The Lux Style Awards will return to a physical stage this December in Karachi
This year's awards are also introducing a new category dedicated to content creators.
The 24th Lux Style Awards (LSAs), which took place last week in Karachi, had their high points.
This may surprise a significant number of readers, given the online criticism that followed the event, which included rants by piqued nominees who had not won an award. And let’s not forget the barrage of comments from trollers about how certain results had been unfair, and how a major part of the show had been dull, despite feeble attempts at being entertaining.
It’s true — the LSA ceremony this year had its flaws — but it also delivered big time on one major, essential requirement: star power.
Stars and high-octane glamour have always been a leitmotif for the LSAs — until a few years ago, when celebrity attendance began to wane. A significant number of stars began demanding payment to make an appearance. And let’s not forget the controversies that would inevitably ensue after the nominations — and then the winners — were announced. Across the entertainment and fashion industries, miffed power players would often start speaking openly about not “believing” in awards.
The global political climate didn’t help matters. A perpetually fluctuating economy, the threat of war — and then an actual war with India earlier this year — had made it difficult for the LSAs to host a power-packed, enthralling ceremony the way it used to in the good old days.
As the LSAs stumbled over one road bump after another, the ceremony’s golden days of yore were often remembered. Were they never to return? It was a pessimistic train of thought, and perhaps it can be dismissed for now, because this year’s LSAs have given one hope.
They may have, at some point, declared their disinterest in the silver LSA statuette and yet, at the sit-down affair organised at Karachi’s Mohatta Palace this year, seated right in front of the stage were some of Pakistani entertainment’s most famous names.
The channel heads were there, so were top-tier directors and mainstream actors. The ‘it’ musicians — epitomising cool with their wardrobes, hair and careless swaggers — occupied the more boisterous tables. The fashion set were, as always, amongst the best dressed — the tables with the coiffured and designer wear-clad participants were theirs.
The fact remains that, for better or for worse, the LSAs remain the country’s longest-standing awards ceremony. They are the only consistent platform which aims to recognise achievements in fashion and entertainment, without aligning itself with one TV channel or brand.
Other award ceremonies may have gained popularity — the Hum TV Network comes to mind — but the LSAs are the only platform that represents the industry as a whole. Whether this representation is a fair one or not is a long and tedious debate but, love it or hate it, nominees want to attend the event, they want to win, and they arrive prepared with winning speeches, just in case the trophy comes their way.
From a pragmatic point of view, another reason for the better turnout at the LSAs this year was possibly the location. The traffic jams and potholes strewn along the route to the Expo Centre, where the event is usually held, are a debilitating reality. Taking the relatively more placid route to the Mohatta Palace Museum in Clifton is far easier.
The historic site also provided a gorgeous backdrop to the show, and it was lit up with multicoloured spotlights, a grand piano being played in the front garden, with a red carpet laid out on the side — all of which added glamour and atmosphere to the star-studded event.
Abida Parveen’s performance — which took place towards the tail-end of the show — was particularly amplified by the location. One of the country’s most iconic performers, singing her best-loved hits live, with the historic facade of the Mohatta Palace in the background, the LSAs delivered very well in this instance.
The incorporation of a combined act featuring young ‘it’ musicians was also a great idea. Hasan Raheem, Aashir Wajahat, Nayel Wajahat, Nehaal Naseem and Afusic all graced the stage, rendering some of their most popular songs and then singing together. High on energy and fun, not to mention youthful music, the performances had the audience clapping along and cheering.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the other segments in the show. Actors Sheheryar Munawar Siddiqui and Sanam Saeed hosted the show, trundling through a lacklustre script that didn’t even try very hard to be engaging.
With jokes that were hardly funny, generic commentaries and far too much reliance on English — a show that is supposed to be for the general public should at least aim for hybrid ‘minglish’ (the merging of English and Urdu) — the script, more than anything else, made the LSAs tedious.
The event began with students from Zindagi Trust singing the national anthem, a sweet touch. The classical performance that followed was beautiful, though perhaps not apt for a star-studded awards ceremony.
Awards ceremonies should be jump-started with a bit of chutzpah and flair, with songs that have the crowd clapping and singing along, building excitement. The classical performance, even when rendered with great effort, just didn’t seem to fit into the format.
For some unfathomable reason, director Sarmad Khoosat and comedian Faiza Saleem had been taken on board for a comic segment. Their jokes barely drew any laughs, and one missed past LSAs when a Yasir Hussain or an Ahmed Ali Butt would make sure everyone had a rollicking good time. Comedy is always essential to an entertaining show — whatever had happened to the LSAs sense of humour this year?
Moreover, the one theme that dominated the event throughout was the noxious nature of social media. Sarmad Khoosat and Faiza Saleem caustically recounted encounters with online trolls — again, how was this supposed to be funny? — before starting off a segment on ‘roasting’.
Time after time, stars came on stage to present awards and took a few moments to stress the importance of using social media responsibly and the importance of being kind. This is very relevant, especially considering how social media controversies can sometimes spiral out of control, but it was all very repetitive.
Thankfully, there were others who steered away from social media-related rants.
Asim Azhar’s speech on taking Pakistani music forward was heartfelt. Actress Yumna Zaidi, upon accepting her trophy for Best Actress in the Film category, said she was glad the LSAs had organised a ceremony this time and, along with thanking her family and co-workers, also acknowledged her country.
Many others wrapped up their winning speeches with ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ — patriotic sentiments were running high and rightfully so, given the difficulties faced throughout this year.
The red carpet fashion was possibly the best that one had seen at an awards ceremony in years. There were the usual suspects who made a beeline for blingy shaadi-wear, deciding that it would be just the thing for a glamorous awards ceremony. Rivalling these desi ‘goans’ (gowns) though, was some fabulous fashion.
Designers and stylists had visibly worked together to curate looks for many of the celebrities, and they simply razzled and dazzled. Designs by Hussain Rehar and Fahad Hussayn were particularly visible and easily made the best-dressed list. Ironically, neither of these designers was nominated for Best Fashion Brand. They still stood out as two of the most exciting names in the country’s fashion scene by simply dominating the red carpet, the lack of nominations notwithstanding.
So, the show fluctuated — but the LSAs flexed clout very well by virtue of the audience that had come. After all, as mentioned earlier, Pakistan’s entertainment and fashion industry isn’t represented by any other awards ceremony. People want to come. They want to cheer each other on. They want to bring home that silver statuette and proudly post pictures with it on social media.
As Zaidi subtly pointed out, it was great that a ceremony was planned this year. This shows that the LSAs need to stop skipping years, regardless of political issues or budgetary constraints. Having already wrapped up 24 award ceremonies, it’s high time they became consistent.
Fahad Mustafa, in his winning speech for Best Actor in a Drama category, declared, “This is the award for which I had started working many years ago… I have won four or five times already, and it still feels just as good!”
This emotional admission highlights how an LSA win is still considered special. But to retain this exalted status, the show’s format needs to be drastically improved. The shoddy attempts at high school comedy, particularly, need to exit and never return!
The inclusion of digital content creators was a welcome addition to the nominations but, overall, a more transparent nomination process should be considered. If nothing else, transparency would be an apt response to the many social media detractors who rant and question why the nominees, and later, the winners, are who they are.
The next LSA will be its 25th edition — a milestone. It has come a long way, but it can do so much better!
Ultimately, the 24th Lux Style Awards had their fair share of ups and downs. The ‘ups’ — which made one clap and scrutinise high fashion gowns on the red carpet and zoom in on the extensive coverage on social media — give one hope for next year. Let’s hope it’s a hope well-founded.
Originally published in Dawn, ICON, December 21st, 2025