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Tributes paid to Syed Kamal, Yousaf Khan and Lal Muhammad Iqbal

Yesteryears’ stars used film as tool to build constructive society

By Mahtab Bashir

ISLAMABAD: The late film stars Syed Kamal, Yousaf Khan and musician Lal Muhammad Iqbal dedicated their whole life for the promotion of Pakistani art and culture and used film industry as a tool to build a constructive society, said Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Director General (DG) Tauqir Nasir.

He was addressing a memorial reference organised by PNCA at National Art Gallery to pay tribute to the services of yesteryears stars.

A large number of artists, intellectuals, educationists, art lovers and students attended the condolence reference.

Nasir said all the three stars of the past were icons in their respective fields, who made their contribution not only for the promotion of Pakistani culture but to block Indian cultural onslaught, Nasir said.

Unfortunately we as a society have still failed to give artists due status in their lives but start admiring their skills after they pass away ignoring the fact that the artists required it during his life, said the PNCA DG. “Regrettably being a close society, we fall short in recognising what an artist is thinking and how he is surviving to make public happy,” he said.

Nasir said PNCA was striving to help promote art and cultural aspects and to encourage artists. “It is the creativity and ingenuity of an artist that helps promote cultural values and traditions,” he said, adding, without participation of the artist, culture would die soon.

He said the council was negotiating with the living legend, “Shahansha-e-ghazal, Mehdi Hassan to invite him at NAG to share his illustrious career.

Nasir said art was the only tool that could help promote culture not only in country but also across the world to build Pakistan’s soft image.

Former DG, PNCA and broadcaster, Agha Nasir said only democratic setups promoted the film culture in the country, whereas dictatorial regimes demolished everything related to film promotion. “This reference is a good effort of PNCA to remember our beloved artists who rendered meritorious services for film industry, he added.

Agha Nasir said he was compiling an archive containing life and services of film, radio and TV artists.

Dr Aalia Imam, a renowned author said though all the three artists had gone away from them, they were near to their hearts for what they had contributed for the nation.

Imam said they were not only great artists but also great human beings. “A great human is the one who demolishes territorial boundaries to spread message of love and peace, as art has no boundaries.

Arif Jaffery, Munir Ahmed, Mehmooda Ghazia and music director Abdullah also spoke on the occasion. They said Lal Muhammad was a music icon who had a lot of classic music productions to his credit, especially “Aye abre karam, aj itna baras”. They also requested the government and cultural organisations to document and preserve the data of all those artists who were not among them.

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