Launched in 2002, the Lux Style Awards has forever been one of the most awaited and sensational media events of the year. And why wouldn’t it be? It is the only platform in Pakistan that manages to bring a cluster of stars all under one roof; includes fiery performances and honour many artists of our showbiz industry by giving away trophies. The Lux Style Awards has now completed its 11th year and this year’s event would be remembered for years to come. The show was also live streamed for the first time. Just like last year, the awards, held at the Expo Centre, had its high moments as well as some lows.

This time round Ahmed Butt was the host of the show and the ceremony started off with his rap performance. Throughout the show he entertained the audience with his tongue-in-cheek crispy dialogues and funny antics. Let’s take a look at the rest of the award ceremony...

Red carpet - hits and misses

The red carpet has always been one of the most entertaining aspects of an award function since this is where we get to know what everyone is wearing. The red carpet decides who sizzled and who fizzled. The fashion makers of the night were Frieha Altaf in a golden gown and Humaima Malik in off white dress. The body hugging dresses complemented the curvy figures of both the ladies and managed to receive appreciative glances from many. Amna Ilyas looked sophisticated and petite in her white strapless gown, whereas Rabia Butt looked interesting in her black gown which gave her the ‘Wicked witch of the West’ look.

Mathira showed up in Ali Xeeshan’s floral print long dress with butterfly shaped broaches at the top in the front and looked better than last year. Aamina Sheikh looked stunning in Maheen Karim’s gold outfit and Mohib Mirza complemented her well in his three piece black suit from Zara.

The ones who managed to disappoint us were; the pretty Ayyan who looked like a fruit cocktail in her colourful gown, while Rabia Chaudhry looked too simple. Other noticeable celebrities were Bushra Ansari, Behroze Subzwari, Film star Sana, Meera, Faisal Qureshi, Sadia Imam, Mahira Khan, Javed Sheikh, Tapu Javeri, ZQ, Faakhir, band Josh, and many more.

Film Awards

The first set of awards started with the Best Film Actress category. The nominations were shared with the audience, but the clipping wasn’t of a list of nominees and instead included only a single nomination. Yes, we already know the answer, the Best Actress Award went to Humaima Malik for ‘Bol’; the only movie of Lollywood that was worth appreciation. The Best Actor went to Manzar Sehbhai for ‘Bol’. Even though he played a negative role in the movie, his acting skills left many in awe. The Best Film Award also went to the only nominee, ‘Bol’ of course.

Then came the moment where our very own Oscar winning Director stepped on stage to receive the Lux Pride of Performance Achievement Award. With the work Sharmeen has endowed upon our nation in the past years, it wasn’t a surprise when she bagged this award.

After the first set of awards, a video of the life achievements of singer Ahmed Rushdi was shown to pay a tribute to him, followed by a power packed performance by some of the biggest stars of our industry. Three of his songs were sung live with Faisal Qureshi, Mathira, Meera, Sana and Ahsan dancing to the groovy beats. The song ‘Socha tha pyaar na karain gay’ was sung by Bilal Khan, while the audience loved Ahmed Jahanzaib’s version of ‘Ko ko ko rina’.

TV Awards

The segment of the TV Awards is one that we all look forward to since the Pakistani drama industry has produced many spectacular TV serials in the recent past. Obviously there was one winner per category but the brilliant work produced this year makes everyone a winner. The first to be awarded was Sanam Baloch for ‘Sehra Teri Pyaas’ for Best TV Actress (Terrestrial). She won amongst other talented actresses such as Sania Saeed, Saba Qamar, Mahjabeen and Mahira Khan.

The Best Actor (Terrestrial) nominees included Ahsan Khan, Junaid Khan, Noman Aijaz and Mahmood Aslam. It was Noman Aijaz who won the trophy for ‘Aao kahaani buntay hain’. The nominees for Best TV Series (Terrestrial) included ‘Aao kahaani buntay hain’, ‘Dil kehkashan’, ‘Tera pyaar nahin bhoolay’, ‘Jeena tou hai’ and ‘Kachra Kunda’. The well deserved winner was ‘Tera pyaar nahin bhoolay’.

Other winners included ‘Mera Saeen’ for the Best TV Serial (Satellite), Savera Nadeem won the Best TV Actress (Satellite) for ‘Qaid-e-Tanhai’, and Faisal Qureshi won Best Actor (Satellite) for ‘Roag’.

The Best TV Director (all channels) went to Sarmad Khoosat for ‘Paani jaisa pyaar’, while Sameera Fazal; bagged the Best TV Writer award for ‘Mera Naseeb’.

