Shaan-e-Pakistan kicked off a three day cultural exchange extravaganza with a culinary and musical night featuring heavyweights from both sides of the border. Set in the verdant lawns of the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, the star studded guest list included Bollywood screen siren of yore, Zeenat Aman, on her first trip west of Wagha and the night’s line-up promised a medley of tunes, headlined by songstress Rekha Bhardwaj with Mai Dhai, Asrar and Shivam accompanying her.
Founding member of Shaan-e-Pakistan, Huma Nassr pictured with chief delegate Zeenat Aman at the musical night.
INSTEPREPORT
The potentially successful event, offering a grand culinary and musical menu, lost out to bad timing.
Lahore
Shaan-e-Pakistan kicked off a three day cultural exchange extravaganza with a culinary and musical night featuring heavyweights from both sides of the border. Set in the verdant lawns of the Royal Palm Golf and Country Club, the star studded guest list included Bollywood screen siren of yore, Zeenat Aman, on her first trip west of Wagha and the night’s line-up promised a medley of tunes, headlined by songstress Rekha Bhardwaj with Mai Dhai, Asrar and Shivam accompanying her. With the first cooling breezes of spring making the palm fronds gently sway, the stage was all set, bright lights dancing against the night sky and a full house; the crowd waiting in excited anticipation for the event to begin.
VJ Andy, famous after a stint in Bigg Boss, took to the stage with co-host Anoushey Ashraf and Huma.
And the wait continued. The invitation card for the event stated that the red carpet would commence at 7 pm sharp and while people kept filtering in and out there was no sign of the show beginning till three and a half hours later, at 10:30. Sensing the crowd’s restlessness, the organisers announced dinner service around 9:30 and for an hour the pursuit of appetite satiation kept the attendees occupied.
The food, prepared by chef Mujeeb-ur-Rehman from India, was delicious. The daighi menu offered rich palak ghost, aromatic chicken in gravy and haleem was served with hot from the tandoor naan, spiced rice and topped off with sweet, cooling firnis.
While trying to decipher what was causing the delay we were first informed that the event was held up as the organisers were waiting for the Indian delegates to arrive; we were later told that while the delegates were in the arena, VJ Anoushey Ashraf, who was hosting the show with VJ Andy of Bigg Boss fame, was running late. Ashraf states that her delay was caused by flights being cancelled which meant that she arrived in Lahore on the day of the event as opposed to a day before, as planned.
The event finally brought its opening act, folk singer Mai Dhai on stage around 10:45. Those who waited were rewarded for their perseverance by her vocal prowess and were treated to Shivam’s rendition of popular Bollywood tracks, including hits like Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s Tenu Samjhanwan Ki. The camaraderie between Ashraf and Andy was amusing and though the event progressed quickly once the singers took to stage, people had already started exiting without waiting longer for Bhardwaj. Around 11:30pm, with Monday looming on the horizon, we joined the procession of people making their way across Royal Palm’s undulating golf course and headed towards the exit, sadly missing out on what appeared to be a powerful performance by Bhardwaj, courtesy social media updates.
Crooner Rekha Bhardwaj serenades the crowd with her powerful vocals.
Had the event, which had all the ingredients of being spectacularly successful, only started on time, it would have not only made a lasting impression but would have also convinced audiences that a cultural program of its calibre isn’t only entertaining but necessary. While the effort is laudable, the execution is sadly lacking and brings down the entire standard of the initiative.
