LAHORE: The friends and colleagues of Qavi Khan shared their memories with him here on Monday.

The actor had died in Canada on Sunday after a protracted illness. Theatre and TV actor Sohail Ahmad while commenting on Qavi Khan’s death termed the late actor a father figure for him.

“I don’t see any other artist of his caliber now. He was my mentor and a fatherly figure for me.”

Sohail said Qavi was not only the best artist of the country but the best human being too, and the people from all age groups had a liking for him. Remembering the era of the 1990s, he said Qavi Khan had quit theatre but on his (Sohail’s) request, he performed in a play directed by him.

“When I made a request to him, Khan Sahib was kind enough to agree to be a part of my production.”

Sohail said he later did many theatre plays with the late actor, including Double Sawari and Bara Maza Ayega–two major theatre productions of those times. He added that he did many television plays with Qavi Khan such as Fishaar, Din and Susar-in-Law to name a few. “As an actor he was extremely professional and punctual.”

Sohail Ahmad said Qavi Khan had left for Canada where his family was settled as he was diagnosed with liver cancer.

“I visited him in a hospital in Canada also to inquire after him.” He said it was hard to find any other actor of his caliber now.

Veteran actor Khalid Abbas Dar termed Qavi the gem of an artiste and an equally good human being.

“I joined theatre at the Lahore Arts Council in 1958 and Qavi Khan joined it in 1960. Since the beginning, he had immense talent, his two performances, one in the film, Bahu Rani, and other in PTV play Mirza Ghalib were par excellence. I had distributed sweets among our fellow actors on both these performances.”

Dar said he and Qavi Khan did an AIDs awareness project and did 147 theatre performances all over Pakistan. “Qavi Khan was a brand and a complete actor,” he added.

Actor Aurangzaib Leghari said Qavi Khan was a challenging actor who had an obsession for acting. He was an institution within himself.

Qavi was born in Badaun, India on Nov 13, 1942. His father was in the British Army. The family migrated to Pakistan in 1947 by train and reached Khokropar, Sindh. Later, they moved to Peshawar and started living opposite Masjid Mahabat Khan.

Khan got admission to Govt High School No-2 in Peshawar. Radio artiste Sheikh Sharif who lived nearby gave Khan an chance to take part in a children programme, Nanay Mian. Khan did matriculation from Govt High School No-4. He used to visit his brother-in-law’s Capital Cinema where he learnt film projection. In 1956, he took admission to Edwardes College but left his studies in third year. He joined the Grindlays Bank as the front desk officer. A craving for acting compelled Khan to move to Lahore, the center of all film and theatre. On his request, the bank transferred him to Lahore.

In 1961 at Alhamra, Shoaib Hashmi cast him in a play Dagha Baz, written by Dr Envar Sajjad and directed by Kamal Ahmed Rizvi. Later, he was offered another play ‘Aap Ki Tareef’ written and directed by Naeem Tahir. In 1964, he got a chance from director Diljit Mirza to work in the movie Riwaj. In 1971, he started producing films and Mr Buddhu was his first production. He produced 13 films and acted in about 200 films.

Khan’s television career started in 1964. Fazal Kamal, the first head of the PTV cast him in the first ever TV play ‘Nazrana’ as the male lead opposite Kanwal Naseer. The play went on air live because there was no recording system. During his acting career, Qavi worked in over 1,000 plays of the PTV and did a variety of roles. His most famous one was the role of the police officer in Andhera Ujala.

Qavi was laid to rest in Canada. He left behind two sons, two daughters and a widow.

Published in Dawn, March 7th, 2023