Pakistan International Screen Awards 2021 sees electrifying performances

The Pakistan International Screen Awards 2021 were arguably the first major event for the Pakistani industry held outside of Pakistan since the pandemic. The last award show was PISA itself in February 2020, just a few weeks before countries across the globe began shutting down.

This year brought a lot of joy and high spirits to the red carpet as well as on the stage as PISA seemed to have learnt from its past mistakes and managed to keep the show flowing easily. Though there were glitches here and there, overall the show ran smooth and Umair Jaswal and Sajjad Ali were truly the highlights of the show.

The red carpet was a colorful affair with Feroze Khan and Hania Aamir stealing the show with fans and media members flocking to them to take pictures and interviews. Hiba Bukhari, Ali Azmat, Umair Jaswal, Sana Javed, Amar Khan, Faryal Mehmood, Omair Rana, Ali Abbas, Nida Yasir and Yasir Nawaz all were dressed to perfection and were happy to spend time with the media fraternity at the red carpet.

City Times asked the PISA celebrities what it was like to come back after over a year to an event where various Pakistani stars were present.

Sajjad Ali: “There are very few opportunities for people in the fraternity to come together in an event like this, this is a great night to celebrate with everyone. We’re very happy to be here.”

Vasay Chaudhry and Mahera Vasay: “We’re very excited and hopeful to see some great performances on stage tonight.” Vasay added, "Not every good time needs to go with a message. It’s a three-hour show, if you enjoy the fifteen minutes within it, that’s pretty good!"

Umair Jaswal: Dubai is electric as always! We had been craving for this night! And we’re releasing our new music today.

Wajahat Rauf: Hosting tonight, nominated, releasing our film’s teaser and so glad that our cast (Ali Rehman and Hania Amir) are here.

Nida Yasir: “It’s a pleasure to be here and quite a different experience to be here as a guest!” (Nida hosts her own morning show)

Ali Abbas: “Very excited to be here tonight. It’s been a long time and I’m really looking forward to seeing the performances on stage! This freedom that we’ve gotten now is a sign that we’re getting out of the pandemic!”

Sana Javed: “It feels great to be here. Dubai is always like home and I love being here! I feel like I’m out of a cage! For two years we’ve been stuck in cages!”

Amar Khan: “I am so glad that we’re getting to showcase our talent on an international stage after so long and I hope we continue to show the world that we’re not behind anyone!”

Hiba Bukhari: "We’re representing Pakistan and I love Dubai - there are so many different cultures coexisting here peacefully."

Omair Rana: "I’m just expecting a lot of amazing Pakistani talent to showcase just a fraction of talent we have!"

The show kicked off with the national anthems of the UAE and Pakistan with the national anthem of Pakistan being sung by Asim Azhar. One of the first performances was by Mehwish Hayat and Sheheryar Munawar with each of them performing to their hit songs such as Munday Lahore De and Haye Dil Bechara.

The show moved at a quick pace with hosts changing quite efficiently as well. Yasir Hussein, Vasay Chaudhry, Wajahat Rauf, Waqar Zaka and Mehwish Hayat performed suitably well as hosts where Yasir and Mehwish clearly seemed like they were having the most fun onstage. Yasir Hussein’s constant banter about his wife did not get old, surprisingly.

One of the highlights of the show was Ahmed Ali Butt’s ‘impromptu’ competition with Omair Rana as the announcement for the best ‘supporting actor’ was about to happen: both were locked in mock combat around the stage and when the award was announced, Ahmed Ali Butt and Omair Rana both went onstage and continued the ‘rivalry’ but hugged good naturedly later.

The show also released a teaser of Wajahat Rauf and Shazia Wajahat’s upcoming film Parde Main Rehne Do starring Hania Aamir and Ali Rehman Khan.

Umair Jaswal’s medleys were definitely a mood-lifter and his cute moments with his wife Sana Javed were also a very nice touch that made his performance even more likeable.

But perhaps the best performance/sequence of the night undoubtedly went to the legendary singer Sajjad Ali who sang a medley of his most memorable hits such as Cinderella and Mahiwal. All the celebrities were on their feet and chanted for him to sing the song ‘once more’.

Full list of winners

Singer of the year: Aima Baig

Song of the year: Bilal Saeed and Momina Mustehsan for Baari 2

Breakthrough artist 2020: Hassan Raheem

PISA Rockstar: Ali Azmat

Best OST: Asim Azhar for Ishqiya

Most entertaining Insta celeb of the year: Romaisa Khan

Best use of humour on Social Media: Comics by arsalan