Written by: Muhammad Suhayb
Posted on: January 05, 2023 | 
| 中文
Poster of Devar Bhabi
It was at a recently concluded Book Fair, that I got hold of the ‘reincarnated’ Filmi Alif Laila. Being one of my favorites, I was surprised to see it reprinted under the banner of ‘Zinda Kitabain’, the series famous for bringing long-forgotten books to life. Published in Nov 2022, Filmi Alif Laila is a collection of memoirs of renowned journalist-turned-filmmaker Ali Sufyan Afaqi (1933-2015), which were regularly published in ‘Sarguzasht Magazine’ between 1994 and 2015. The collection is as filmi as Alif Laila. Like a film, you will find elements of tragedy, comedy, suspense and action in it, while like Alif Laila, stories of yore are brought to light.
Ali Sufyan Afaqi
The need for the re-emergence of Volume One was described in the preface of the book. The three volumes that came between 2011 till 2018, were published from ‘incomplete’ material provided by the author, Ali Sufyan Afaqi. Atlantis Publishers managed to collect all the published articles from another source and decided on a re-launch. The recent edition has more information as compared to the previous books.
Born in 1933, Ali Sufyan Afaqi started out as a journalist soon after Partition. He was lucky to witness the growth of the Pakistan film industry, its remarkable rise and its eventual downfall. ‘Filmi Alif Laila’ takes you back in time with a trip to iconic places, informing you about the difficulties and challenges of the day, and introducing prominent personalities of the ’50s. Readers would be transported to the golden days of the Pakistani film industry within minutes of opening the book. Full of anecdotes, it would inform readers about Pakistani films. For a generation which is completely unaware of the works of ‘unsung heroes’, this book is the only answer.
Zeba Begum and Noor Jehan
When a Hollywood team of actors, directors arrived for the shooting of Stewart Granger-Ava Gardner starrer ‘Bhowani Junction’, the struggling industry picked up speed. The writer describes his meeting with the Hollywood Beauty Ava Gardner, and the professionalism of the director. He also wrote about his interactions with the legendary short-story writer Saadat Hasan Manto, who had a huge influence on the young journalist. The first catfight of the industry, the atmosphere in the film studios of the time, the scandals surrounding actors and actresses make the book an interesting read.
Stewart Granger and Ava Gardner in Bhowani Junction
The most interesting anecdote concerns the secret marriage of Noor Jehan and Ejaz Durrani. Before the star couple could make the news public, actor Himalayawala managed to see the pictures of the ceremony. He came to the studios and managed to break the news, in pre-electronic media days. Afaqi’s description of the Mall Road, Lakshmi Chowk, the use of tongas (horse-drawn carriage), and the block where film actors lived in Model Town, recreates the atmosphere of Lahore and its filmi world in the ‘50s. Afaqi, being at the centre of all events, created magic with his pen and brought life to the events that happened over 60 years ago.
Noor Jehan and Ejaz Durrani's marriage picture
Unlike the previous editions, this book stays in the 1950s. It has extensive chapters on film personalities who were popular back then, and the controversies associated with them. It discusses in detail how the chocolate hero Darpan rose to fame, his failed trip to Bollywood, why he changed his name from Ishrat Abbas and why his off-screen activities overshadowed his on-screen ones. Darpan’s fling with actress Nigar Sultana, her brief marriage with producer/director S.M. Yousuf (who was in India until 1960), and eventual elopement with K. Asif of Mughal-e-Azam fame is discussed in some detail. Readers get to know about Producer/Director Hasan Tariq, who collaborated frequently with Afaqi. Tariq had Aerophobia, the main reason why he never went abroad for movies. Aslam Pervez, the bad-guy who started out as a ‘lead’ is frequently mentioned throughout. How Anwar Kamal Pasha, the first indigenous director, changed the face of movies in Pakistan, and considered himself a step ahead of the others, is one of the most fascinating parts of the book. Coming from a literary background, Anwar gave breaks to Aslam Pervez, Bahar, Akmal, Musarrat Nazir and Nayyar Sultana, and made movies that had popular appeal. Kamal, a lookalike of Raj Kapoor, was quite close to Afaqi, and the story behind his entry as a lead, is quite fascinating. Afaqi describes his experience of bidding farewell to journalism and making his mark as a film producer.
Nayyar Sultana and Darpan
If you think that Pakistani stars never indulged in sports, ‘Filmi Alif Laila’ proves you wrong, for it traces the beginning of cricket matches between film stars, which has become a regular feature now. Charity games were regularly held and the book gives an account of one such match in East Pakistan. Lead actors were not only good in playing the game, but excellent at organizing them as well.
A cricket match between Pakistani and Indian actors
The book mostly focuses on the prominent personalities who migrated to Pakistan in the early days after Partition, and rose to prominence in the fifties. The very first edition of the reincarnated Filmi Alif Laila can either make you an expert on films or turn you into an admirer of old movies. The way the first book from the ‘Zinda Kitabain’ series has revived the past, one wonders what the upcoming books would be like. As mentioned in the preface, the publishers plan to bring out over 40 such books in the next couple of months.
You may also like:
