PSL V Opening Ceremony: The Good(ish), the Bad and the Ugly

What did we just see?

PSL V inaugurated in Karachi last night with an opening ceremony so disastrous and full of blunders, that we’re still in awe of what we have witnessed. From pathetic lip syncing to serious lighting and coordination issues, the ceremony is one that will be remembered forever, but not for the right reasons.

Let’s start with the somewhat good. National Stadium in Karachi looked absolutely breathtaking. It’s structural integrity was on full display and we are proud of having a cricket stadium of this calibre in Pakistan.

The AR at the beginning of the ceremony, telling the story of how PSL came to be and how all the teams formed was a nice idea that wasn’t executed too well. The quality of the animation and the less than ideal voice of the Murghabi, as well as the glitches in the animation are places that needed much improvement. The animation required many, many more test runs before it was ready to be aired to a live audience at home.

Abrar Ul Haq’s performance was the much needed breath of fresh air that was provided during an everlasting list of mundane and absolutely dead performances. He is the ONLY artist who looked excited to be there and tried to rile up the crowd with his dance moves and his climbing onto the back of a convertible rickshaw and making a round of the stadium. AND he lip synced CORRECTLY.

https://twitter.com/ok_Saadi/status/1230514288344915970

The bad. Let’s start with the director of the show. Indian director, Shubra Bhardwaj ,was paid a fortune by the PCB for the opening ceremony and this decision did not pay off, for obvious reasons. At a time like this, when tensions between the two countries are at an all time high and we are trying to promote Pakistani talent in all fields of life, a Pakistani director not only would have done a much, much better job, but would also restore faith in locals that their talent would be given a platform of this size. Bad move, PCB.

Let’s not forget Ahmed Godil, the ‘VJ’ who was hosting the beginning of the ceremony and who has now become an overnight meme. Here are some of our favourites:

https://twitter.com/ShamaJunejo/status/1230613884400218113

 

 

While we have no personal vendetta against Godil, the criticism he is receiving for his literal job is deserved. It’s also on the organisers, who have given an amateur such a major role in such a huge event. The first person everyone would see and hear at the opening ceremony should have been someone who could make an impact, and not just an Imran Khan impersonator.

See Also

The most disappointing part of the entire night were the performers. From the dancers, to the bhangray walay, to our singers, it felt like everyone had been forced to be there. The bhangray wala were not even pretending to drum their drums and just stood there listlessly. And if they were in such bad shape, why did the camera continue to zoom in on them?

The dancers were uncoordinated and looked confused and lost. We don’t know whether it was the lack of practice or if something changed last minute but they were not up to par at all.

And our lovely singers. Apart from Abrar ul Haq, there was not one performance that made you want to get up on your feet and dance, every performance was listless and mundane. It’s understandable to an extent, that the singers were not singing live, but then at least put some effort into your lip syncing? The qawals were talking to each other while their voices were blaring out and the camerawork was so shoddy, all of this was aired for the entire nation to see. Aima Baig looked like she regretted being there, and the PSL anthem that was supposed to be performed by Ali Azmat, Asim Azhar, Arif Lohar and Haroon was botched so badly that Asim Azhar and Haroon’s part were cut completely!

According to an insider source, the event organisers themselves have no idea what happened and how everyone’s performance was cut down to half the time it was supposed to be. We hope a mystery of this epic of a proportion is solved ASAP and an apology is issued to the entire nation.

P.S the only thing we can categorise as ugly are the outfits the performers wore. Aima Baig looked like a sad disco ball and the rest weren’t much better.

Did you enjoy the ceremony? Or were you expecting much, much more? Sound off in the comments below.

 

 

View Comments (0)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Scroll To Top