LSAs 2011: A starry, starry night

KARACHI:

Celebrities walking the red carpet, glamorous gowns and sexy suits, song and dance, a few blunders and of course, the distributions of awards — this is what makes the Lux Style Awards (LSAs). The 10^th anniversary of the much-awaited event was held at Hall number 6 of Karachi Expo Centre on September 17 and was a dream for anyone who wanted to get a glimpse of some of Pakistan’s most famous (and beautiful) faces.

We recap some of the highlights of the night.

The crisp script

The LSA organisers knew what they were doing when they chose the Chaudhry brothers, Mustafa and Murtaza, as two of the presenters of the night. While one can understand why Mahira Khan was chosen to host the event, she lacked the comic timing and pizzazz of the Chaudhry’s who managed to keep the audience interested and laughing the entire night. From puns about fashion designer Munib Nawaz to musician Ahmed Butt, to Sahir Lodhi’s perfect mimicry of Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan, and of course, how could one forget the not-so-subtle snub at morning shows which, if included in the LSAs, would be in the category titled ‘Third Class’.

Dance the night away

Famous for its dance performances, the LSAs 2011 had Reema, HSY, Meera, Ahsan Khan, Mathira, Aaminah Sheikh and Mohib Mirza entertaining the audience. Kicking off the event was Reema and HSY who danced to the title track of the former’s new film Love Mein Ghum.

Mehnaz , who received the Unilever Chairman’s Lifetime Achievement Award, was paid tribute with five of her numbers being performed to. Those to remember were Meera and Khan dancing on “Main Hoti Ek Morni”, Mirza and Sheikh performing to “Tere Bin Mera Jevan” and Ahsan and Mathira on “Waada Karo Sajna”. Mathira’s finale was sizzling and Pappu Samarat’s choreography definitely caught the audience’s attention.

A fashion faux pas

One can only wonder why three designers were invited to show their designs at an awards ceremony. First came the Crimson collection by Ali Xeeshan, who had models strutting their stuff to a Seige track, while the band member’s lip-synched on stage. Xeeshan’s collection was exciting as always and the flowing gowns and masked faces of the models was imprinted in the viewer’s mind.

Sadly the SanaSafinaz collection failed to impress; though mostly cocktail dresses and gowns, the collection was not flattering and failed to strike the chord which the duo has managed to do with lawn.

On the other hand, Deepak Perwani’s bridal collection had a royal touch to it and was a pleasure to see. Adding to the festivity was the fact that models walked the ramp to Nusrat Fateh Ali’s “Naina De Akhay.”

Touching tributes

Another tradition of the LSAs is paying tribute to honour the stalwarts of the industry. This year it was Moin Akhtar, the man who is gone but not forgotten, and Herald’s Samina Ibrahim who was given the Lifetime Achievement Award in Fashion.

From the ramp to the red carpet

Who was wearing what? Did Meera look good? What did Mathira wear? Did anyone trip on her gown? Did the men manage to funk it up? These are the questions which come to mind when attending any award or fashion show, and watching celebs walk the red carpet was definitely one of the highlights of the LSAs.

This year some ladies were seen in flowy kameezes and chooridaars, while others were seen in elegant gowns, while the men generally kept it safe and stuck to suits. While statement jewellery pieces were prominent, it would have been nice to see some fashionistas funk up their look. It must be noted that there wasn’t much fusion between East and West and generally celebs stuck to either one of the two, leaving one to believe that it’s better to be either completely Eastern or Western. The choice is yours.

Winners at the Lux Style Awards

Winner

Television

Best TV Actress (Satellite): Bushra Ansari for “Dolly ki Ayegi Baraat”

Best TV Actor (Satellite): Faisal Qureshi for “Meri Zaat Zara Benishan”

Best TV Writer (All Channels): Umera Ahmed for  “Meri Zaat Zara Benishan”

Best TV Serial (Satellite): “Bol Meri Machli”

Best TV Actress (Terrestrial): Sania Saeed for “Hawa Rait aur Aangan”

Best TV Actor (Terrestrial): Javed Sheikh for “Pal Bhar Mein”

Best TV Serial (Terrestrial): “Anokha Ladla”

Best TV Director (All Channels): Haissam Hussain for drama “Daastan”

Fashion

Most Stylish Sports-person: Aisamul Haq

Best dressed female on the Red Carpet: Amna Ilyas

Best dressed male on the Red Carpet: HSY

Best female model of the year: Rabia Butt

Best male model of the year: Iffi Zafar

Best emerging talent: Mahin Hussain

Best Hair and Make-up Artist: Creative Team at Nabila

Best Fashion Photographer: Rizwan ul Haq

Achievement in Fashion Design-Pret: Khaadi Khaas

Achievent in Fashion Design-Luxury Pret: Shamaeel Ansari

Achievement in Fashion Design-Lawn: Sana Safinaz

Best Retail Brand: Khaadi

Achievement in Fashion Design-Menswear: Ismail Farid

Lifetime Achievement Award-Fashion: Samina Ibrahim of Herald

LSA Beauty Icon Award: Reema

Music

Best Artiste: Mauj

Singer of the year: Shallum & Zara Madni for “Payaam”

Best Music Producer: Rohail Hyatt for “Coke Studio-Season 3”

Best Music Video Director: Bilal Lashari for EP video “Shor Macha”

Unilever Chairman’s Lifetime Achievement Award: Mehnaz

Ten years, 10 most memorable moments

2002

Tributes were given Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and  Madam Noor Jehan, by Rahat Fateh Ali, Faakhir Mahmood, Ali Haider, Fariha Pervez and Humaira Arshad.

2003

Fuzon’s performance at the LSAs 2003 was to be talked about for years to come, but outdoing them was Junoon singing “Garj Baras”.

2004

The awards held in Dubai will be remembered as the year Ali Zafar performed “Huqa Pani” and “Chunno”.

2005

The highlight of the night was Babra Sharif’s performances on her item numbers from various Urdu films.

2006

Meera’s enthusiastic dancing to the tunes of Runa Laila, and Ali Kazmi and Anoushey Ashraf paying tribute to Nazia Hassan, made this a night to remember.

2007

Perhaps just the fact that the ceremony took place in Genting in Malaysia, but one must mention performances by Ali Zafar with Reema and Atif Aslam with Aaminah Haq.

2008

A fire broke out backstage at the LSAs 2008, but topping even this, was the tribute paid to Reshma by Shehzad Roy and Atif Aslam.

2009

“Political turmoil and financial constraints” were cited as the reasons for not holding an awards ceremony and at the end of the day, only a small ceremony of the winners was held in Karachi.

2010

A cameramen’s tool got stuck in the false ceiling which caused everyone standing on the red carpet to be doused with water.

2011

While a loud noise, attributed to a piece of equipment falling, distracted the audience, Mathira and Meera’s dancing was enough to get their attention back to the stage.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 19^th,  2011.