They may not make the most tasteful ads but smartphone brand Q Mobile does have the honour of having some really big names on its list of brand ambassadors. Shaan, Mahira Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Fahad Mustafa are just the tip of an iceberg of names. So, if the upcoming Q Mobile Hum Style Awards 2016 is anything to go by its title sponsor, it will have tons of star power and maybe not so much taste.
And then we may be wrong. Instagram has been building the buzz on the awards and it’s exciting to see Meesha Shafi, Umair Jaswal, Ali Zafar, Saba Qamar and many more celebs on board. There are expectations with the evening, which should have a dynamic red carpet and a happening lineup, at least.
Meesha Shafi has been nominated for the most Stylish Performer Female award. The versatile singer will also be performing on stage.
Coming to the awards themselves, you’ll get the usual round of fashion awards – Best Models male and female, Best Fashion Photographer, Best Hair and Makeup Artist, Best Designers for Bridal wear, Demi Couture (yes, it really is a thing), Lawn, Menswear and Retail-Apparel (which would be High Street). An additional category – Best Jewellery Designer – is exciting because jewellery designers have not been acknowledged at the country’s original Style Awards (the Lux Style Awards).
The Fashion/Style Awards are followed by a mix of awards for stylish personalities from television and film; there are awards for Most Stylish Performers, male and female, which I assume means Stylish Musicians. There is a category for Most Stylish Sportsman (only three names on that list), TV Anchor and even Fashion Publication. These awards are a bit unclear; are actors, for example, being judged for how they’ve been dressing up for the red carpet, for their innate sense of style or how stylish they’ve appeared on their TV shows? When I look at the list I get the impression that just about everyone has been included and no one has been repeated. For example, Mahira Khan has been nominated for Most Stylish Actress-Film (For Ho Mann Jahaan, I’m assuming) but not TV, whereas she did carry herself well in Sadqay Tumhare. Adnan Malik, who breathes style, has not been nominated for ST either.
Atif Aslam has been nominated for the most Stylish Performer Male award.
While the show appears to be promising, the sanctity and credibility of the awards are a little grey. Hum TV should avoid making the same mistake that LSA has made for 15 years; Hum TV should make the judging process transparent so that everyone knows who the judges are and what the process is. Transparency is integral to the credibility of any awards’ show, without which it will just appear as a star-studded gala evening to generate more television content.
I’m hoping that the credibility part will sort itself out because while it’s good to have competition (for the Lux Style Awards) in the industry, it’s equally important for a new awards show to have its own unique selling point and the inaugural event will prove whether the QMHSA has one or whether it is just a spin off of the LSAs. Until then, if every nominee promises to turn up at the Q Mobile Hum Style Awards (quite a mouthful) then the evening will sparkle and shimmer and shine, which will be enough for most people to get excited over.
