S.M. Yousuf with Zeba

Amongst those film makers who resurrected social values through their positive exposure on the silver screen, the name of S.M. Yousuf will remain amongst the top ten Muslim directors in the sub continent. He not only concentrated on eastern values and their positive aspects, but also highlighted the role of women in society. S.M. Yousuf’s concept of change in society was that if you can keep your house in order, your country would prosper in the same way. His famous Pakistani hit, Aashiana is the embodiment of the principle where a good wife, played magnificently by Zeba, changes the whole face of the family, and infuses a new spirit amidst the routine life of the girls in the household. Hence, the Aashiana is saved and set right by a well bred and well educated, middle class bahu. This was the picture that typifies S. M. Yousuf’s style. He literally brought forth the metaphor of Naik Parveen in the way it was used in the proverbs.

The reason our films are suffering is that we have no idea what such social reformers of the screen accomplished. When middle class values were uppermost in society, both Indian and Pakistani social films made tremendous mark. People like S.M. Yousuf are not present in the studios anymore, because they were discouraged by the growing violence in Pakistani films.

S. M. Yousuf began his career as an actor, and it was found very early that he had the capability of piloting the ship out of stormy waters. Bharat Ka Lal was his first film as director, which was released in 1936. After that, he made Darban, Aaina, Naik Parveen, Devar, Girhasti, Mehndi and others. This list tells you that he concentrated mainly on family entertainment. But, he made films on other subjects too; like Gumashta, Daulat, Rangila Mazdoor, Kahan Hai Manzil Teri, Haiderabad Kee Nazneen, etc. S. M. Yousuf married the famous actress, Nigar Sultana, and remained in India till the 1960s. When he came to Pakistan, he repeated the title of his earlier film, Saheli, and his very first film was a super hit. It was a remake of his Indian film, Mehndi but proved to be a lovely film and was discussed for many years after its release. Not only for its story but also for its superb performances by Darpan, Talish, Aslam Parvez, Nayyar Sultana and Shamim Ara, all of whom got Nigar Awards, and its ear candy music by A. Hameed, which included the all time hit, Hum bhool gaey har baat, sung by Naseem Begum. Saheli was Aslam Parvez’s first film as a villain, and Talish played a brilliant character role to get a President’s Award. The film itself was given a President’s Award, while the director, S. M. Yousuf, also got a Nigar Award. Saheli was as nearly a perfect film as any that has been made in Pakistan, with every artiste fitting perfectly in the role.

His next film was Aulad, in 1962, again a big hit. Nayyar Sultana was paired with Habib this time, and Waheed Murad made his debut in Aulad. Waheed remained the biggest contribution of S. M. Yousuf. With him, the whole Pakistani screen was changed. A. Hameed again composed glorious tunes for the film, and got applause for them. S. M. Yousuf got another Nigar Award for Aulad, while Nayyar Sultana also got a Nigar for her performance. S.M. Yousuf made thirteen films in Pakistan, the names of which are Saheli, Aulad, Dulhan, Aashiana, Eid Mubarak, Honehar, Suhagan, Sharik e Hayat, Bahu Rani, Zindagi Aik Safer Hai, Haar Gaya Insan, Naik Parveen and Goonj Uthi Shehnai. Film Bahu Rani was a remake of his Indian film, Gumashta, while Naik Parveen was remade by the same title here too. You can judge the caliber of S. M. Yousuf by most of his early films, amongst which Eid Mubarak and Aashiana stand out. He also got a Nigar Award for Aashiana. With standards falling after the early 1970s, and as action films took over, S.M. Yousuf’s standards also deteriorated, and it’s obvious that his son, Iqbal Yousuf, specialized in western style – mafia oriented movies.

In his later days, he settled in Canada. He returned to Pakistan for a few days in 1994, but it was his destiny to die in his motherland. He left for the eternal abode on 17th August, 1994.

S. Suleman

A lot of cine-goers might be oblivious to the fact that S. Suleman began his film career, before partition, as an actor (child star) in a film called Doosri Shadi. The movie was directed by Ram Aryani. In 1948, the director-to-be played a very vital role of young Dilip Kumar in the famous flick Mela. A couple of years subsequent to the partition, S. Suleman, along with his illustrious brothers, film icons, Santosh Kumar and Darpan, migrated to the newly incepted Pakistan. Here, the first film that Suleman sahib directed was the famous period drama, Gulfam released in 1961. To date, the movie is reckoned to be one of the finest pieces of filmmaking in Pakistan. However, later on, the master director’s reputation turned into someone who made movies based on strong social messages. For instance, apart from Gulfam, Suleman’s most talked about film falls into the category of a romantic social and had Darpan, Nayyar Sultana, Emmy Minwalla and Zeba as chief protagonists. According to the exegetes of cinema, Baji drew more females into cinema than men owing to its strong social romantic premise.

Lori enjoyed more or less the same reputation. Mohammed Ali, Zeba Santosh and Saloni starred in this great biopic.

