DUBAI: Veteran Pakistani stylist and image consultant Nabila Maqsood and her team are getting ready for their first major Bollywood break. Her brands Zero Makeup, N-Gents and Nabila are now the official makeup and hairstylists in the prestigious International Indian Film Academy [IIFA] awards 2018.
The biggest celebration of Indian cinema is heading to Bangkok, Thailand, on June 22-24.
Nabila has replaced MAC Cosmetics, which was the IIFA official makeup and stylist partner for more than 16 years.
Speaking exclusively to Arab News, Nabila said the selection was unexpected but she and her team are very excited. “I am overwhelmed. It is a very big honor that for the first time a Pakistani hair stylist and makeup artist will be doing this world-class event. It is a complement that such a grand event, which Mac was doing successfully for 16 years, will now be managed by us. It is very exciting.”
Bollywood stars such as Karan Johar, Shahid Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Radhika Apte, Huma Qureshi, Dia Mirza, Ayushmann Khurana, Ritesh Deshmukh, Varun Dhawan, Ranbir Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Kriti Sanon will be participating and performing during the awards ceremony.
“The project is huge. It will involve fashion shows, an awards ceremony, dance performances and lots of other activities where loads of celebrities of MIP [most important people], VVIP [very, very important people] and VIP [very important people] level are participating and we will be doing makeup and styling for all them. It is a huge task,” she said.
Although this is Nabila and her team’s first gig in Bollywood, she is confident that her team is trained enough to manage the pressure. “We have been doing all the awards shows and fashion weeks [in Pakistan] for over 16 years now. My team can handle the entire celebrities and dance performances and other event.
“I know India has much bigger canvas and they have more superstars. But we are focused on our work. We are confident that we will do it well. My team is trained and professional enough to deal with all kinds of pressure. Moreover, we invest in our products and hence we are equipped enough to deal with such huge projects [as IIFA].”
She said her team had worked with Indian stars who had visited Pakistan over the past decade or so. However, this will be the first time that they have dealt with the entire Bollywood under one roof.
Nabila finds that Indian aesthetics, especially those with Bollywood, are larger than life. “The Indian aesthetics, especially dances, are slightly larger than life. So everything has to look very glamorous and sexy, which is very beautiful.”
Nabila’s personal favorite Bollywood hero is Shahid Kapoor. “I like Shahid Kapoor’s style only because he keeps reinventing himself and keeps on changing his looks. For men, hair and beards make all the difference. At N-Gents, I am really looking forward to set up the barbering section which hasn’t been done before.”
Having said that, Karan Johar is the Bollywood personality that Nabila is really eager to meet and work with. “Though there is a fantastic lineup of top movie stars, I am really looking forward to working with Karan Johar. I know we will become very good friends.”
Pakistani stylist packs bags for big Bollywood break in Bangkok
Pakistani stylist packs bags for big Bollywood break in Bangkok
- Nabila’s Zero makeup and other two flagship brands have replaced MAC Cosmetics, which managed IIFA for 16 years
- First time a Pakistani artist will be managing the IIFA vanity
In southeast Pakistan, Ramadan brings Hindus and Muslims closer
MITHI: Partab Shivani, a Hindu in Muslim-majority Pakistan, has fasted on and off during Ramadan for years, but this time is different as he practices abstinence for the entire holy month.
Every year, he and his friends in the southeastern city of Mithi arrange iftar, when Muslims break their daily fast, to foster peace and solidarity between the two religions.
“I believe we need to promote interfaith harmony. First, we are humans — religions came later,” Shivani, a 48-year-old social activist, told AFP, adding that he also reads the teachings of the Buddha.
“His message is about peace and ending war. Peace can spread through solidarity and by standing with one another. Distance only widens the gap between people,” he added.
Ninety-six percent of Pakistan’s 240 million people are Muslim. Just two percent are Hindu, most of them living in rural areas of Sindh province where Mithi is located.
In Mithi itself, most of the 60,000 inhabitants are Hindu.
Many of the city’s Hindus also observe Ramadan and iftar has become a social gathering where people from both faiths happily participate.
“This has been a wonderful tradition of ours for a very long time,” said Mir Muhammad Buledi, a 51-year-old Muslim friend who attended Shivani’s iftar gathering.
“It is a beautiful example of harmony between the two communities.”
Like brothers
Discrimination against minorities runs deep in Pakistan.
Following the end of British rule in South Asia in 1947, the subcontinent was partitioned into mainly Hindu India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
That triggered widespread religious bloodshed in which hundreds of thousands were killed and millions displaced.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, freedom of religion or belief is under constant threat, with religiously motivated violence and discrimination increasing yearly.
State authorities, often using religious unrest for political gain, have failed to address the crisis, the independent non-profit says.
But such tensions are absent in Mithi.
“I am a Hindu but I keep all the fasts during this month,” said Sushil Malani, a local politician. “I feel happy standing with my Muslim brothers.
“We celebrate Eid together as well. This tradition in the region is very old.”
Restaurants and tea stalls are closed across Pakistan during Ramadan.
Ramesh Kumar, a 52-year-old Hindu man who sells sweets and savoury items outside a Muslim shrine, keeps his push cart covered and closed until iftar.
“There is no discrimination among us if someone is Muslim or Hindu. I have been seeing this since my childhood that we all live together like brothers,” he said.
Muslim shrine, Hindu caretaker
Locals say Mithi’s peaceful religious coexistence can be traced to its remote location, emerging from the sand dunes of the Tharparkar desert, which borders the modern Indian state of Rajasthan.
Cows — considered sacred in Hinduism — roam freely in Mithi city, as they do in neighboring India.
At two Sufi Muslim shrines in the middle of the city, Hindu families arrange meals, bringing fruit, meals and juices for their Muslim neighbors to break their fasts.
“We respect Muslims,” said Mohan Lal Malhi, a Hindu caretaker of one of the shrines.
Mohan said his parents and elders taught him to respect people regardless of religion or color, and the traditions pass from one generation to the next.
Local residents said both communities consider their social relationships more important than their religious identity.
“You will see a (Sikh) gurdwara, a mosque, and a shrine standing side by side here,” Mohan said. “The atmosphere of this area teaches humanity.”
