KARACHI: The death of the renowned actress and filmmaker Shamim Ara on Friday saddened cine-goers in the country in general and the showbiz fraternity in particular.

Talking to Dawn film star Javed Sheikh, who had worked with her, said: “She was my favourite actress. I grew up watching her films Naila, Lakhon Mein Aik and Andleeb. She was the finest actress of our industry. She was also a very nice human being. When she became a director, she worked shoulder to shoulder with the men (mardon ke shana ba shana chaleen). I acted in two or three films that she directed. She used to work for 16 to 18 hours nonstop. But I would again have to say that the kind of actress she was is hard to find. I think she and Nayyar Sultana were the finest of them all. Her death is a great loss.”

Former minister for information and filmmaker Javed Jabbar said: “She personified both innocence and the possibility of something very exciting. The second thing that I would say about her was the inimitable way she spoke. I remember my wife and her sister used to try and recapture the way she spoke.”

Music composer and actor Arshad Mahmud said: “She was a ‘super, duper heroine’ of her time. The best thing about her was that she loved films because when she stopped acting in them, she started directing them. She was one of those individuals who knew how to make movies which was why she made good and successful ones.”

Actor Faysal Qureshi said: “Sadly she was unwell for a long time. She had a big contribution to the film industry. She made a great many super-hit films, be it the Miss Singapore and Miss Hong Kong series or Munda Bigra Jaey, it’s a long list of good projects. In those days it was thought that only Punjabi films could work at the box office, but she made Urdu movies. Unfortunately, legends are disappearing fast in our society.”

Journalist Ghazi Salahuddin said: “She belonged to an era of the Pakistan film industry which, when one recalls, was very productive. It was the golden period of our industry. I’ve been listening to the songs filmed on her (Gham-i-dil ko in aankhon se) ever since I’ve heard the news of her death. She came from a different class of actresses. For people like me it’s all nostalgia.”

TV producer Kazim Pasha said: “She was a courageous woman. Before her, no woman tried to come into direction (there was one but she couldn’t carry on). Not only did she make movies but make successful movies one after another. As an actress too no one can forget her performance in films such as Saheli. We may forget the industry, but we will never be able to forget Shamim Ara.”

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2016