Adil Najam
Was Waheed Murad was the very first ‘heart throb’ and ‘super star’ of Pakistan?
Cricketers Fazal Mahmood and Merry Max (Maqsood Ahmad) certainly had their groupies well before Waheed Murad, but they were ‘niche stars’.
The phenomenon called Waheed Murad took the country by storm – across class and across locations – and I would venture to say that certainly no film-star in Pakistan has had the sway over the public imagination that he had at his peak; for many, the myth reigns still.
The one movie star who was greater-than-life in somewhat similar dimensions (and more literally) was Sultan Rahi, but he too was defined by a niche constrained by language (Punjabi in his case), and to a large extent class.
These, of course, are subjective judgements. Do you think there were other ‘heart throbs’ of this stature before him? After him?
To me, the image of Waheed Murad is forever linked to such classic songs as ‘ko-ko-korina’ and ‘aakailey na jaana’ … or just about anything from the magic team of Waheed Murad and Ahmad Rushdi. Here is a little taste of vintage Waheed Murad, from the movie Ladla. The print quality is not very good and this is certainly not the best of Waheed Murad. However, it is representative of the Waheed-Rushdi genre.
Plus, I like the song, and I find the quaint ‘twist’ dance routine amusing. Indeed, the whole ambiance of the song is worth thinking about in terms of what was. Enjoy, ‘socha tha piyar na karain gay’.
As an added treat, here is another video clip of an old song. This is really much more about Madam (Noor Jahan, of course, see here) and about Shamim Ara (who, by the way, may be the most phenomenal of women in Pakistani film, having reigned the screen first as a top heroine and then as a top Producer and Director). Movie buffs, note also the ‘young’ Rangeela.. and his antics with Waheed Murad, who here is portraying his ‘chocolate’ mood: melow, sensitive, smooth, and silent. To me, at least, ‘abhi dhoond he rahi thi’ is a truly beautiful song; one from an era when Pakistani film music was at its best.
Wahed Murad is not an actor he is an institute,Pakistan film industry can never fill his gap .its indeed a fact that actors like him are born once . He was handsome ,smart, educated , romantic and what not , I believe we are not paying him real and due respect and acknowledgement , I was so sad on november 23 2007 when non of our channels showed his movie I think all Waheedz fanz should plan something on his death anniversary . plz
Pakistani English accent gives me chuckles — specially when the people of Punjab are trying to explain something in Pinglish :) — In Pinglish, Bed is Bad, Belt is Balt, Antenna is Anteena, Adobe is Adob not Adobee — just a few for your eyes only.
I have seen some Pakistani TV shows recently and this great humor ran across my mind :
An English-speaking guy is watching a Pakistani TV Show — the host goes “Ok, viewers we will take you to sets of this new upcoming series “Hotel Guests” — so let’s go — the viewer adjusts himslef in the seat or maybe gets closer to the TV set — but the next moment the host says “achha to aap batayen ke aapko acting kerne ka kub se shauq tha?” — he catches the word “acting” but then it is all Urdu — he sits back and waits for more English words to understand what’s going on :)
In a nutshell, when people talk it seems and sounds so funny because tehy can’t decide which language should they bank on — what I have observed people who speak English so well try to speak good Urdu as well and try avoid plugging in or embedd some really common English words like “Actually” — “Obviosly” — “Well said” — “Awareness” — etc.
My 2 cents for this site :)
hello
my name is abid sultan. i like this acter because his personality and acting was perfect. and he done his work very well. i was not see this kind of accter and not will be in th fucture.
Yes, most definitely. Nobody can surpass the fame and glory he received in his hey days. It has been almost 24 years since he died, unbelievable, but he is still alive in our hearts, and will be. He left a lasting impression which will never fade…
We miss you :(
Waheed Murad was a great actor and it is unfortunate that he died in his forties. However,his name will live for ever in the film
industry of Pakistan. I have seen many of his
movies but Arman, Kaneez and Hera & Pathar wer
the best.
Waqas