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The Lux Style Awards (LSAs) can’t help but stir controversy.

This year’s nominations had only just been announced, bringing in the usual onslaught of hurt sentiments and injured egos, when a recent turn of events started off a fresh wave of conjecture. Hassan Shehryar Yasin (HSY) is not going to be the show director for this year’s event.

The designer and creative director had directed the LSAs for the first time last year and it was assumed that he would continue with the job this time around. In fact, in a candid conversation with Images some weeks ago, he had hinted at his exciting plans for the LSAs. With LSA 2018 slotted to take place on February 21, which is less than a month away, what brought about this sudden change?

Speaking to Images exclusively from France, where he is attending Paris Couture Week, HSY explains, “I have built my career over a span of 24 years and a certain quality and creativity is associated with my work. For several months now I had been chalking out my plans for the LSAs but I was recently informed that I would have to work with a much lower budget than I had had last year. We went back and forth with budget changes and concept changes and inevitably I realised that I could not attach my name with a show that did not depict my vision.”

"Concepts and people require finances and I can’t go about asking big stars to work for less money." — HSY

“It’s what I told them. After all, they had gotten me on board because of my vision and if I could not give that to them, then it was better that I wasn’t part of the show at all.

"A certain budget is required to put up a grand show that is worthy of the LSA name, to enlist major stars to perform on stage and make sure that everything is standout. We were planning a show that would have touched the core of what is happening around us in the country and delivered an impactful social message. But concepts and people require finances and I can’t go about asking big stars to work for less money.

"Stars happily work with me because my strength has always been my goodwill and that’s because I am fair. I couldn’t be unfair to the LSAs or to myself.”

Is HSY bitter following the experience? “I am just sad,” he admits, “but I wish them all the best. I hope they put up a great show because as the LSAs, they need to."

The LSAs are the country’s longest standing awards and one remembers the enthusiasm with which HSY had taken on the role of show director last year, replacing Frieha Altaf who had hitherto been part of the show since its inception. One wonders who will be taking his place now and if a show could possibly be rustled up by a new director in less than a month.

Raheel Pasha, Managing Director at Unilever, elaborates, “The LSAs will be held as per plan, same time, same place. At this critical time of social awakening, we are going to aim to use the platform for our industry to stand in solidarity with the nation. We will shortly be announcing the team working on the LSAs and the theme that we will be following.”

"At this critical time of social awakening, we are going to aim to use the LSA platform for our industry to stand in solidarity with the nation." — Raheel Pasha, Managing Director at Unilever

These are certainly dark times for the country with child abuse accusations running rampant and the #metoo campaign gaining strength. It seems as if this year’s LSAs will be making a solemn effort to initiate pertinent conversations. It is, perhaps, a step that will resonate well in this age where creating social awareness has become imperative, far more important than delivering on entertainment.

But does this mean that the LSAs will now be sized down to be more low-key? It would certainly be an easier task to take on for the new show director, whoever he or she turns out to be.

We can’t say that it hasn’t happened before. Budgetary cuts and internal changes have lead the LSAs down a rollercoaster ride, from a grandiose extravaganza in Malaysia to spectacular shows in Karachi and Lahore to a sit-down dinner where the awards were announced to an evening tea, where only the winners – and not even the nominees – were in attendance.

Will we be seeing a grand show this year? Or will we simply partake in tea? We’ll have to wait and see.

Lux Style Awards 2018 take place in Lahore on February 21, 2018.