As the curtain fell on the annual award ceremony held at Expo Centre of Karachi last night, the 16th edition will be remembered as a night of many firsts as well as unprecedented surprises.
Featuring nearly 30 categories of film, fashion, music and television, the award show more often known as the LSA’s this time marked the debut of fashion’s much loved star and showman Hasan Yasin Shehryar as an award show director while internationally famed singing sensation Atif Aslam took to its stage for the very first time as the host for the night. Fariyha Subhani, Director marketing Unilever Pakistan, describing the latest edition as the first with many ‘1st evers’ after years in the fifteen-year history of the Lux Style awards.
Often dubbed Pakistan’s alternative to Oscars since its inception in 2002, it is the oldest, most prominent and the most talked about award show. Sitting in the front row of LSA’s this year stars and legends including Faisal Qureshi, Mikaal Zulfiqaar and Usman Peerzada appreciate its importance as nation’s premiere award show recognising local talent consistently over the years. A winner of five LSA’s and multiple others including Pride of Performance, seasoned actor Noman Ejaz in attendance after 15 years on the other hand not a big fan of such ceremonies says he is in the audience to support Hassan Shehryar Yasin in his efforts.
Kicking off with Atif Aslam’s power packed performance among its big surprises is yesteryear’s silver screen queen Reema’s return to the limelight. Refraining from being extended appearances since her marriage, Reema Khan looking every bit the film star makes her magical comeback to the LSA’17 while sharing the stage with young actress Mawra Hocane.
With two new Lux girls revealed during the night, VJturned actor/ Bollywood star Mahira Khan rapping on stage and actor Osman Khalid Butt establishing himself as an entertainer of great comic timing are among the most delightfully pleasant surprises of the LSA’s this year. With a bigger and visually impressive looking stage, the award ceremony that started after 11 pm last year, astonishingly wrapping up by midnight is another unexpected and unprecedented highlight of the LSA 2017.
