One of the most anticipated awards of the year, ‘Kashmir 7th HUM Awards presented by Kashmir Cooking Oil and Banaspati, brought to you by Cadbury Dairy Milk and Eighteen Residential Project, in association with BisconniChocolattowas held here today at NRG Arena, Houston acclaimed to be the biggest International Pakistani Awards to be attended by top celebrities of Pakistan.

The tone for the evening was set with the Red Carpet, which dazzled everyone with its amazing décor and the superstars and socialites gracing it,hosted by Ali Safina and Moomal Sheikh who kept the stars engaged throughout. The star-studded affair not only brought the bigwigs of the Pakistani entertainment industry under one roof but it also served as a great platform to showcase the true entertainment value that Pakistan offers.

The show opened with the American and Pakistani national anthems presented with oomph and   patriotism, the first accompanied by their traditional parade and the second featuring artists Kubra, Farhan, Urwa, Meekal, Mawra, Imran Ashraf and Reema among many others singing fervently along with kids dressed in the flag colours. The anthems were followed by a grand opening performance of Dil Se by Haroon Rasheed in which he got Bushra to also participate. Then HUM’s showreel 2018 was shown after which the Pakistani ambassador, Erwin Missanga, president HUM Network Sultana Siddiqui and CEO HUM Netwok, Duraid Qureshi came on stage to address the audience. A riveting performance on Tu Turu Tara Tara by Ali Rehman and Meekal Zulfiqar, the first set of hosts for the evening,marked their grand entry. They announced the first award category — of Best Soap –to be presented by Shahzad Sheikh and Kubra Khan. The award went to Sanwari for its amazing story and performances, and was received by Mahesh. Best Actor Female – Soap, was presented by Sarah Khan and COO Samsol, Fauzi Saleem and went to Zainab Ahmed for her role in Maan Sadqay. It was received by Adnan Siddiqui on her behalf. Best Actor Male Soap, a category sponsored by Bank Alfalah and presented by Muneeb Butt and Hina Dilpazeer went to Usama Khan, for Sanwari. Best Childstar and Best Telefilm presented by Nadia Afghan and Ali Safeena went to Sami Khan and Is Dil Ki Aisi Ki Tesi by MD Productions, respectively.

A riveting performance by Azan Sami Khan and Hania Amir on a medley of vintage Pakistani film songs that had the entire audience singing with the duo, and going wild when Azan came down the stage to dance with Reema sitting in the audience, followed.

The next segment’s hosts comprising Meekal Zulfiqar and Sanam Jung took over. For the Best New Sensation Television Female and Male awards, Yasir Hussain and Iqra Aziz were invited to announce the winners, which went out to Alizeh for Ishq Tamasha received by Saife Hasan, and Usama Tahir for Dar SiJati Hai Sila, respectively. Adnan Siddiqui and Mawra Hoccaine presented the award for Best OST which went to Bandi by Moomal Entertainment and was received by Moomal Qureshi, while Kashmir Golden Plate Award, presented by the mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner and Mohammed Akbar Muggo of Kashmir Cooking Oil went to Sultana Siddiqui for her massive contributions to society.

Ahmed Ali Butt and Meekal Zulfiqar then took the mike and kept the audience in stitches with their comedy act with Butt impersonating as a mobile phone.

The next hosts of the evening were Ali Rehman and Ayesha Omer who made their striking entry on a song and then invited Duraid Qureshi to present the first awards of their segment, which were Recognition Award (films), which went out to Parwaz Hai Junoon and was received by MominaDuraid, and Best Actor Male and Female awards which went out to Hamza Ali Abbasi and HanyaAamir respectively. A trailer of a forthcoming film by HUM, Sacch, was also shown.

The next awards were for Best Actor in a Supporting role Female (serial) which went out to Nadia Afghan for Suno Chanda, presented by Yumna Zaidi and president Riceland, Mrs Tahir Javed, and Best Actor in a Supporting role Male which a tie and was awarded to Yasir Hussain for Bandi and Tipu Shah for Dar Si Jati Hai Sila, presented by ZebaBakhtiar and Dr. Mubashir Chaudhry.

The mega stars of Pakistani media industry Mehvish Hayat and Ahsan Khan then set the stage on fire, with the dancing crew in accompaniment. Their electrifying performance brought the house down.

The inimitable pair Ahmed Ali Butt and Bushra Ansari then came on as hosts for the next segment and invited Reema and Mr Tanveer Ahmed to present the award for Most Impactful Character in a Serial, which went to Noman Ejaz for his stunning performance in Dar Si Jati Hai Sila. Best Actor in a Negative Role also went to Noman Ejaz and was presented by senator Faisal Jawed and Moomal Shunaid. Momina Duraid and Javed Sheikh presented the next two awards – that of Best Writer Drama Serial and Best Director Drama Serial that went to Saima Akram Chaudhry for Suno Chanda and Kashif Nisar for Dar Si Jati Hai Sila, respectively.

Just before the next category of award – that of Lifetime Achievement – AsimAzhar took centerstage and did an electrifying performance on the legendary singer Alamgir’s songs after which he invited the maestro himself to the stage, to the delight of the unsuspecting audience, who gave him a standing ovation. Sultana Siddiqui, together with AsimAzhar presented this award to the indefatigable Alamgir who then sang. song live to the delight of the audience.

Ali Rehman and Meekal Zulfiqar, the next set of hosts of the evening invited Zahid Ahmed and Mohammed Ehteshamuddin to present the Best on Screen Couple (popular) award, sponsored by Candyland which went to Iqra Aziz and Farhan Saeed while Best Drama Serial (popular) award was presented by Noman Ejaz and Sabir Godil of Bisconni and went to Suno Chanda, received by Momina Duraid. Best Actor Female Drama Serial (popular), presented by Imran Ashraf and Tariq Hamdi of Eighteen went to Iqra Aziz for Suno Chanda while Best Actor Male Drama Serial (popular), presented by Urva Hoccaine and Uzair Adil of Eighteen went to Farhan Saeed for Suno Chanda.

Ahmed Ali Butt then came to interact with the audience in his comical style, again making them roll in their seats, after which the audience was treated to a mesmerizing performance by the queen of Sufi music, Abida Parveen, keeping everyone glued to their seats, in spite of the late hours.

The last set of hosts for the evening were Ahsan Khan and Sanam Jung. The jury award for Best On-Screen Couplewas presented by Hania Amir and Sohail Mateen of Sensodyne and went toIqra Aziz and Farhan Saeed while Best Drama Serial jury went to Dar Si Jatihai Sila, presented by Adnan Siddiqui and Shakeel Ahmed of Kashmir Cooking Oil. Best Actor Female Drama Serial jury was presented by Ayesha Omer and Ms Ehmareen Basit of Kashmir and went to Yumna for Dar Si Jatihai Sila while Best Actor Male Drama Serial Jury presented by Bushra Ansari and Mian Shahzad of Kashmir went to Noman Ejaz for Dar Si Jati Hai Sila bringing the thunderous night to a close.

It is to be noted that HUM AWARDS successfully went international to another continent for the first time in 2018 when it went to Toronto. Following the stupendous success of the last awards, this time the US was the destination for the first time.