The road to LSA 2018
You’d think the Lux Style Awards would be about the show (and maybe the after-party) but the buzz before the event is always just as flamboyant.
Lahore: The 17th edition of the Lux Style Awards took place in Lahore last night and while we’ll bring you details of the show tomorrow, here we are recapping the run-up to the country’s most prestigious awards show that celebrates excellence in film, fashion, television and music.
This year’s show saw a change in the director’s seat, with former model Vaneeza Ahmed stepping in as Show Director. Aside from her, Frieha Altaf of Catwalk Events spearheaded two segments at the show, including the launch of #MeinBhi movement, which is going to be the opening act while the performance line up included names like Ahsan Khan, Amna Ilyas, Mahira Khan, Sahir Ali Bagga, Zoe Viccaji, Rachel Viccaji, Amanat Ali and Mohsin Abbas Haider, among others.
We dropped in at the star-studded rehearsals a day before the event and speaking to Instep Vasay Chaudhry – who co-scripted the show – informed, “Ahmed has written the script for Fashion and Music while I’ve written the script for Film and TV.”
We asked if there were any parameters that they had to follow while writing the script so as not to end up offending anyone.
“Obviously there is a guideline that we have to follow; television as well as brands have certain parameters that we have to keep in mind,” Ahmed Ali Butt responded. “We can’t make fun of politics, religion or sexes.”
As far as the hosts for the night are concerned, we learnt that a total of six celebrities would serve hosting duties this year. Other than Vasay Chaudhry and Ahmed Ali Butt we would see Cake girls Sanam Saeed and Aamina Sheikh along with Ali Kazmi and Ayesha Omar.
The show promised to be quite a ride but we must mention the chartered flight, in collaboration with Shaheen Air, that flew celebrities including LSA nominees, media and PR personnel from Karachi to Lahore on Monday. The customized arrangements as well as the company was flattering, to say the least.
There were over 100 industry insiders on the flight including several leading names from fashion, music, television and film. Some of the names include Deepak Perwani, Maheen Karim, Sadaf Kanwal, Adnan Malik, Faizan Khawaja, Saqib Malik, Zhalay Sarhadi, Wajahat Rauf, Saife Hassan, Ehteshamuddin, Abid Brohi, Sounds of Kolachi and many more. The major highlight of the journey, besides the constant tongue in cheek banter that you can expect from a crowd this colourful, was the live performance by music group Sounds of Kolachi and rising star Abid Brohi, who also enthralled the crowd at the Lux Style Awards last year.
“This flight is very good; very comfortable,” Sadaf Kanwal, who’s nominated in two categories (Best Supporting Actress for Balu Mahi and Model of the Year – female), shared with us on the flight. “It’s like we are travelling with family.” When asked what her expectations from the awards are, she responded, “I hope it goes well; I am very excited for my nominations. Fingers crossed.” By now we would know whether she won or lost.
Adnan Malik, who is gearing up for the release of his next Cake, also spoke about the customized experience on the flight.
“The food was very good,” he shared. “I liked the personalized arrangements; there were pleasant, good vibes on the flight.”
While we were happy to have an amazing journey to Lahore with all these people onboard, we missed Ahad Raza Mir, Mawra Hocane, Jawed Sheikh and several others who were expected to fly with us but couldn’t make it.
They did make it to the show, obviously, and we’ll bring you details on that tomorrow. Watch this space for more…