THE GRAPEVINE

Birthday Song

October 15 is the birthday of singing superstar Atif Aslam’s wife Sara Bharwana. Contrary to his serious demeanour, the singer is a pretty romantic guy. On his better half’s special day, he posted a heartwarming message for her on social media with a picture of Sara B from her student life wearing her college uniform. He wrote, “I’ve been smiling since the day our eyes first met. Happy birthday, my love.” Aww… what a melodious and rhythmic message.
Karan’s Chahat

Social media figure Chahat Fateh Ali Khan has a big number of fans as well as detractors. We thought that those who are in showbiz would generally disapprove of his brand of creativity, if one could call it that. Well, not so. His recent rendition of an Indian song, Tauba Taubafrom the movie Bad News,has caught the eye of none other than director/producer Karan Johar. He liked it so much that he put this particular version on his Instagram page and asked his followers to check it out. Well, all we can say to that is… tauba tauba.
No Dance with BF

Tom Holland and Zendaya are one of the hottest couples in Hollywood. We all know that Zendaya can dance beautifully. However, in a recent interview, the actress has said she would not like to dance with Tom H. When we first read that we thought that the height difference between the two (he’s 5’ 6½” and she’s 5’10”) might have prompted her to say that. Nope. She says, “He’s too good, it would piss me off. I would want to take someone who could be equally as bad as I am.” Well, Z dear, you can always dance in the air with him. He is Spider-Man, after all.
Comedy Again

Bollywood king Shah Rukh Khan always tries to break the mould that people think his acting has set in. In recent years, he has given two of the biggest all-time commercial hits in the history of Indian cinema — Jawaan and Pathaan. They gathered staggering numbers at the box office. Ever since, expectations regarding his upcoming movies have rocketed sky high. Now the actor has come out with a statement that he’d like to try his hand at comedy… to prove his versatility as an artist. Wait, so Jawaan and Pathaan weren’t comedies?
Liam Payne, RIP

The world of music received a shock on October 16 when a former member of the pop band One Direction and a renowned singer Liam Payne fell off a balcony on the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, and died. He was 31. Some news reports suggest that he was under the influence of drugs at the time. One Direction shot to fame 14 years ago, when they impressed with their remarkable singing talent on the reality show The X Factor and all five of its members [Liam Payne, Niall Horan (who was with him in Buenos Aires for a concert), Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles] became overnight sensations. May he rest in peace!
Threat Alert!

After the murder of politician Baba Siddique (who was close to Bollywood stars, especially Salman Khan), allegedly by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, Salman Khan has reportedly received threats from the same gang, because of which Mumbai’s police has beefed up his security. It’s believed that a man suspected to be hatching a plot for the actor’s murder has been nabbed from Panipat and is under investigation. It’s been more than a decade since the actor has been under threat and many are fearing for his life after Siddique’s death. We hope Salman K remains dabangg in his resolve to ward off evils such as Lawrence B.
Published in Dawn, ICON, October 27th, 2024