After a 12-week run where contestants met several challenges, Miss Veet Pakistan 2017 finally came to an end with a grand finale that took place on Thursday at the Expo Centre, Karachi. The journey started off with 12 participants leading to three finalists – Nimra Khan, Nafia Sahar and Hira Khan – who fought the final battle at the event, where Hira Khan was crowned the winner. She was awarded a contract worth Rs 1 million along with two air tickets to Thailand.
Mahira Khan and Ali Zafar not only added energy to the evening but also exchanged views on empowering women, acknowledging their achievements and giving them the right to lead their lives the way they want, sending just the right message out.
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The grand finale of Miss Veet Pakistan 2017 crowned Hira Khan the winner while Ali Zafar proved to be the highest point in an otherwise bland ceremony.
Karachi: After a 12-week run where contestants met several challenges, Miss Veet Pakistan 2017 finally came to an end with a grand finale that took place on Thursday at the Expo Centre, Karachi. The journey started off with 12 participants leading to three finalists – Nimra Khan, Nafia Sahar and Hira Khan – who fought the final battle at the event, where Hira Khan was crowned the winner. She was awarded a contract worth Rs 1 million along with two air tickets to Thailand.
It was a starry affair, with the judges Adnan Siddiqui, Hareem Farooq and Aamina Sheikh in attendance; they shared instances from the Miss Veet journey and how far the contestants had come. They were accompanied by Veet Ambassador Mahira Khan, who injected some much-needed glamour to the night with her charm and intellect while Ali Zafar shined like a true rock star with his live performance featuring five songs as well as his charming interactions with the audience. Ali is such a natural on stage; one wishes he had been hosting the event too.
Hira Khan bagged the Miss Veet Pakistan 2017 title at the finale.
Chief guest of the event, former cricketer Wasim Akram announced the winner while Azfar Rehman hosted the proceedings. Other celebrities who turned up at the event were Adnan Malik, Ainy Jaffri and Aamna Ilyas, each of whom had appeared on an episode of the show, while Ahsan Khan, Nadia Hussain and designer Shamaeel Ansari were invited as presenters.
The show opened with Sonya Hussyn’s dance performance (on the official Veet song) that failed to leave a mark and was forgettable at best. This was followed by a video presentation of the entire journey of Miss Veet Pakistan 2017 with all of the 12 contestants taking centre stage.
They were honoured with a few titles based on their performances throughout the competition. The three finalists were then called on stage to answer a few (more) questions posed by the judges as well as by Mahira Khan, after which the panel took the final decision and announced the winner.
Speaking about the journey and the contestants, one of the celebrity judges, Aamina Sheikh, who is gearing up for the release of Cake this March, said, “It has been an amazing journey with all these girls who reminded me of how I used to be when I joined the industry. Each one of them deserves the crown in their own way. I wish they shine when they go out from here.”
Miss Veet Ambassador Mahira Khan with the judges Adnan Siddiqui, Aamina Sheikh and Hareem Farooq.
The major highlight of the night, without a doubt, was the unmatchable Ali Zafar who brightened up the show with a well executed live setup of instruments and artists accompanying him. At one point he invited Mahira Khan onstage and they both exchanged some words of wisdom regarding show biz and fame. The two also exchanged views on empowering women, acknowledging their achievements and giving them the right to lead their lives the way they want as long as they are not harming others.
Reflecting on how Miss Veet has been a life-changing event for those associated with it, Mahira said, “Over the years, Miss Veet Pakistan has served as a life-changing platform for the girls, transforming them from shy and hesitant to confident and daring individuals. The platform helps them become the best version of themselves as they undergo cut-throat competition that eventually works in their favor.”
While Mahira Khan and Ali Zafar made the night worth remembering, there were a few lows that call for improvement in the coming seasons. The overall style quotient was very low particularly that of the contestants, whose outfits were quite undesirable and didn’t reflect their individual personas at all. The event began almost two hours later than expected and could have been cut short to at least half an hour had there been less repetition and more substance to the speeches. Barring Ali Zafar and Mahira Khan, there was very little excitement to build upon an evening that should have been bolder and brighter to serve as a grand finale. The stage was lovely, but what went on stage was quite lackluster.
Consistency is key to any events’ evolution and one hopes to see the Miss Veet Pakistan pageant execute itself regularly and improve with time; it will take vision and one hopes the event managers will pay attention to constructive criticism to ensure it evolves with better impact.
