PISA 2021 to take place in Dubai in November

The first installment of the awards was marred by controversy when artists called out organisers of mismanagement

The 2nd annual Pakistan International Screen Awards (PISA) is all set to take place at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, on November 5, 2021. The awards will honour the nation's most celebrated artists from the entertainment, music and fashion industries. 

According to a press release, the event will take place under the strict adherence of Covid SOPs. The nominations and jury are yet to be announced. 

The 1st PISA took place in February 2020 at the grand Coca Cola Arena in Dubai which earlier had hosted AR Rahman and Pakistan's own Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The award show caused quite a stir when the ‘invited’ artists failed to make an appearance. The celebrities later shared that the organisers informed of not flying them out at the last moment. 

The likes of Osman Khalid Butt, Ahmed Ali, Nadia Afghan, Nabeel Zafar among others took to social media and called out the mismanaged event. The actors shared how they were promised a fully accommodated trip but they were informed that the organisers had failed to make travel arrangements. 

In response to the outrage, Body Beat PR (BBPR) CEO Hasan Rizvi apologised for the whole ordeal certain nominees had to face. "There was a complete miscommitment on tickets to our respected guests and celebrities. We did not receive the tickets from the management for multiple reasons, including flights being completely full. However, as BBPR was responsible for contacting the guests please treat this as a formal apology for the mismanagement of this. Our intention was never to disrespect any of our guests. We hold each and every one of our guests with the highest regard" Rizvi told The Express Tribune.

He went on to add that PISA was a new platform with teething issues."We hope with time PISA will get bigger and bigger only to shine our country’s name," concluded Rizvi.

However, stars who attended the event included Jawed Sheikh, who had publicly praised the event and Mahira Khan and Humayun Saeed who appeared onstage together and had created a palpable buzz. Other celebrities included Asad Siddiqui, Zara Noor Abbas, Adnan Siddiqui, Ushna Shah, Umair Jaswal, Aima Baig, Sana Javed, 
and several Vloggers. 

Here's hoping under new management, PISA 2021 will be conducted smoothly. 

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