Having made films like Baji and Lori, S Suleman didn’t want to be pigeonholed. He tried his hand at being eclectic. And Shararat is an ample testimony to that. The film was a rib-tickling treat that brought the cinema houses down with laughters. Legendary comedian Munawwar Zarif was particularly brilliant in Shararat.

In his career, Suleman sahib was responsible for some 45 films, most of which were huge box office successes. Some of them are: Baji, Pia Milan Ki Aas, Tangey Wali, Tasveer, Mehndi Walay Haath (Punjabi), Aag, Tamasha, Zeenat, Jaisey Jantey Nahin, Be Wafa, Lori, Teri Soorat Meri Aankhain, Sabaq, Tera Gham Rahey Salamat, Baharon Ki Manzil, Gumrah, Shararat, Aaj Aur Kal, Talaq and Insaniyat. Baji fetched 5 Nigar Awards, a mammoth feat.

The last film that the great craftsman directed was Very Good Dunia, Very Bad Loag (1997), which didn’t fare well at the box office. Lately, S Suleman has been directing drama serials and soap operas for different television channels. And going by his talent and record, his TV projects are also bound to make an impact.

Agha G.A. Gul, one of the pioneers of cinema in Pakistan and the owner of the Evernew Studios.

Amongst the families, which have worked diligently at keeping the film industry on consistent ground, the Gul family must rate the topmost in any event. Agha G. A. Gul, the true mentor and doyen of the industry, stands towering over others of his ilk in the community. He is regarded the most vital pillar of the industry. Amongst those who gave our cinema early spectacles to make it count amidst the fraternity of film making nations, Agha G A Gul remains one of the light towers, along with Shukat Hussain Rizvi, Anwar Kamal Ahmed Pasha and W. Z. Ahmad. But, he stands alone as the pioneer and provider of film making facilities, as he laid the foundations of the Evernew Studios, which injected the real lifeblood of creative endeavors in our cinema. In the true sense of the word, Agha G A Gul was the person with the golden initiative.

This assertion, apart from his studio, is that many top films of the early days were produced by Agha Sahab. His first film was Mundri, in 1949 which was directed by Daud

Chand. Mundri was the first Punjabi film for the famous Indian comedian, Charlie while Ilyas Kashmiri and Raagni were the leading artists in it. Baba Chishti gave its music, and it was released at the Plaza Cinema in Karachi. Later, he produced such notable films from his own Evernew pictures, as Dulla Bhatti, Lakht e-Jigar Naghma-e-Dil, Ik Tera Sahara, Payal Kee Jhankar, Qaidi etc, in the early period of our cinema. His other films include Dachi, Mehboob, Azra, Gumnam, Qatil, Shabab, Baghi Sardar, Jan e-Aarzoo, Salam e Mohabbat, Najma and Naela.

Agha Jee’s special care for his productions made his films worth treasuring. The same is the case with his two sons, Sajjad Gul, whom you can see in the above family frame, and Shehzad Gul. In films like Azra and Naghma-e-Dil, which were basically costume films, he always kept the element of tasteful gloss and grandeur according to the caliber of the period. Similarly, in Ik Tera Sahara and Payal Kee Jhankar, both with Darpan as the hero, he emphasized the glamorous sensuality, which was coupled with brilliant music by Rasheed Attre. Like other music lovers, he was also a great fan of the brilliant musician, Attre, and he has given marvelous music in his films. Another film with Darpan and Shamim Ara was Qaidi, which proved the credentials of Rasheed Attre with superb music. Attre produced a superb tune for what was known as free verse, by Faiz Ahmed Faiz, titled Mujh se pehli see mohabbat, both stanzas of which are intrinsically different from each other, as far as the mood of the poetry is concerned. Agha Jee was very particular about musical excellence along with the production values. Apart from Rasheed Attre, he also employed the brilliant talent of Master Inayat in his films, two of which are Naela and Jan e Arzoo, which had many hits. In Naela, specially, not a single song was left out from the hit list.

Agha Jee seemed to have been a great admirer Shamim Ara’s talent and her finesse that she carried in a period that was influenced by Vijayantimala, Waheeda Rehman and Nutan. Most of his Urdu productions had Shamim Ara, and she definitely made her name from such films as Naela, the first totally colored film of Pakistan. Shamim Ara was known for her beautiful ghararas and shararas, her impeccable manners and her beautiful Urdu pronunciation which is still something to follow for the young heroines of today. Agha Sahab was a true believer in family movies, and he felt that Shamim Ara had the class and style that appealed to the gentry. She worked in a lot of films with him, including Qaidi, Naela, Jan e Aarzoo, Ik Tera Sahara, Mehboob etc. It was due to his films that the pair of Darpan and Shamim Ara was established and flourished, later.

Naela remains a trendsetter movie, and make you wonder why nobody else tried the triangle of Darpan, Shamim Ara and Santosh, after Naela was such a hit. In fact, in the entire career of Santosh and Darpan, they never crossed paths in a film other than Naela. It was little surprising, since it would have been even commercially a viable proposition had they appeared in more such triangles. So, goes to the credit of Agha G. A. Gul that he made them work together in his film, which is not only beautiful hit, but also with every production value in perfect order, including styling, dressing, furniture, gloss and acting.