Entertainment pitch must be matched by substance

HUM Awards, one of Pakistan’s most coveted TV entertainment shows, held its fourth edition recently with the glitterati in full attendance.
The most beguiling cogitated golden statue of Pakistan was hosted in Karachi early this week after a triumphant show in Dubai last year.
To aptly employ a cliché, we’ve seen Pakistan television industry grow from a hatchling to a swan. From the legendary Nadeem Baig, Samina Pirzada and Behroz Sabzwari to a new breed ruling television screens not only in Pakistan but across the border as well: Mahira Khan, Sanam Saeed and Hamza Ali Abbassi to name a few, it was a star studded affair with a mixed bag of entertainment.
The long lines of traffic which patently took everyone hours just to enter the venue was a sweeping snag for the management to start the show past two hours of the timeline.
From sophisticated and subtle humour of the hosts to the jhatkas and matkas of Lollywood beauties on Bollywood hit numbers, HUM reinforced its image of family entertainment sans crass content.
Although Hamza Ali Abbassi and Ayesha Khan didn’t quite cut it with their on-stage chemistry, Ahmed Ali Butt held the fort again with his humour after performing to singer Taher Shah’s Angel at the ARY Film Awards in Dubai earlier this month.
Hamza attempted to crack several jokes that were met mostly with silence from the audience, and Ayesha looked like she would rather be somewhere else.
Due to technical glitches, the Awards did not run as smoothly as expected since the start when supermodel and actress Nadia Hussain took over the stage to announce the Best Male and Female model.
Although actress Sohai Ali Abro — dressed in a vintage orange lehnga choli — is a really good dancer, it’s nearly impossible to follow Deepika’s ethereal Bajirao act. Not the best idea to have tried. Where many bristle at Bollywood hit numbers in a Pakistani award show, may be there’s a need to rethink if the home industry has produced music
worth the award show this year (until now, that is).  
One could always censure why Lollywood must dance to Bollywood’s tunes but there is no denying the latter’s influence in the Pakistani pop culture and more so in the entertainment arena.
Where actors Ahsan Khan and Mehwish Hayat are considered regular when it comes to performing, the latter chose Pakistani songs from the hit film Bin Roye to perform a duet with top actor Humayun Saeed.
For Mahira Khan — the only mother to have played the female lead in both Indian (Raees) and Pakistani (Ho Mann Jahan and Bin Roye) films — it was much harder to match the grace she offers on-screen.
The final dance performance of the evening was by Mawra Hocaine, the latest Pakistani entrant in Bollywood (Sanam Teri Kasam), with her sister Urwa.
Introducing the film category awards, it was predictable enough for Humayun Saeed and Mahira Khan to win the award for Bin Roye — produced under the banner of HUM itself —whilst sharing the award with Sarmad Sultan Khoosat for Manto and Sania Saeed for Manto as well.
Mahira won the honours for Diyar-e-Dil — like she had the previous year for Sadqe Tumhare.  Diyar-e-Dil had received critical acclaim worldwide winning 12 awards out of a total of 21 in television category, the most for the ceremony, including, Best Drama Serial – Jury; Best Drama Serial – Popular; Best Director, Best Actress – Popular; Best Actor – Jury; Best Actor – Popular; Best Supporting Actor; Most Impactful Character; Best Writer; and Best Original Soundtrack.
That said, HUM Network needs to revamp the merit for nominations and jury selections. There endure many prominent names who performed superfluous characters.
Maya Ali’s and Osman Khalid Butt’s stars appear set in motion. From being a show host to honing acting skills over the years, the former might have exhibited determination, but she still needs to achieve finesse. Although she won the Best Actress Award (Popular), when you watch the show, you find her expressions are pretty much one-dimensional.
On the other hand, Osman Khalid Butt, who has done theatre and is known for the parody videos he started on YouTube, gels well with the character he portrays. As for Best Actor (Jury) who else could have won it but the man for all seasons: Meekal Zulfiqar.
It was the last award of the evening, presented by Mahira Khan.
Among the litany of beautiful Pakistani actresses who sashayed down the red carpet dressed in their finest, Syra Yusuf was imposing. Dressed in a deep blue Shehla Chatoor gown, the actress was at her best. Despite making her presence felt on either side of the border, Mahira Khan couldn’t create magic with Feeha Jamshed’s black-on-black and if you remember the recent Filmfare cover featuring Alia Bhatt and Fawad Khan — Humaima wore the Elan pink couture – (the one Alia Bhatt wore) with a head tight ponytail (a super turnoff hon!)
Still over all, as an entertainment network, Hum TV managed to effectively demonstrate its understanding of the market and its viewer’s tastes.