WRITER, producer, director and, above all, a dramatist, Agha Nasir is a man of many facets. Fond of watching movies from early childhood, his taste for films developed watching Indian movies. He remembers with fondness how his sister would give him two rupees every month as pocket money to watch a movie till the time he completed his matriculation.
“I used to watch two movies every month and would still save since the ticket was only worth 50 paisas. This was the time when I developed a passion for Dilip Kumar and never missed any of his movies shown in Karachi cinemas, be it old or new.” The love for movies did not stop him from going to prohibited areas either, like the red light area where he once went to watch Milan running in a cinema on Napier Road.
Agha saheb discovered his own interest for this art form very early in life. He appreciated work of popular directors such as Zia Sarhadi, Shanta Ram, Khawaja Ahmed Abbas, Raj Kapoor etc., “who appeared to be treading a different path from that of the commercial directors.” Little did he know how much influence this exposure would have on his professional life. English movies he watched with friends as it was a weekly ritual in college to pool money and go to a cinema.
His selection for foreign films varies from Longest Hour, Guns of Navrone, Great Escape and Where Eagles Dare to new action thrillers and Bond movies. “The English at that time were of much higher quality and substance compared to what is shown today,” he views. Rather than naming any one favourite, he divides his choice such as Ben Hur and Lawrence of Arabia in historicals, and Roman Holiday in romantics.
“In the aftermath of the Second World War, war movies were very popular and were produced in abundance in Hollywood. Some of the major successes were Bridge on the River Kwai and War and Peace,” says Agha Nasir. He wants to register his special liking for French comedies like Pink Panther and Crazy Boys series and wonders why they have discontinued. Jack Lemon is his favourite actor and Irma La Duce his favourite comedy.
When it came to music, however, Agha saheb could “never develop a taste for Western music.” This was despite the fact that he had to hear Western melodies for seven long years under expert guidance. He was assigned to select English scores for the radio dramas he produced for Studio Number 9 in Karachi. As for the subcontinental music, both classical and semi-classical varieties are of great interest to him. “I am more attracted to ghazals and modern poetry sung by Mehdi Hasan, Nayara Noor, Fateh Ali Khan and Amanat Ali Khan,” he says with fondness.
In spite of his busy occupation with the electronic media, whenever he has the time, reading a book is his first priority. Being a student of history, his first pick is a book with historical perspective. He finds biographies, autobiographies and descriptive accounts of people and places narrating their cultures very interesting, such as Biography of Moshe Dayan, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela and the Book of Saladin by Tariq Ali. Aabe Gum by Mushtaq Yousfi, oh-e-Abam by Mukhtar Masood, Hum Safar by Hameeda Akhtar Husain Raipuri, are some of his favourites and the most recent one, Justice Javed Iqbal’s Ya Apna Gareeban Chaak.
However, Agha saheb’s real interest is in dramas and he has read a great number of plays by Ibsen, Oscar Wild, Chekhov, Bernard Shaw, Eugene O’Neil, Thorton Wilder and Tennessee Williams. Poetry collections are his favourite pastime, such as those of Ghalib, Nazeer, Mir Anis, Iqbal, Faiz, Rashid, Parveen Shakir, Faraz and the list goes on.
We are passing through an interesting period. The onslaught of electronic media is constantly affecting literature. He is sorry that quality literature is not being produced in our part of the world. “There has not been any significant name in Urdu literature in the recent past, which is, and should be, a matter of concern,” he says.
FAVOURITE FILM: Bridge on the River Kwai
FAVOURITE BOOK: Kare-Jehan Daraz
FAVOURITE PLAY: Our Town, by Thorton Wilder
FAVOURITE MUSIC: Insha ji utho ab kooch karo, by Ustad Amanat Ali Khan
WRITER, producer, director and, above all, a dramatist, Agha Nasir is a man of many facets. Fond of watching movies from early childhood, his taste for films developed watching Indian movies. He remembers with fondness how his sister would give him two rupees every month as pocket money to watch a movie till the time he completed his matriculation.
