KARACHI: Majid Jahangir, who died in Lahore in the wee hours of Wednesday after hurting his spine a few weeks back and was also battling a respiratory disease, was a brilliant comedian. The epithet ‘brilliant’ is often used for artists, writers and sportsmen with varying degrees of conviction. But Jahangir was truly an exceptional actor when it came to playing comedic roles — the history of Pakistani pop culture cannot be written in entirety without mentioning his accomplishments.

A number of sketches from the iconic television show Fifty Fifty that hit the airwaves in the 1980s in which he played multiple parts are a testimony to his ‘brilliance’.

Jahangir had the ability to turn the plainest of scripts into a laughter-inducing piece of writing through his uncanny timing and clean-as-a-whistle delivery of lines.

Jahangir’s body brought to Karachi from Lahore, where he was under treatment

They say in acting, it’s the eyes that first express an emotion, followed by the face and then the rest of the body. Any bit that he performed on Fifty Fifty and then later on any other show (though he wasn’t seen in many programmes) you could see a sparkle of mischief in his eyes which would be ably complemented by the way he exchanged lines with his fellow actors.

An example is the famous skit in which he’s playing a shopkeeper who’s just received lashes as punishment. The song that he sings to kick off the four to five-minute piece ‘Rote hain chham chham nain’ is a fine example of his ability to express humour and satire-laden emotion without sounding humorous or satirical.

Jahangir was able to have an immediate and profound effect on the viewer for one more reason: he was an extraordinary mimic. He could impersonate known individuals and speak, perfectly, in several accents spoken in the subcontinent — Punjabi, Dilli wala, Hyderabadi, Bihari etc. One of the regular items on Fifty Fifty was his duo act with Ismail Tara in which both played Bihari characters whose zany commentaries on their personal lives would actually be their observations on what was happening in society.

The actor could sing as well. This is not to suggest that he could belt out a song as per instruction of the director of the show. No. His pitching while singing wouldn’t be dodgy. So whenever he essayed a character from a film lip-synching a song, he’d actually look the part.

Post-Fifty Fifty period, Jahangir left for the US for greener pastures. His return to Pakistan suggested that things didn’t work out for him the way he had expected. However, his comeback to homeland didn’t bear any fruit, either. The showbiz scene, and perhaps the fraternity, had changed. Acting jobs were few and far between. His last few years, in particular, were pretty difficult.

According Jahangir’s son Fahad, Jahangir was 74 years of age at the time of his death. He leaves behind his wife, two sons and two daughters.

Talking to Dawn, Fahad said he’s to leave for Karachi at 5pm from Lahore (on Wednesday) and intended to bury his father’s body the same evening.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2023