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In its nearly two decade long history, there have been very few occasions when an LSA ceremony has been reduced to a minimum iteration or not held at all. But the year 2020 is different, as we live through the pandemic that is COVID-19 (coronavirus) and could be the worst financial hit the world has seen since the Great Depression, according to financial experts.
While the number of cases in Pakistan is far less than some industrial nations, they are rising fast and will continue to do so if social distancing, self-isolation and quarantine, along with other guidelines, are not followed by everyone. This is humanity’s greatest test in the 21st century.
In this global crisis, Lux Style Awards 2020 (LSAs), backed by Unilever Pakistan, is playing its role in terms of CSR (corporate social responsibility). Instead of putting an entire entertainment industry at risk, it has been announced that Lux Style Awards 2020 have been cancelled and the budget that fuels the usually grand ceremony, will instead be redirected towards relief efforts that will help mitigate coronavirus from spreading.
Announced via a press release, the LSAs that are a celebration of excellence in the fashion and entertainment industry as well as being a child of controversy every year, certainly is making the right call this time around. The grand LSA stage, the glamorous red carpet and the buzz that stays alive for months around it will be missed but it was a necessary decision. We hope that outstanding talent will be recognized regardless, and perhaps trophies will be awarded in a smaller, spaced out ceremony or even remotely.
– Maheen Sabeeh
There’s no denying that celebrities have gone into social media overdrive all over the world, and just as much in Pakistan. Unfortunately, most of the content being generated looks and feels the same; it’s either two barely-there stars on a live Instagram chat, a video baking banana bread, showing fans how to do hair and makeup themselves or then indulging in some sort of art form. It all presents itself as being quite run of the mill. Saba Qamar’s debut production, titled Episode 1: Isolation, therefore comes across as unique, well thought out, well produced and different.
The video, a 7-minute soliloquy, shows Saba drift through what appears to be her elegant home, herself as narrator, poetically expressing her feelings about being in isolation. It’s interesting, as it begins with the noise and clutter of her pre-corona days and ends in isolation and depressing silence. It is quite dark, showing her immersed in a black bathtub full of water. She’s wearing white, not unlike a shroud, the black bathtub not unlike a grave.
The narration is poignant and well thought out. Produced and written by Saba herself, it address the dichotomy of life in the 21st century. She questions herself and everyone listening. She questions relationships, friendships, social disparity, thoughtlessness and recklessness and what she poses is all very pertinent. The only flaw in this carefully constructed soliloquy is that it's carefully constructed. Saba's hair and makeup is a little too fine; disorder would have been more relatable. Her choice of wardrobe is a little too refined, the book she chooses to be 'candidly' captured reading – Think! by Edward de Bono – is a little too well curated.
But all that is okay and can be overlooked for the larger picture. Isolation is, in a nutshell, refreshing. And the pun is very much intended.
–Aamna Haider Isani
