Adil Najam

Although I have always found Umar Sharif’s comedy to be socialy poignant, hard-hitting, and often hilarious, I must confess that I was not a great Umar Sharif fan growing up. This was largely an age and timing thing. But it is quite clear that there has been no stage comedy phenomenon in Pakistan like Umar Sharif either before or after him.

Although he has now taken on a broader – even sub-continental – canvas, his early work was very rooted in the Pakistan mega-city culture; especially Karachi and Lahore.ÂÂ His ‘burger’ kid routine really went home on the social and economic apartheid that still tears at our society. Sometimes the pungency of his jugaat masks the craftsmanship of his theatrical performance, but to me there are very few who command the ‘stage’ presence that he does, particularly in the stage play. Indeed, he was to stage comedy in Pakistan was Fifty-Fifty (and here) was to television comedy.

Adil Najam

I was thinking of making this an ATP Quiz, but that would be wrong because I really do not know the answer to this. So, the headline here is an honest question. Any takes?

My own guess – based just on the idiom of the quotation – is that he did not. Although he may well have thought this, or even said something quite similar.

My first thought on seeing this was to think of the comments made on this site; and those not made. But since I have recently written about those frustrations, let me not do so again. Suffice to say, whether Iqbal said this or not, its a thought worth sharing.

Guest Post by Awab Alvi (Teeth Maestro)

DAWN columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee (Feb 18, Feb. 25, Mar. 4) has recently taken up the very controversial issue of Kidney Hill, Karachi, in his recent columns and has been highlighting the battle for Kidney Hill, which has brought at odds the greed of land grabbing developers and money hungry local government and the citizens of Karachi.

Kidney Hill is a 62-acre park between Karsaz Road and Shaheed-e-Millat. It is officially designated a park but has been within the cross hairs of the land developers for sometime including those individuals who will benefit by a healthy lubrication of wealth once this area becomes developable.