Decades after films such as Armaan and Doraha were released, the debonair Waheed Murad remains a treat to watch. An exceptional actor who had a screen presence that his leading ladies envied, Lollywood’s quintessential chocolate hero died 26 years ago today.
The early death of this educated and talented actor and producer was one of the major blows to an industry that now lies gasping for air. Murad was born on October 2, 1938, in Karachi and news of his death on November 23, 1983, left many eyes brimming with tears.
He starred in 123 feature films and earned 32 awards for his unmatchable performances.
Whether Murad was making a smooth entry in Armaan singing Ko Ko Korina or flirting with Shabnam as he followed her (rather stylishly in a red convertible) crooning Kuch Log Rooth Kar Bhi, songs were an essential part of his image. To pick from his repertoire of immortal melodies is a difficult task.
Here, Dawn.com lists its top 10 favourite Waheed Murad hits. Let us know which one is your favourite?
Ko Ko Korina from Armaan (1966)
Akele Na Jana from Armaan
Jab Pyar Main Do Dil Miltey Hain from Armaan
Kuch Loag Rooth Kar Bhi from Andaleeb (1969)
Haan Isi Mod Par from Doraha (1967)
Bhooli Hui Hoon Dastaan from Doraha
Mujhe Tum Nazar Se from Doraha
Tumhain Kaisay Batadoon from Doraha
Ae Abre Karam Aaj Itna Baras from Naseeb Apna Apna (1970)
Dil Ko Jalana Hum Ne Chor Diya from Mohabbat Zindagi Hai (1975)
The following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Arman was my first movie in theater and the magic of waheed Murad was spell binding which lives todate.
He was a great romantic hero who was perhaps ahead of his time.
The only thing I wished for him when he was alive and not being offered films. He should have spared himself to venture into something else like film direction or production. Perhaps it is easier said than done, I don’t really understand why Salma (his wife) did not convince him to try something different to bring him out of situation which was swallowed him in deep depression. I wonder what his family and friends were doing when he needed them most.
P.S. and one master piece tastefully done in film ‘Anjuman’that did not find place in the list: Lag rahi hai mujhe aaj sari faza ajnabi, ajnabi…ajnabi.
Great actor.
Waheed Murad was a class of his own. I personlly think Mohd Ali was a great actor. His famous dialouge “Maa Maine BA pass kar liya hai” is immortal and frozen in time. I wish each and every Pakistani is atleast BA pass, then we would not have the present political mess.
It is absurd to talk about Taliban or any thing related to it when when you are paying tributes to a great actor. Some one has inferiority complex and lack candor in discussing the outstanding achievements of Waheed Murad in the film industry of Pakistan.
Waheed Murad was the greatest actor of sub-continent in the 20th century.
Waheed Murad was a great actor. It is sad and tragic for himself and the people who love him that he died very young.
I enjoy listening to famous songs of his movies. Youtube has refreshed our memories.
Waheed Murad, Ahmad Rushdi, Sohail Rana, and Pervez Malik were a good team. Most of the songs selected in the recent “Aaj Jane Ki Zid Naa Karo” show at Geo to honor Sohail Rana were from Waheed Murad’s movies.
May God Bless him and rest his soul in Jannat.
.
I am from Bangladesh living in the States. During the scintillating sixties, I like other Bangladeshis, grew up with those all-time Subcontinental GREATS in the area of entertainment. They are irreplaceable and irresistible. They continue to enthrall and fascinate even our new generation.
Who can possibly forget Rahman, Razzak, Nadeem, Bobita, Sabnam, Sabana (heroes and heroines), Mahmud Nabi, Jabbar, Alim, Runa, Sabina, Ferdousi (singers) from then East Pakistan,
Waheed Murad, Santosh, Darpan, Md. Ali, Zeba, Shamimara, Sabiha, Neelo (heroes and heroines), Rushdi, Mehdi Hasan, Salim Raja, Masud Rana, Noorjahan, Mala, Nahid Niazi, Najma Niazi (singers) from (West)Pakistan,
Uttam Kumar, Biswajit, Soumitra, Suchitra Sen, Sharmila, Mala Sinha, Sandhya Roy (heroes and heroines), Hemant Kumar, Shyamal Mitra, Manna Dey, Sandhya Mukherjee, Gita Dutt, Alpona (singers) from West Bengal in India,
Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand, Dharmendar, Shammi Kapoor, Madhubala, Mina Kumari, Waheeda Rahman, Saira Banu (heroes and heroines), Md. Rafi, Lata, Asha from India. They are simply unforgettable (and they are just a few names among many from that time).
