AwardSeason
Patari sweeps music categories with six of its productions nominated; Chupan Chupai sweeps film categories with eight nods.
The 17th edition of the Lux Style Awards, Pakistan’s longest-running contemporary award ceremony, is all set to take place in Lahore next month.
The mission of the LSAs is to recognize and celebrate talent from the fields of music, fashion, film and television. And the nominations announced for the upcoming edition reflect just that.
Nominations in 18 entertainment categories have been announced thus far and of those 12 are open for public voting. The ones that will be decided by a select jury for technical reasons include best emerging talent in music, best music video director, best TV director, best TV writer, best film director and best film.
While fashion nominees will be announced in the coming days, here’s a quick look at what made the cut.
Zohaib Kazi with Riaz Qadri
Music
Album of the Year
At a time when there is strong belief within music industry circles and beyond that records are a thing of the past, it is good to see five excellent albums nominated in Album of the Year category. With the presence of bands like Sikandar Ka Mandar, ESharp and Sounds of Kolachi, it is also clear that bands are also not a thing of the past.
Though we’re rooting for SKM (nominated for their second studio album, 36) and Zohaib Kazi (for Fanoos, his love letter to Pakistan) with equal zeal, on the basis of popularity, Hadiqa Kiani might take it for Wajd, an honest exploration of spirituality and oneness.
Singer of the Year
The presence of Abid Brohi (the breakout kid of 2017) alongside SomeWhatSuper in this category for ‘The Sibbi Song’ as well as of Lyari Underground and Dynoman for ‘Players of Lyari’ from Patari Tabeer goes to show just how much Patari has accomplished with its out-of-the-box thinking and collaborative original projects.
It should be mentioned here that Patari, Pakistan’s largest audio streaming platform, has sweeped the LSAs nominations list with six of its productions nominated.
Zohaib Kazi’s team-up with Riaz Qadri, on Fanoos (created by partnership with Patari) nominated in this category, equally important. The forgotten legend was once again brought back into the spotlight by the music producer and together they created one of the most memorable songs of the year. ‘Takht Hazar’ proves that Qadri is still in great shape.
Ali Hamza, Ali Sethi and Waqar Ehsin’s ‘Tinak Dhin’ was one of the best songs to emerge out of Coke Studio 10. Ditto for Ali Azmat and Qurat ul Ain Baluch’s ‘Chal Diye’ that emerged out of Cornetto Pop Rock 2. Though we’re rooting for Abid Brohi and SomeWhatSuper, there’s a good chance that Ali Hamza and boys will take the trophy for their popular song that is now a shaadi season anthem as well.
Mahira Khan in a still from Verna
Film
The year 2017 was not the strongest for Pakistani cinema but some films did manage to strike a chord for one reason or another.
Chupan Chupai is leading from the front, having picked up a total of eight nods including best film. Last year’s two big hits, Punjab Nahi Jaungi and Na Maloom Afraad 2, follow behind with seven nominations respectively. Balu Mahi has landed six nods with Arth 2 picking up five. Shoaib Mansoor’s Verna has picked up four nods including best actress for Mahira Khan and best film director for Shoaib Mansoor.
Zhalay Sarhadi and Gohar Rasheed have also made the cut in supporting categories for their roles in Chalay Thay Saath and Rangreza respectively.
Shaan Shahid and Mohib Mirza, the two male leads in Arth 2, have been snubbed with no nods in the acting categories while Shahid was also left out of the director’s category. Arth 2 has done well in the music categories though, with Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Sahir Bagga nominated in best singer (male) category and Sana Zulfiqar nominated in best singer (female) category.
The most competitive category has to be best actor in which Humayun Saeed, Fahad Mustafa, Mohsin Abbas Haider, Osman Khalid Butt and Ahsan Khan will compete for the trophy.
Best Actress is a tough one as well but with Mahira Khan nominated for Verna, which has been deemed her strongest performance to date, it could go her way.
Television
As far as nominations for excellence on television are concerned, plays with unique storylines and powerful star cast have made the cut. Plays like Baaghi, Sammi, Seeta Bagri and Sang e Mar Mar not only attempted to break away from clichéd plots but also showcased some great performances.
Other nominated plays include O Rang Reza and Alif Allah Aur Insan that grabbed viewers’ attention mainly because of different storylines.
The Best Actor list includes heavyweights like Adnan Siddiqui, Ahad Raza Mir and Noman Ijaz, who delivered excellent performances last year.
The Best Actress category includes two nods for Sajal Aly for Yakeen Ka Safar and O Rang Reza so she has a better chance to take home the trophy. Others who have made it to the list include Bushra Ansari and Saba Qamar for their phenomenal performances in Seeta Bagri and Baaghi respectively.
