The Good, the Bad and the Weird at the Magnum Chocolate Party 2016

Dali and the Chocolate Factory

Inspired by Salvador Dali, the wackiest party of the season brought chocolate, art, dance and fashion together to create a night of ‘surrealism’. The name Magnum is synonymous with indulgence, intrigue and pleasure, and all three were evident as soon as I arrived at the ‘chocolate carpet’ after walking through a woman’s dress that would have been right at home in Willy Wonka’s factory. The Surrealism Movement that began in the early 1900s had to do with illogical, strange representations of the mind and also with unleashing one’s imagination through the mediums of art, literature and music. I saw all these meanings insinuated in the elements of the party, doing complete justice to the theme of the night.

Overall, I had a nice experience watching the fashion sequences that depicted the theme well and brought a fusion of Dali and chocolate to life on the runway. It was a cozy affair with various film and TV stars scintillating in snug lounges along with the audience. The music, however, was somber and not very characteristic of a party. A party is supposed to bring people to the dance floor so the name of the event was pretty illogical to start with – The Magnum Show would probably have been better?

While there was much to give one’s eyes a jolt of varying degrees at the party, some people/features stood out more than the rest. Here are the 10 wackiest things about the party.

1. THIS!

The now infamous chocolate covered man bathing in a chocolate tub is the talk of the town. Well, surrealism is about dreams, and perhaps crazy nightmares too – at least that’s what this tub suggests!

2. Zara Peerzada’s outfit 

The ‘brown carpet’ host for the night looked beautiful indeed in black and gold  - the jacket with puffed up shoulders and heavy sequins embellishment definitely stood out from the other mainstream (and mostly boring) red carpet dresses. The velvety jacket, however, was more of a flamboyant rock star number than something to be worn to a party.

3. The lavishly indulgent chocolate bar

If there’s anything that can excite me more than fashion, it’s food, that too made of chocolate. The brown sculptures and the spread of yummy chocolate goodies were the highlights that remain closest to my heart. Confessions of a chocoholic! But the chocolate inspired face is my favorite in the display, featuring Dali’s melting clock and a starfish inspired by his famous starfish portrait.

4. Ali Xeeshan and his rooster

Now, we all know that Ali Xeeshan loves his headgears and is known for his eccentric dressing style. But this fashion statement was one like never before! The life size rooster on his head and an egg resting on his shoulder were as bizarre as it could get. Plus, the fact that a rooster does not have the biological instruments required to lay an egg was perhaps another manifestation of surrealism. 

5.Live art installations

If the Surrealism movement was about letting your imagination run wild, unhalted, then these installations by Wahab Shah did complete justice to the theme. For an art-illiterate person like me, these just went way over my head. But the sparkles, the pipes that looked chocolate coated and the bird cages used to create a dresses were admittedly pretty fascinating.

6. The Human Wall

Made up of ten people, was one of the more interesting features of art that caught the eye of many. A little more eerie than artsy for my taste but creative enough to demand attention. 

7. Amina sheikh’s shoes

Honestly, I am still suffering from withdrawal after Pakeeza’s last episode and Amina Shiekh is one of my favorite actresses, but this red carpet dress is kinda beyond me. The pink army print shirt with a silver blingy skirt, paired up with YELLOW shoes? Am I too lame to understand this fashion collaboration or are you also wondering how it makes sense? Face-wise, she looks beyond beautiful though.

8. Nomi Ansari’s tie

Totally apt for a party, Nomi Ansari’s Honeycomb EMIRATES HEX tie sparkled to bring just the right amount of glitz and glam to his look. The acrylic tie was super quirky, so different and I love it. Don’t miss those leopard print loafers with tassels!

9. Ali Zafar’s Painting

His act took him back to where he started from and me to my teenage years when I used to ogle at him while he made live portraits at PC. The most enthralling part of his act was the portrait he made onstage using chocolate!

10. Nilofur Shahid's collection

My favorite collection has got to be the one by the magnificent couturier Nilofur Shahid, inspired more by Dali than by chocolate. Nadia Hussain’s look was a representation of Dali’s painting, The Face of War, while Fauzia Aman’s dreamy sky blue dress was a depiction of his Meditative Rose. How cool is that Maleficent-inspired bejeweled headgear on Nadia Hussain and that larger than life pink rose adorning Fauzia Aman is simply gorgeous.

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This was published in TGIF Magazine, The Daily Times.