While I love them all, for me and for great many others I know, Waheed Murad as the quintessential cosmopolitan hero, and Ahmed Rushdi as the versatile singer (the two are inseparable), come in the forefront.
May Allah bless all the departed souls!!
Good actor with great personality unfortunately indians have not seen much of him.
Hope to see some of his old movies in india any time.
Yon kho gaye tere pyar mein hum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TURmXGUnzQ&
Amazing song although this song looks like before even I was born but saw his songs alot on tv. Also its amazing when I see some digests and other newspapers etc from late 70 eras how progressive and open the society was, even PIA uniform. Looks like society was booming economy wise.
I think 1 rupee was = 1US$.
Film industry was better, people were tolerant, infrastructure was better. Went to missionary school was managed by Australians and Irish for 80 yrs but then they left in mid 80s never to come back again.
And now look what we have done to ourselves. We are going to stone age. Not even basic necessities are available whole country and whole infrastructure is falling apart and we are working on NRO list.
We always blame our leaders but they are from among us they truly represent our society. Sadly this is now what we are.
I left this country in late 90s and always hoped that I will return when things will become better but we are not even close to what we were in 90s forget about 70s
Thank you for publishing some thing other than politics, corruption or Pakistan bashing. This is after a long time I have read any article which highlights any thing positive about pakistan.
Don’t know about the Lollywood or Bollywood. Waheed Murad has been the greatest inspiration for me. He was born as an actor & true artist. His looks, delivery and style were unique and that is why he is considered as a legend. His love will live in the hearts of many fans. Thank you DAWN for this tribute to the one and only Chocolate hero ever. Our Murad.
I am very interested in talking with Mr. Enver who was a childhood friend of Waheed. I want to know the cause of Waheed’s early demise as well. I wonder if it was suicide or accidental over dose or just natural death; don’t know.
It appears that Waheed Murad became an alcoholic in mid to late seventies and was also addicted to sleeping pills “Mogadon”; he was also addicted to tobacco in pan leaf “qwam”.
Waheed certainly was a natural particularly in romance but he could not see himself being second to other actors. At one time in his career he was the most sought after actor and then within ten years a combination of bad luck and casting in stereotypical roles caused repeated failures. No body wanted to caste him; he was losing weight, his looks were changing and he looked dazed. Just compare his looks in Andaleeb to even in Dil ko jalana hum ney chor diya; he became very sick.
Any ways bottom line is to find out more about what was the cause of his death and certainly his personality in childhood could reflect as to how he reacted when he failed. I would really like to talk to Mr. Enver, please e-mail me at anadir786@aol.com
Nadir.
Unfortunatly we think that filmi actors are our heros, but we forget the actions of our last Prophet(P.B.U.H) and their principal companions(sahabahs).
Our dialagues should be according to Quran and sunnah instead of filmi.
Please adopt the life of our beloved Prophet(P.B.U.H) at any circumstances and every walk of life, because it is best for our this and next life.
Dear actor,
Do not bring sharukh khan in the picture, here the topic is af a great actor who everybody in Pakistan seems to love. Sharukh khan is the badest actor in india who rose to stardom, because of the choice of movies, luck and promotion.
In the present era in Indian hindi movie the best is Amir Khan.
We in India can hardly offer comments on Lollywood personalities as Lollywood is hardly known in India unlike the other way around
Yes, Without Waheed Murad it is not possible to complete Film Industry of Pakistan. I’ve found one greatest fan of Waheed Murad named as “Zeeshan Aslam” From Faisalabad. He has all collection of Waheed Murad Movies, Songs, Pictures and all other collections related to Waheed Murad. He also has has website chocolatehero.com which is fan website for Waheed Murad.
