25 things I loved about 2010
Movies, music, showbiz, sports, politics and journalism - 2010 had a lot to love.
1. COKE STUDIO
Even in a hit-and-miss fourth season — for every Arif Lohar there was an Aunty Disco Project — Coke Studio was the only Pakistani television show you would want to schedule your day around. During the course of the show Zeb and Haniya cemented their reputation while Meesha Shafi created a brand new one for herself.
2. THE FINAL SCENE OF LOST
In its final 15 minutes, “Lost” went from a mind-bending sci-fi epic to a religious allegory about love. The transcendent ending, unfairly criticised by so many, showed that when we die all that really matters is that we are with the ones we truly love.
3. THE 18TH AMENDMENT
It took months of political bickering but the passage of the 18th Amendment showed us that democracy works. Seeing the most egregious perversions of the constitution rectified at a time when many were sounding the marital law drumbeat was the most satisfying political development of the year.
4. THE LAUNCH OF NEW NEWSPAPERS
Many argue that Pakistan has too many English-language newspapers. Rubbish. There can never be too many newspapers. The launch of The Express Tribune and Pakistan Today added more choice, more views and more information to the market.
5. AISAM UL HAQ AT THE US OPEN
What I enjoyed most about Aisam ul Haq and Rohan Bopanna’s run at the US Open was that it brought the athleticism and teamwork of doubles’ tennis to so many new fans. But I can’t deny that patriotism played its part too. Even if Aisam didn’t win any titles this year, seeing a Pakistani sportsman speak for a cause greater than his own personal enrichment was a joy.
6. MOHAMMAD AAMIR IN ENGLAND
I was too young to see a teenaged Wasim Akram burst onto the scene. Mohammad Aamir’s superb bowling against Australia was a close consolation. Let’s just ignore what came after that.
7. CONAN O’BRIEN LOSING “THE TONIGHT SHOW”
When NBC announced that Conan O’Brien would be replaced by his predecessor Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show”, despite Leno’s earlier promise that he would gracefully stand down, a hero was born. As Conan wound down his show, he took potshots at the network, spent as much of their money as he could and just had a blast. So did we.
8. VEENA MALIK
Anyone willing to denounce Mohammad Asif on live television has already contributed to an awesome 2010. By ignoring all the haters and flaunting her wit and personality on Bigg Boss, Veena Malik brightened up the year.
9. IFTIKHAR HUSSAIN’S BRAVERY
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s information minister lost his son and very nearly his own life to terrorists. The day after the attack on his family he was as feisty as ever, denouncing the Taliban vehemently. Even disillusioned, cynical hacks could see that some politicians have soul, integrity and commitment.
10. JON STEWART’S SANITY
Barack Obama’s election was supposed to end Jon Stewart’s career. Even without George W Bush to kick around, Stewart was as hilarious as ever, skewering hypocrisy and stupidity.
11. NASEEM HAMEED’S POISE
That sprinter Naseem Hameed became the fastest woman in South Asia after winning gold at the regional games is a big enough achievement. Her winning smile, which never wavered even after being besieged by the media, made her our newest hero.
12. THE SLACKISTAN TRAILER
Filmmakers’ obsession with showing the ‘real’ Pakistan has left one class unrepresented in cinema: the ultra-elite. The trailer of Hammad Khan’s Slackistan showed a bunch of young Islooites doing what they do best: nothing.
13. MUSHARRAF’S RETURN TO POLITICS
No, we don’t want him to ever rule the country again. But when insipid speeches by deadly-dull politicians made us want to gouge out our eyeballs, Mush lifted our spirits by boasting of his Facebook fandom.
14. TWITTER
Like Facebook, but without all those annoying friends and photographs and words. Say what you want, but don’t drone on and on. Twitter is ugly, often illiterate and usually unenlightening. But it’s also very addictive.
15. UTH OYE!’S T-SHIRTS
Here’s how to excel at do-gooderism. Follow all fashionable lefty causes and donate proceeds to charity and all that but also have a kick-ass sense of humour. Instead of yet another “Give Peace a Chance” t-shirt this was the year to pick up something from Uth Oye!’s latest line.
16. A MINI-RESTAURANT STREET
Since the elitist Zamzama trope is now so ingrained in us, we need to go somewhere less clichéd for our high-end dining. With Café Flo, Koel and Patio all in one street we have somewhere to go for tamarind drinks, French food and thalis without walking more than 100 yards.
17. SALMAAN TASEER’S SENSE OF HUMOUR
Whether sounding off on Twitter or embarrassing the PML-N at impromptu press conferences, the Punjab governor’s only job seems to be to make us laugh. Sample quote: “In May I will complete two years as governor Punjab. Please send your flowers, gifts etc to Raiwind to thank the Sharifs for their love and support.”
