Khamiso Khowaja
No other hero in Pakistan Would attain the fame that He Attained, He had all the abilities to be a Hero. He Changed the image of a hero in Pakistan, He can also be called the trendsetter in Lollywood, and that was none other than Waheed Murad. Chocolaty Hero Waheed Murad was born on 2 October 1938 in the house of film distributor Nisar Murad in Sialkot. After completing his M.A in English literature, He started his career as a producer of the Movie, “Insan Badalta Hai”. At that time nobody knew that young Waheed would earn country-wide fame and accolades as a hero . Though Waheed Started as a producer but on the advice of actress Zeba and Director Parvez Malik who was also Waheed,s cordial friend, he decided to appear as a hero, and his first movie as a hero was Aulad that was released in 1962. After that, he continued to appear in movies like Devar Bhabi and Heera Aur Pathar in lead roles. In 1966 Waheed teamed up With Parvez Malik and Masroor Anwer and produced a masterpiece movie “Armman ” that broke all records on box office and went on to become the first platinum jubilee film of Pakistan,s Film Industry. Songs Composed by Sohail Rana and Sung by Ahmed Rushdi- An eminent Voice of that era stole the show. Songs of the movie mainly Ko Ko Korina and Akele Na Jana are still popular The enchanting and charismatic personality of Waheed continued to dazzle Pakistanis during the decades of the 60s and 70s. He was also matchless in terms of picturizing songs. ” When we talk of Songs picturization, nobody could beat him, nobody could even come closer to him”; Said Javed Sheikh while talking to Duniya News a couple of Years Ago. The melodious voice of Ahmed Rushdi was tailor-made for him, Rushdi,s voice played an essential role in making him an iconic figure of Pakistan,s film industry. Renowned Music director Nisar Bazmi Said that; Even Dilip and Rafi struggled to create that allure which Rushdi and Waheed did, It can be said that they were made for each Other. I think After my demise I would be remembered just because of Rushdi,s magical voice and I want to be remembered for the Song “Bhuli Hui Hun Dastan Guzra Hua Khayal Hun”. Waheed shared these views in his last interview on PTV during the Silver Jubilee Show hosted by Anwer Maqsood. He acted in 125 Urdu and Punjabi Films and received Nigar awards for movies Arman, Heera Aur Pathar, Andeleeb, and Mastana Mahi. After 27 years of his death, he was conferred with Sitara-E-Imtiaz by the Government of Pakistan in 2011. Following a Sharp decline in his acting career, all his colleagues and friends including Actress Zeba, Film Director Parvez, and poet masroor Anwer parted their ways from him and that atmosphere of loneliness led to the untimely death of the megastar who was found dead in mysterious circumstances, in his room on 23 November 1983. He will be remembered for years to come for the charm he has left behind.
(-The writer is a Law Student and Columnist based in Sujawal.)
