Waheed Murad

Waheed Murad (Urdu: Vahid Morad; 2 October 1938 - 23 November 1983), also known as Chocolate Hero, [4] was a Pakistani film actor, producer and screenwriter. [5] [6] Murad has influenced the film industry in the subcontinent. [7] [8] Born in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan, he graduated from the S.M. Arts College Karachi, and then earned a masters in English literature from the University of Karachi. [1] He started his film career in a cameo in 1959 in the movie Saathi when he was 21 years old. One of his films, Armaan, which was produced by him, was a great success. [9] He performed in 125 feature films and earned 32 film awards. [10] In November 2010, 27 years after his death, the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari awarded him the Sitara-e-Imtiaz, the third highest honor and civilian award by the State of Pakistan, given in the fields of literature, arts, sports, medicine , or science Early life Murad was an only child. His mother was Shireen Murad, and his father was Nisar Murad, a film distributor. He did graduation from S.M. Arts College, Karachi, and then masters in English literature from the University of Karachi Film career Waheed Murad started his film career by joining his father's established 'Film Art' in 1961 as producer of the film Insaan badalta hai. [16] In his second film as producer Jab se dakha hai tumhein he cast Darpan with Zeba as heroine. Afterwards, Darpan most of the time started coming late at the studio. Zeba suggested Waheed to cast himself as a hero in his next film. Waheed was not ready to sign himself in his own movies. But when the same suggestion came from his old good friend Pervaiz Malik, he accepted it on the condition that if Zeba would be his co-star, Zeba accepted in return (according to Zeba). As a result, he first appeared in a supporting role in 1962's Aulad. The film was directed by his friend S.M. Yousuf. Aulad got much more acclaims from critics, and it also got the Nigar award in the best film's category for the year. Heera aur pathar was his first movie as a leading actor. He got the Nigar award in the best actor category for the same film. In 1966, he produced and produced in Armaan. The film broke all the box office records at that time and completed 75 weeks in theaters. The film was sung by Ahmed Rushdi. Murad received two Nigar awards for the categories best producer and best actor for the film. In 1967, he appeared as the leading actor in films like Devar bhabi, Doraha, Insaaniyat and Maan baap. From 1964 to 1968, Murad and Pervaiz Malik made Heera Aur Pathar, Armaan, Ehsaan, Doraha and Jahan tum wahan hum. The combination of Waheed Murad, Pervaiz Malik, Masroor Anwar, Sohail Rana, Ahmed Rushdi and Zeba created a number of films. Waheed Murad brought Malik, Anwar and Rana under the umbrella of 'Film Arts'. Film Arts broke up and Pervaiz Malik started creating his own projects with new actors. A total of seven films, including two films, Usey dekha usey chaha and Dushman released after a long gap of 6 years in 1974, were produced with the combination of Waheed and Pervaiz (but not under 'Film Art' Production). In 1969, Waheed produced, wrote and directed the movie Ishaara. It was released in 1969. Other co-stars included Shabnam, Aliya, Talish and Mustafa Qureshi. [2] Murad received a Nigar award in the best actor category for the film. In his 25-year career, Murad paired with many actresses like Zeba, Shamim Ara, Rani, Naghma, Aaliya, Sangeeta, Kaveeta, Aasia, Shabnam, Deeba, Babra Sharif, Rukhsana, Bahar and Neelo. He performed in a total of 124 films (two were released after his death), of which 38 were black and white and 86 were in color. He also appeared in six films as a guest star including his first and shortest appearance in 1959's Saathi. He acted in 115 Urdu films, 8 Punjabi films and 1 Pushto film, and earned 32 film awards including those for best producer and for best actor. Film Art productions Murad produced eleven films under his father's company Film Art. He was the youngest film producer in the industry at that time. Most of his produced films were either Golden Jubilee or Silver Jubilee. During the 1960s and early 1970s, he produced films such as Insaan badalta hai (1961) (his first film as producer), Armaan (1966), Ehsaan (1967), Naseeb apna apna (1970) and Mastana mahi (Punjabi film of 1971). . However, after Mastana Mahi he produced no film except Hero which was produced in the 1980s and was released after his death. As director, he had directed as well as produced Ishaara (1969) with co-star Deeba Later life By the late 1970s, Waheed was being cast in supporting roles either with Nadeem or with Mohammad Ali. Most of the leading heroines like Zeba, Shabnam and Nisho were not allowed to play lead roles with Waheed by their husbands. Pervaiz Malik wrote in a local newspaper: "Not even once during that time [did] Waheed come to me seeking work in my films. Waheed was becoming depressed. His close friends revealed that he was becoming addicted to alcohol, oral toba Last days and death Waheed's son Aadil was in Karachi staying with his grandmother. A day before his face surgery, Waheed celebrated his son's birthday. He bought several gifts for Aadil and wished him a happy year. He returned late to spend the night at Anita Ayub's mother Mumtaz Ayub's home. When Waheed did not wake up until late, the door had to be forced open and Waheed was found lying on the floor, dead for several hours. A paan leaf with an unidentified substance in it was found in his mouth. It is not clear if the cause of death was a heart attack or suicide. [2] [18] Waheed was buried near his father's grave in Gulberg Graveyard in Lahore. Personal life Murad married Salma, the daughter of an Karachi-based industrialist, on 17 September 1964. [19] [20] They had two daughters, Aaliya and Sadia, and one son, (Adil). Sadia died in infancy. Awards Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Waheed Murad On 2 October 2019, Google celebrated Murad's 81st birthday with a doodle on its homepage for Pakistan