18. ROGER FEDERER AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN
In the twilight of his career, the greatest tennis player of all time (that is a fact, not an opinion) cruised through the first grand slam of the year. Despite losing a tiny bit of speed and control, the Swiss maestro was in command throughout, showing he is far from a spent force. Shame about the rest of the year.
19. THE ASHES
At a time when Test cricket’s popularity is waning, the Ashes have come as a delight to cricket purists for two reasons. It shows that Tests produce cricket that is exciting, high-quality and unpredictable. More importantly, it provides evidence that fans will still turn out for five-day matches given sporting wickets and impassioned players.
20. JAMES FRANCO’S CAREER
Franco turned in two of the year’s most devastating performances in 127 Hours and Howl. He also painted, wrote short stories and studied at an Ivy League university. The Renaissance Man is alive and well and is trapped in the body of a twenty-something Hollywood heartthrob.
21. CO SHAHID AFRIDI’S RETIREMENT PRESS CONFERENCE
When Pakistan’s then-Test captain was asked when he had decided to retire from Test cricket, he replied “When I got out” (playing a ridiculous shot). The comic masterpiece of the year belonged to Boom Boom. He showed that his talking is as extemporous as his batting. In a year where there were few laughs for Pakistani cricket fans, Afridi was the only source of amusement.
22. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN’S CONTINUED GREATNESS
Scottish band Belle and Sebastian burst onto the music scene nearly a decade-and-a-half ago with geeky songs about love and books. As their latest album, Write about Love, shows, they just get better with age.
23. NAKED TYRANT
Pakistani society is often so ridiculous that it can be hard to distinguish spoof from reality. Yet Naked Tyrant Productions, a trio of satirists, posted hilarious online videos mocking society magazines, our difficulty in procuring contraceptives and much else besides.
24. THE RISE OF MATHIRA
Equal parts reviled and lusted after; VJ Mathira does what she wants without regard for society’s niceties and mores. When so many others are happy to self-censor to appease the moral scolds, that alone is enough to make Mathira one of the bright spots this year.
25. THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Lets admit it: we live in the Facebook age. Most movies that seek to ride on the crest of the zeitgeist end up being dated as soon as they are released. As realistic as our online personas, The Social Network, which purports to show the founding of Facebook, was the movie event of the year.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2011.
Even in a hit-and-miss fourth season — for every Arif Lohar there was an Aunty Disco Project — Coke Studio was the only Pakistani television show you would want to schedule your day around. During the course of the show Zeb and Haniya cemented their reputation while Meesha Shafi created a brand new one for herself.
2. THE FINAL SCENE OF LOST
In its final 15 minutes, “Lost” went from a mind-bending sci-fi epic to a religious allegory about love. The transcendent ending, unfairly criticised by so many, showed that when we die all that really matters is that we are with the ones we truly love.
3. THE 18TH AMENDMENT
It took months of political bickering but the passage of the 18th Amendment showed us that democracy works. Seeing the most egregious perversions of the constitution rectified at a time when many were sounding the marital law drumbeat was the most satisfying political development of the year.
4. THE LAUNCH OF NEW NEWSPAPERS
Many argue that Pakistan has too many English-language newspapers. Rubbish. There can never be too many newspapers. The launch of The Express Tribune and Pakistan Today added more choice, more views and more information to the market.
5. AISAM UL HAQ AT THE US OPEN
What I enjoyed most about Aisam ul Haq and Rohan Bopanna’s run at the US Open was that it brought the athleticism and teamwork of doubles’ tennis to so many new fans. But I can’t deny that patriotism played its part too. Even if Aisam didn’t win any titles this year, seeing a Pakistani sportsman speak for a cause greater than his own personal enrichment was a joy.
6. MOHAMMAD AAMIR IN ENGLAND
I was too young to see a teenaged Wasim Akram burst onto the scene. Mohammad Aamir’s superb bowling against Australia was a close consolation. Let’s just ignore what came after that.
7. CONAN O’BRIEN LOSING “THE TONIGHT SHOW”
When NBC announced that Conan O’Brien would be replaced by his predecessor Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show”, despite Leno’s earlier promise that he would gracefully stand down, a hero was born. As Conan wound down his show, he took potshots at the network, spent as much of their money as he could and just had a blast. So did we.
8. VEENA MALIK
Anyone willing to denounce Mohammad Asif on live television has already contributed to an awesome 2010. By ignoring all the haters and flaunting her wit and personality on Bigg Boss, Veena Malik brightened up the year.