Music Awards

The segment for the Music Awards took off with Ahmed Butt and Humaima Malik playing ‘antakshiri’ with many celebrity guests in the audience. This was followed by a performance by several upcoming singers and a special memorable dance performance by Act One. The first award given away was for the Best Original Soundtrack which went to Quratulain Baloch for ‘Woh humsafar tha’. This song was up against great hits like ‘Hona tha pyaar’ from ‘Bol’. The Best Music Video Director nominees included Adnan Malik ‘Mera bichra yaar’, Farhad Hamayun for ‘Batti’ by Overload, Jaami for ‘Bum phata’ by Ali azmat and ‘Pyaar hogaya’ by Josh, directed by Sameer Bharadwaaj. The winner was Adnan Malik, but we feel ‘Batti’ and ‘Bum phata’ were more deserving candidates.

The Best Song of the Year included ‘Bum phata’ by Ali Azmat, ‘Hona tha pyaar’ by Atif Aslam and Hadiqa, ‘Jhoom’ by Ali Zafar,  Woh hamsafar tha’ by Quratulain Baloch, and ‘Mera bichra yaar’ by Strings and Zoe Viccaji. The winner again was the famous ‘Humsafar’ track by Quratulain Baloch. Best Emerging Talent went to ‘Bambu Sauce’ whereas the Best Album Award went to ‘Jhoom’ by Ali Zafar, even though Umeed by Bilal Khan was also nominated.

Fashion Awards

The Fashion Awards segment turned out to be the most entertaining of all and they started off with the best moment of the Lux style Awards; the runway competition between Ahmed Butt and Aamina Sheikh. Aamina looked gorgeous as always and her bold walk earned some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the audience. Ahmed’s walk however, left everyone in a fit of laughter.

This comedy act was followed by a fashion presentation of collection by Ali Xeeshan. The showcased line was based on the theme of ‘A midsummer night’s dream’ and models dressed as queens and fairies were spotted on stage. The presentation was something out of the box and the out of this world fantasy collection earned applause from the audience.

Then came the segment for Best Emerging Talent which went to the king of classy cuts; Zaheer Abbas.

The nominees for Best Photographer included Rizwan ul Haq, Akef Ilyas, Ayaaz Anis, Guddu Shani and Fayyaz Ahmed. Rizwan ul Haq managed to get this one and rightly so.  Awards, awards and only awards get boring, but luckily there was much more in store for the audience as two more fashion shows took place midst the Fashion Awards section. The second designer to display his work was Akif Mehmood, whereas the collection by Fahad Hussain was displayed in the latter half. This designer also had something interesting in store for the audience as his trendy dresses were paired up with royal yet futuristic accessories.

The other winners included Best Hair Makeup Artist which went to Nabila @ N-Pro, while Khaadi was awarded for the Best High Street Brand category. Sana Safinaz once again won the Achievement in Fashion Design Lawn award. This time round they were up against Deepak Perwani, Khaadi, Umer Sayeed and Warda Saleem. The Achievement in Fashion Design Pret went to Kamiar Rokni who was up against Body Focus, Khaadi Khaas, Sanam Chaudhry and Sania Maskatiya. It was then Sania’s turn for a win when she bagged the award for Luxury Pret and Best Menswear Designer went to Omer Farooqui.

The final set of Fashion Awards included the category of Best Male Model of the Year which went to Abbas Jaffri, and the Best Model Female went to the gorgeous Cybil Chaudhry. We agree Cybil manages to set the ramp on fire but the work Amna Ilyas did throughout the year made her a more deserving winner.

The glamorous end

The ceremony ended with the Lifetime Achievement Award that went to Faiza Samee, who took the stage with her workers who are a very valuable part of all the designs she creates.

The awards this time round ended with a bang as Ali Zafar took the stage and paid a tribute to the legendary Mehdi Hassan with the soulful song ‘Mujhe tum nazar se’.

Ali Zafar also performed a few of his upbeat numbers accompanied by Humaima Malik who danced with him onstage.

The verdict

Even though this year’s awards were also done in ‘Oscar-style’ with tables set for the audience, hand in hand with a sophisticated decor. However, one couldn’t ignore the fact that half of the guests were seen standing at the back as there weren’t any seats available. Catalyst PR did a good job overall but they should have kept the seating capacity factor in mind. Also, the award show was very long and many people left before it even ended. The plus points of the Lux Style Awards however, were the presence of a large number of celebrities, the magical performances, and the creative fashion presentations.

Credits:

Event Management: Catwalk Productions & R-Team

Event Manager: Frieha Altaf

Hair, Make up & Styling:

Nabila @ N-PRO

Photography:

YK @ Syed Zakir