Okay, we really should have said: from Malala, with love to Adele, but that doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it? Besides, we were kind of hoping you’d clock just what we’re talking about with the little visual clue. Now this photo is from 2019, and therefore we can all recognize Adele as Adele, but a picture of 2021 Adele would confound us at least for 10 seconds while we figured out if it was indeed the best writer of breakup songs ever (#SorryNotSorry, Swifties), or American Horror Story darling and all-round cool girl, Sarah Paulsen.

Adele has made a comeback after six long years with 30 – an album she started working on three years ago, when she was 30. The first single from the album, ‘Easy On Me’ has released and is classic Adele. The vocals break your heart, the words remind you of yourself or someone like you (see what we did there? We’re not above puns even if it is Adele).

Malala, Pakistan’s – possibly most contentious – poster child for women’s rights, congratulated Adele in a sweet Instagram post, and that is what made the Malala headlines in the last week or so.

We would also like to refer to the work she is still contributing to in terms of her main focus of activism. In a mid-October tweet, Malala said: “Today the first of several Malala Fund Education Champions from Afghanistan arrived safely in Canada. Thank you @JustinTrudeau, @MarcoMendicino and @CitImmCanada for ensuring the protection of women leaders, human rights activists and other vulnerable #AfghanRefugees.”

Ahad Raza Mir to participate in the Renaissance Awards

While he charms us on and off screen, and with the lovely chemistry he shares with talented wife, Sajal Aly, Ahad Raza Mir continues to blaze his own trail through the industry.

For the first annual Renaissance Awards, Ahad will appear alongside world-renowned personalities such as Colin Firth, Annie Lennox and Gisele Bunchden at Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio, representing Pakistan via augmented reality.

While this surely is a proud moment for Pakistan, and a mark of the places young Pakistanis are going, what makes Ahad’s involvement all the more impressive is the nature of these awards. These awards have been launched by Eco-Age, the president of Tuscany, Eugenio Giani, and the Mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella to honour young changemakers working for sustainability across the world.

The categories the awards will take into consideration include: “socially just, economically inclusive, environmentally restorative, and technologically balanced.”

These roughly translate to social equity, financial inclusion for all, while also focusing on biodiverse business practices, which are monitored and sustained with relevant technology.

Ahad Raza Mir, of course, has since his debut into Pakistan’s entertainment industry, made his mark, and taken on professional challenges at all junctures. We also love his spirit of sportsmanship. Though he did not win at the Geo LSA 2021, Ahad still showed up and displayed good grace and enthusiasm while cheering on his friends who did.

PISA 2021 gains   momentum

The second edition of the PISA Awards, to be held at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai on November 5, are starting to sound more and more fun. We’re looking forward to performances by Umair Jaswal, Sajjad Ali and Ali Azmat (okay, we’re raising an eyebrow at Ali Azmat right now). Mehwish Hayat will be shaking a leg with Sheheryar Munawar and if rumours are to be believed, there’s going to be a fun dance-off between two TV stars. Any guesses or expectations? As is PISA tradition, the show will begin with a star-studded National Anthem and then roll through fiery performances, exciting star appearances and of course, the awards themselves.

Though last year the awards received quite a bit of flak, the organizers seem confident in their organizational skills and the judgment of their chosen jury this year. They’ve also managed to rope in some Turkish stars from hit drama series Ertugrul and no one ever minds a little more Pak-Turk collaboration.

Watch this space for more updates as this story unfolds!

Unmasking wins at the
Istanbul Film Awards

aking us proud with yet another venture is director Khalid Hasan Khan, whose short film, Unmasking, didn’t only tackle the sensitive division of opinion on the Covid vaccine, but won a trifecta of awards while putting out the message.

A fictionalized take on the issue, Unmasking has now picked up the Best Foreign Short Film trophy at the Istanbul Film Awards, after being picked as the Best Short Film at the World Film Carnival, Singapore, and a Special Jury Award – International Short Film at the Indo French International Film Festival.

While cinemas were largely silent over the last two years, it is great to see that creativity and the urge to create art no matter what lives on!