Good informational post, I really appreciate your work.
hi, good work. I really appreciate your work.
What did Lollywood or Pakistan learn from this great actor. Looks like Pakistanis like talibani hero’s more than people like Waheed Murad. In fact, I would say, there is a huge factor of Bollywood behind India’s growth. Current Indian bollywood is hugely inspired by golden years of Raj kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Md. Rafi, Kishor, Amitabh, Dharmendra etc which still reflects. That reflection helps a society in growing better.
One writer commented that “Stop this Talibans otherwise Mullas and long beard hero’s will pop up whenever you open a Tv or will go to theater ”
innovative idea Is taliban listening to this? LOL
Sorry but Shahrukh Khan is a bad actor too. He has one style and it is very fake. He is product of publicity. Notice, movie after movie he is talking with same facial gestures, dialogue after dialogue his face has the same emotion! There is no variety. Just one facial emotion. His voice too is almost uniform – everything about him seems fake.
Again sorry but Waheed Murad does not seem to have any variety nor strength of personality in his acting either.
Nice to read and know so much about a great personality but I agree with writer “actor’ quality of song, music and even singer singing the song are not what I expected (first time I am listening some true Pakistani music) but “Dil ko jalana “song is very good .Md. Rafi is a much better singer. Bade Gulam Ali, Noor Jahan, Abida Parveen, Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, all are way ahead of all .Did Waheed acted in any Indian movie? Yes Dilip saab is best actor of sub continent better then Amitabh or Shahrukh.
Please suggest me some good movies and song from Pakistan Thanks in advance.
After reading so many glowing tributes to Waheed Murad on the anniversary of his sad demise twenty over years ago, it’s rather hard to add something really substantive.
Like countless others, I also grew up watching Waheed’s movies. Those were really the days, I and my friends would make sure that we manage to watch the first show on the first day of the release of his movies. Now thinking of those days when I myself is in my late fifties make me very nostalgic.
His pairing with Zeba was above par. Some of his movies with Shamim Ara were equally good. The first movie of Waheed Murad I saw was Heera Aur Pathar and after that it was a norm for me to watch each one of his entertaining movies.
I still remember with fond memories many of his movies including Rishta Hay Piyar Ka, Devar Bhabhi, and Kaneez. The song Akailay Na Jana is still my all time favorite and I still watch it whenever I am nostalgic and wish to go down the memory lane.
Waheed Murad will always be remembered for his great histrionic contributions to Pak cinema.
Definitely possessing a powerful screen presence, Waheed Murad seemed far ahead of his contemporaries. In an era affected by “theater-type loudism”, he presented highly moving and captivating performances by use of subtle eye and facial expressions and soft dialogues. One of the best examples of this type of performance is in ‘Suraiyya Bhopali’ in ‘Naam Aaye na Tera pyar ki ruswai men’. That Waheed is well known in film circles all over is evident from a reference to him in the Hollywood flick “Agent Cody Banks”. The kind of passion and fervor that he inspired in his fans is difficult to imagine today. Even his ‘not so successful’ films were a treat to watch. See “Ehsaan”, “Jaal”, “Aahat” and “Sheeshay Ka Ghar” for instance. Waheed, like his name suggests was someone special and unique. Thank you Waheed Murad for enriching us with your sterling and memorable performances. The world will continue to discover and cherish you through the works that you have left behind. May God rest your soul in peace.
The media channels may own our own chrismatic actor of by gone days Waheed Murad for their music programs entitled Tribute to Waheed Murad or quiz programs on the style of his singing. Waheed Murad was copied by many Indian actors why not our young generation actors adopt his hair style ? instead of making a small dome on their heads.
Most of Waheed’s movie were directed by Pervez Malik, Lyrics by Masroor Anwar, and music by Sohail Rana, they made up the team, and the movies were block busters, with beautiful songs, acting superb, gone are the glory days. May the departed souls rest in peace.