It was in the late 1960s that I used to come across Qavi Khan Saheb in the corridors or in the small lawns in front of the newly set up Pakistan Television Corporation’s office cum studios in a small shed at the backyard of the Radio Pakistan’s premises on Empress Road, Lahore. Qavi’s versatility was spread so widely in the canvass of small screen that he was the first to receive President of Pakistan’s prestigious award Pride of Performance on August 14, 1980. He was born on November 15, 1942 in Peshawar, KPK Province in Pakistan and started working for Radio Pakistan. In his youth he was seen miming Dilip Kumar’s dialogues or admires Munawar Zarif’s acting. He was the first to appear in PTV’s first drama titled ‘Nazrana’. He never took his character easily that he had to portray on screen. He used to read and absorb the script before portraying the character given to him. Not satisfied he would then turn to his friends and colleagues for their comments. He also read the characters he had to work with in the plot such that justice was done to what he was representing. Even for a small appearance when he received calls of appreciation, he felt encouraged because that is what God had created him for. I have seen him following this routine since past five decades. One of my dear colleague Aurangzeb Leghari who wanted to be an actor stated in Arts Council Karachi’s tribute to Qavi Khan that Qavi Khan taught him lot many things; patience and mannerism. In the same sitting veteran actor Munawar Saeed stated that he used to be in Karachi in 1967 when PTV’s transmission started there as well. It was already in operation in Lahore from 1964 where Qavi had established himself as a character artist. Qavi was visiting Karachi for a theater production. The following day Ameer Imam visited them and Qavi introduced Munawar Saeed to him. Munawar Saeed who is an engineer by profession otherwise owed his entry into PTV because of Qavi Khan. Qavi on the other hand expressed his appreciation to Muhammad Ahmad Shah Karachi Arts Council Director for cooperation of seniors and juniors. Qavi stated that he entered into all fields like film acting, directing and theater production. He said that he worked a lot in all fields. He learnt a lot from the people running the show-biz fields who were like a family to him. In essence he faced lots of fraudulent behaviors as well as good moments. He spent three decades in returning money he owed to people who worked for him in the films that did not click at box office. He remembers when he went to Mustafa Qureshi to pay him hid due amount years later after his produced films flopped. He had not been a good businessman he often used to state. His two children lived in Canada and her daughter in the U.S. He never encouraged them to join acting line after struggling all his life in this domain of art. He visited them once and saw for himself how they behaved with him and his wife. He had hired a servant Waseem as hid driver in his Garden Town house and according to one of the interviews in the social media he left his house in the name of his servant before he moved abroad for his cancer treatment. Never did he let his disease be known to his colleagues nor did he let its impact adversely affect his acting roles. It was actor Suhail Ahmad who was like a son to him that he invited friends’ tor reference on Qavi Khan Saheb’s demise. After fighting with cancer for many months Qavi left for his heavenly abode on March 05, 2023. Despite heavy snowfall his funeral was attended by many important community members from Pakistan including veteran actor Shahid in Meadowvale cemetery in Canada. Qavi had married Naheed in 1968, a marriage that remained successful. Naheed used to state in her interviews that Qavi used to offer his prayers five times a day.
The writer is the recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. He can be reached at [email protected]