It all ended one hour late than expected but then it was all right because it was an enjoyable experience. The Servis 3rd HUM Awards powered by Telenor were recently held in Dubai’s World Trade Centre showcased true entertainment and Pakistani talent for the global audience.
It was a delightful experience to see our stars walking on the red carpet and interacting with the Dubai fans, who continued to cheer and take autographs from them. Red carpet was a sheer show of star power and one could see the popularity that our plays are gaining among the Pakistani expatriates and people of other countries, especially Indians, who understand Urdu language and share same family and social issues.
No glitz and glamour show is complete without the word fashion and it too dominated the Dubai event. Anoushey Ashraf and Mohsin Abbasi (from ‘Na Maloon Afraad’ fame) hosted the Red Carpet and kept the stars engaged. It reflected what was to follow. It was not only the stars but the public that had turned up to attend the event wearing branded clothes or what is becoming a popular term luxury prêt. Floral gowns and saris were the buzz for the most fashion savvy women like Urwa, Sanam Jang, Ayesha Omer, Sanam Seed, Ayesha Khan, and formal branded suits with neck ties were the choice of most celebrities be it HSY, Deepak Perwani, Feroze Khan, Ijaz Aslam, Humayun Alamgir, Ijaz Aslam and Junaid Khan. Hum Awards had brought the giants of Pakistani entertainment industry under one roof.
Heartthrob Hamza Ali Abbasi and the queen of morning shows Sanam Jang were the first set of hosts for the night. The second set was hosted by the humorous duo Ahmed Ali Butt and Wasay Chaudhry who kept the audiences alive and active throughout. While Wasay kept on cutting jokes and interacting with stars to entertain the audience it was Ahmed who had the audience rolling with laughter with his antics and performances in different dresses. One interesting act was when he played a filmmaker of Lollywood who now wanted to make a comeback in the business. All the hosts kept the energy level and managed to keep the A-list crowd and the audience engaged. ‘Good evening Dubai’ and the audience responded overwhelmingly by making a lot of noise.
The show began with a positively magical performance by some international and artistes welcoming the guests with great dance performance on carnival music beat with stage fireworks. After that there was an interesting lineup of power packed medley dance performaces by Ahsan Khan, Sabah Qamar, Mehwish Hayat, Sajjal Ali and Shehroze and Saira Sabzwari. Pretty women Sabah Qamar and Mehwish Hayat as expected both delivered the wow factor with their remarkable performances. Aamna from BNF choreographed all the performances and the magnanimous stage was designed by EBB. The surprise package of the night was the Indian singing star Sunidhi Chauhan who mesmerized everyone with her hit songs as well as a Pakistani number. But it was the song ‘Mein saat samundar’ that had all the audience tapping their feet and the young crowd at the back dancing.
‘Sadqay Tumhare’ picked up all the major awards that night including Best Drama Serial (Viewers’ Choice), Best actress(Viewers’ Choice), Best OST, Best On-screen couple, Best writer (won by Khaleel-ur-Rehman) and Best director (won by Ehteham Uddin).
Samina Perzada recognised the entire team of Na Maloom Afraad who were called on stage as an appreciation for the effort and sheer hard work of the young breed of actors and even younger director. The film has been a huge commercial success and has collected a whooping sum of 140 million. The film is still clicking at the box office in its 27th week.
Pakistani Cinema, for sure is heading in the right direction and HUM Network is surely contributing to this cause. Another highlight of the event was the first look launch of Momina Duraid’s film starring Humayun Saeed and Mahira Khan ‘Bin Roye’ that left everyone spellbound.
A special recognition award by the name of ‘International Icon Award’ was given to the dashing Fawad Khan. A montage was played to share a glimpse of his journey and his incredible achievements. Momina Duraid presented this award to Fawad who humbly accepted and acknowledged the contribution of HUM television in his career and thanked everyone from MD Productions to Sultana Siddiqui.
Other categories of awards included Best Sitcom (winner: Uff Meri Family), Best Supporting Actor and Actress (winners: Rehan Sheikh and Mansha Pasha), Best Telefilm (Mein Cooco Aur Woh) and Best New Sensation Female and Male (winners: Hareem Farooq and Adnan Malik), Best negative Role (winner: Samia Mumtaz) and Best Short Film.
Singer Farhan Saeed who won the award in the Best Music Single category for ‘Roiyaan’ read a beautiful poem and dedicated his award to the Peshawar victims. The Best Music Video Award was won by Shahab Qamar. The awards were presented by Ayesha Omer and Junaid Khan.
On fashion front, Hassan Shaheryar Yasin of HSY and Deepak Perwani graced the stage with their presence. Cybil Choudhry won the award for the Best Female Model whereas the dapper, Shahzad Noor picked the Best Male Model trophy. Both the models could be seen smartly dressed in western suits that suited them well. Interestingly Cybil continued to wear dark glasses throughout the event and even afterwards. It was not just to mark her fashion icon look but perhaps she had allergy that affected her eyes.
Like every show there are requisite emotional moments. When Khalilur Rehman Qamar came on stage he could not control himself and started talking about how painful it had been for him to reveal the story of his life in the play ‘Sadqay Tumhare’. He said both his sisters had stopped talking to him after the telecast of this play. An unforgettable moment was when Abida Perween came on stage for her lifetime excellence award in recognition of her 40 years of contribution to the music industry. The standing ovation continued for quite a long time. People were moved when she sang few lines from Ameer Khusroo’s poetry. Another memorable moment was when Anwar Maqsood came to receive his lifetime achievement award for 50 years contribution in entertainment industry. Keeping true to his personality his comments came as best political satire on the rulers and the entertainment industry. Boldness and clarity of vision is his hallmark and he still carries that charisma that is his own only.
The event also marked the 10th Anniversary of HUM Network. The honour goes to HUM for holding first awards of a Pakistani TV channel to be held outside the country. It must have been a mammoth task which it was able to pull off owing to its worldwide popularity. It was one of the most organised events that this scribe has seen. Hats off to team HUM.
Homage to the veterans
The Hum Awards ceremony honoured the veterans whose contribution to Pakistani entertainment industry has been enormous. Sufi queen Abida Parveen was bestowed with the prestigious ‘Excellence in Music Award’ by CEO HUM Network Mr Duraid Qureshi. Anwer Maqsood was the proud recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution to the entertainment industry. The ever so graceful Samina Peerzada received the Excellence in Television Award for delivering brilliant performance in serials in a career spanning over three years. The audiences gave a standing ovation to these artistes as a mark of respect.
Stars that shone and bagged awards
Best Actor female was presented by the talented Sakina Samoo to Mahira Khan for Sadqay Tumharay and Mekaal Zulfiqar picked the trophy for the best Male Actor for his role in Mohabbat Subh Ka Sitara Hai. His award was presented to him by the ever charming Atiqa Odho who was also the brand ambassador for the 3rd Servis HUM Awards. Best Actor Jury Male was presented by Bushra Ansari to Ahsan Khan and Best Actor Jury Female was won by Saba Qamar who received it from the handsome Humayun Saeed.
