Daily grind: Adnan Malik

Talented actor and director, Adnan Malik, turns host for the Hum Style Awards 2016 in Karachi. We keep up with his hectic day leading up to the award show, to find out exactly what it takes to do it all

6am:

I have a dream that I am dropping my best friend to Nepal, where I recently was shooting episodes of my TV show. I say bye and drive down the road, noticing the tall trees that are backlit by an early morning winter sun. Something about this feels really good. I look down and see a wheelbarrow that’s filled with bright-green, fleshy leaves. Then I realise that my friend left her luggage in the back of my car! I don’t know what to do, so I wake up, realise that it was all a dream and go to the toilet.

11am:

I was up till 4am rehearsing my lines, re-enacting in front of the mirror, and watching Billy Crystal host the Academy Awards for inspiration, so this is an early wake up, but I have a busy day ahead. My cat Mila is comfortably curled up and fast asleep on the couch. I draw the curtains to let light in, much to her annoyance, and spend five minutes giving her morning cuddles. I yell out “Sangeeta! Coffee!” She brings in a freshly brewed sippy cup of iced coffee.

12pm:

After a decent tuck in of my regular breakfast including, lemon water, freshly squeezed juice, bajray ka paratha and an everything omelette, I check my email, social media and return calls. I make a costing plan for a commercial I’ve been asked to direct.



2pm:

I’m at Core for my personal training session with Junaid. I love being here. It’s a great escape from the polluted, manic Karachi. It is very important that I feel like I’m in good shape for hosting tonight. However, I was told by my designer not to do upper body workouts, as it would ruin the fitting of my suit. Junaid suggests we do core work. I hate him sometimes! While warming up on the treadmill, I rehearse my lines for the show.

4pm:

After a homemade steak and salad for lunch, I decide to take a catnap for an hour.

5pm:

I wake up and decide to do a meditation from meditationoasis.com. It’s been insane the last few weeks, between shooting in Nepal, walking the Élan couture show and rehearsing for the Hum Style Awards, while simultaneously getting my apartment renovated. I need to unclutter and get in the zone.



6pm:

I head over to Rashid’s Salon to get my beard trimmed, and hair cut and styled. While there, I run into Uzair Jaswal, a host of other celebrities and friends getting groomed too. It’s funny how salon time is now a ‘guy’ thing also. Rashid fills me in on all the latest gossip.

7pm:

I put on my bespoke Sapphire suit and head out!

8pm:

I pick up my brother Saqib on the way to the awards, which are held at the Expo Centre. My playlist on Spotify, ‘Discover Weekly’ is killing it.

9pm:

Backstage is really well organised. Nida Butt’s Mad School, Hum TV and Production 021 have done a fantastic job. There’s food, an information desk, separate rooms for various tiers of talent, a styling area for Nabila’s grooming team, a photo booth and a trailer in the back with a bathroom for the celebrities. This feels good! There’s also a bunch of dancers in from Dubai, and one of them is making a Snapchat video in Spanish. Pakistan feels so international right now.

10pm:

The red carpet is full on! There are lots of people vying for attention. Photographs, selfies, Snapchat – the iPhone’s are buzzing! Events like this are amazing because they bring the industry together each time. Everyone’s looking spiffy and there’s a really positive vibe.

11pm:

I sit in the front row with Meesha Shafi and Sheroo, both of whom I’ve been seeing strut their stuff at rehearsals. I’m most excited about Ahmed Ali Butt’s opening number with Meesha and Umair. Nida Butt and Ahmed have a great working relationship after collaborating on Grease, and this is Ahmed’s time to shine. The SMD screens, the customised song (written to comment on the current media scene and generously taking jibes at all celebrities) and all the backup dancers make it by far the best opening act I’ve seen at a show in Pakistan. It’s electric! Game on.

career

12pm:

Aaminah Shaikh and I are looking at ourselves in the mirror of the trailer, rehearsing our lines and cracking up, while Shoaib Malik is using the bathroom. He overhears us making fun of cricketers and lets out a chuckle.

1am:

We are finally on stage. My act is that I’m ‘looking for a wife’. I thought I’d take a jibe at myself, since getting married is such a hot topic in Pakistan, and I’m pretty single. While looking for a wife in the front row, Aamina and I go about our hosting duties. It’s always such a pleasure working with Aamina, I think she has the kindest disposition in the industry. Positive and full of heart!

2am:

Aamina and I do some of our best skits but the audience has really thinned out. It is 2am. We manage to stay inspired, after all this show will be on TV.

3am:

The show ends! I conclude my search for a wife by saying I don’t think I want to marry someone in show business. I mean, who wants to bring their work home with them? Then Ahmed Ali Butt, Ayesha Omar and Nida Butt join us on stage to bid adieu to the 50 people who are now left.

3:30am:

I find Ehtasham bhai backstage, the director of Sadqay Tumhare, and we get into a long discussion about films and Pakistani cinema. Saqib is constantly ringing, saying we should leave. Some of us consider an after party, but that idea is short lived.

5am:

I finally get home, take a long shower, pull out some leftovers from the fridge, and Mila and I watch the latest episode of Dil Banjaara online. I cringe at my performance. Oh, well, the Nepal episodes are going to be awesome, I tell myself, as I finally lay my head on a pillow.

6am:

Deep in dreamland.