9. IFTIKHAR HUSSAIN’S BRAVERY
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s information minister lost his son and very nearly his own life to terrorists. The day after the attack on his family he was as feisty as ever, denouncing the Taliban vehemently. Even disillusioned, cynical hacks could see that some politicians have soul, integrity and commitment.
10. JON STEWART’S SANITY
Barack Obama’s election was supposed to end Jon Stewart’s career. Even without George W Bush to kick around, Stewart was as hilarious as ever, skewering hypocrisy and stupidity.
11. NASEEM HAMEED’S POISE
That sprinter Naseem Hameed became the fastest woman in South Asia after winning gold at the regional games is a big enough achievement. Her winning smile, which never wavered even after being besieged by the media, made her our newest hero.
12. THE SLACKISTAN TRAILER
Filmmakers’ obsession with showing the ‘real’ Pakistan has left one class unrepresented in cinema: the ultra-elite. The trailer of Hammad Khan’s Slackistan showed a bunch of young Islooites doing what they do best: nothing.
13. MUSHARRAF’S RETURN TO POLITICS
No, we don’t want him to ever rule the country again. But when insipid speeches by deadly-dull politicians made us want to gouge out our eyeballs, Mush lifted our spirits by boasting of his Facebook fandom.
14. TWITTER
Like Facebook, but without all those annoying friends and photographs and words. Say what you want, but don’t drone on and on. Twitter is ugly, often illiterate and usually unenlightening. But it’s also very addictive.
15. UTH OYE!’S T-SHIRTS
Here’s how to excel at do-gooderism. Follow all fashionable lefty causes and donate proceeds to charity and all that but also have a kick-ass sense of humour. Instead of yet another “Give Peace a Chance” t-shirt this was the year to pick up something from Uth Oye!’s latest line.
16. A MINI-RESTAURANT STREET
Since the elitist Zamzama trope is now so ingrained in us, we need to go somewhere less clichéd for our high-end dining. With Café Flo, Koel and Patio all in one street we have somewhere to go for tamarind drinks, French food and thalis without walking more than 100 yards.
17. SALMAAN TASEER’S SENSE OF HUMOUR
Whether sounding off on Twitter or embarrassing the PML-N at impromptu press conferences, the Punjab governor’s only job seems to be to make us laugh. Sample quote: “In May I will complete two years as governor Punjab. Please send your flowers, gifts etc to Raiwind to thank the Sharifs for their love and support.”
18. ROGER FEDERER AT THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN
In the twilight of his career, the greatest tennis player of all time (that is a fact, not an opinion) cruised through the first grand slam of the year. Despite losing a tiny bit of speed and control, the Swiss maestro was in command throughout, showing he is far from a spent force. Shame about the rest of the year.
19. THE ASHES
At a time when Test cricket’s popularity is waning, the Ashes have come as a delight to cricket purists for two reasons. It shows that Tests produce cricket that is exciting, high-quality and unpredictable. More importantly, it provides evidence that fans will still turn out for five-day matches given sporting wickets and impassioned players.
20. JAMES FRANCO’S CAREER
Franco turned in two of the year’s most devastating performances in 127 Hours and Howl. He also painted, wrote short stories and studied at an Ivy League university. The Renaissance Man is alive and well and is trapped in the body of a twenty-something Hollywood heartthrob.
21. CO SHAHID AFRIDI’S RETIREMENT PRESS CONFERENCE
When Pakistan’s then-Test captain was asked when he had decided to retire from Test cricket, he replied “When I got out” (playing a ridiculous shot). The comic masterpiece of the year belonged to Boom Boom. He showed that his talking is as extemporous as his batting. In a year where there were few laughs for Pakistani cricket fans, Afridi was the only source of amusement.
22. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN’S CONTINUED GREATNESS
Scottish band Belle and Sebastian burst onto the music scene nearly a decade-and-a-half ago with geeky songs about love and books. As their latest album, Write about Love, shows, they just get better with age.
23. NAKED TYRANT
Pakistani society is often so ridiculous that it can be hard to distinguish spoof from reality. Yet Naked Tyrant Productions, a trio of satirists, posted hilarious online videos mocking society magazines, our difficulty in procuring contraceptives and much else besides.
24. THE RISE OF MATHIRA
Equal parts reviled and lusted after; VJ Mathira does what she wants without regard for society’s niceties and mores. When so many others are happy to self-censor to appease the moral scolds, that alone is enough to make Mathira one of the bright spots this year.
25. THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Lets admit it: we live in the Facebook age. Most movies that seek to ride on the crest of the zeitgeist end up being dated as soon as they are released. As realistic as our online personas, The Social Network, which purports to show the founding of Facebook, was the movie event of the year.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 2nd, 2011.