremony of the Pakistan Super League is set to take place on Thursday and a few of the stars are engaged in that.
Nonetheless, the event was a starry affair and a night to remember.
