Daily Times

92-year-old veteran Lollywood actor Mir Rehan is suffering from multiple diseases and has been unable to work for the past many years. Neither government nor the members of the film industry have provided financial assistance for his treatment. The artist’s daughter Naveed Rehan says that bearing the expenses of her father’s treatment has been a difficult task for them because all her siblings earn a limited income. She requested the president, prime minister and chief minister to financially assist the family and honour the artist’s services to the industry. “We have been looking for welfare organisations and government to fund our father’s treatment but no one has extended support to us,” she told Daily Times.

The veteran actor spends most of his time sitting on a sofa at his residency in Lahore, holding a large book which has his pictures with fellow artists from older days and interviews with various publications. According to his daughter, he keeps looking at the book because it reminds him of the days gone by.

The actor’s daughter says they approached Artist Welfare Fund to seek financial assistance, but the officials of the authority remain unmoved

Talking about her father’s illness, Naveed said he became a victim of Bullous Pemphigoid around three years ago which changed his whole life. Bullous Pemphigoid is an acute or chronic autoimmune skin disease, involving the formation of blisters, more appropriately known as ‘Bullae’, at the space between the epidermis and dermis skin layers.

Previously he suffered from several other diseases as well which badly affected his overall health. She further said that Rehan is also dealing with ‘dementia’. It is a broad category of brain diseases that cause a long-term and often gradual decrease in the ability to think and remember that is great enough to affect a person’s daily functioning.

“My father gave this industry four decades of his life and a number of blockbuster films but this government and this industry have left him at the hour of need”, Naveed Rehan said.

In response to a question, she told that they also submitted an application to Federal Government Artists Welfare Fund (FGAWF) for financial assistance last year but the authority did get back to them. When Naveed contacted FGAWF’s, a member told her that the matter will be considered when the meeting of the committee is held, which would be after the new government is sworn in because the current government’s tenure is nearing end.

Speaking to Daily Times in a shaky voice, Rehan shared his life journey. He said that he was around 20-21 years old when he stood outside the Gaiety Theater (GT) Shimla with few friends to reserve a seat to watch the film. GT Shimla was popular during the British rule in subcontinent. When asked his views about the current status of Pakistan’s film industry, he refused to comment, but said that artists and their work used to be valued by all back in the day.

Profile – Mir Rehan

Bette Davis said, “Without wonder and insight, acting is just a trade. With it, it becomes creation.” Yesteryears’ actor Mir Rehan was one such phenomenal actor, during his prime days.

The now 90-year-old actor is remembered for his outstanding performances in six Pakistani films including Pakistan’s first horror movie ‘Dracula in Pakistan’ in which he starred as Professor Tabani and the titular character.

Some of the other films in which he delivered memorable performances were the 1968 film ‘Taj Mahal’ which was directed by ST Zaidi. Mir Rehan played Emperor Akbar in that film. The very next year, his film ‘Shabistan’ was released. The legendary Sultan Rahi was also part of the film, which was directed by Aziz Khan.

In 1971, Rehan’s film ‘Sakhi Lutera’ was released, in which he rubbed shoulders with Sultan Rahi again, a film directed by Aslam Dar.

After a hiatus of six years, Rehan starred in another film titled ‘Aina’, in which he played the role of legendary actress Shabnam’s father. The film had a stellar cast of Parween Bobby, Bahar Begum and Nadeem and was directed by Nazrul Islam.

In 2007, ‘Zibah Khana – Hell’s Ground’, directed by Omar Khan, was released.

‘Dracula’ which was previously titled ‘Zinda Lash’ was a rendition of the Dracula tale with many similarities to the British 1950s Dracula. The film was directed by Khawaja Sarfraz and other than Rehan himself, starred Yasmin Shaukat, Deeba Begum and Habibur Rahman.

‘Zinda Laash’ also has the distinction of being the first ever horror film to be screened at two major film festivals abroad; the Sitges Fantastic Film Festival in Spain and the Neuchatel International Festival of Fantastic Films in Switzerland. This movie was so shocking in its time that a woman reportedly had a heart attack in the movie theatre.

‘Zinda Laash’ is also referenced in Omar Khan’s ‘Zibah Khana’, usually termed as its sequel, in which Rehan also starred as mentioned. Rehan’s performances in every single film of his have been appreciated by masses with a humongous fan following of his.

Published in Daily Times, May 29^th 2018.