The beauty of Sukkur, Multan, Lahore and Swat was artfully captured in Road to Swat | Photos: Guddu Film Archive
The beauty of Sukkur, Multan, Lahore and Swat was artfully captured in Road to Swat | Photos: Guddu Film Archive

In its early years, Pakistan’s film industry produced films of all genres from all three major centers: Karachi, Lahore and Dhaka. They gave excellent movies in the first 20 years of Pakistan which back then comprised Eastern and Western wings. Romantic films, social films, comedies and musicals were frequently made, and some producers even ventured into horror and adult genres. Historical films, costume dramas, patriotic films and westerns were all well-received, but there always used to be room for something new.

Syed Kamal had the honour of leading the star cast of the country’s first-ever road-trip film. Kamal was doing selected projects by the late ’60s after having made a name for himself with some commercial hits. He was ready for experiments, as were his friends who had just given the crazy action-comedy, Nayi Laila Naya Majnoon, in 1969.

Niazi Malik (producer), Munawwar Rasheed (director), Iqbal Rizvi (dialogue-writer) and Tassaduq Hussain (music director) teamed up for the second venture, which would be their first in colour. Nayi Laila Naya Majnoon (NLNM), which also had Naseema Khan, Lehri and Aaliya in the cast, targeted the youth of the country. Aaliya’s nasal style of saying her lines and superb dances in NLNM became very popular.

Road to Swat, released in 1970, was the first road-trip movie to be made in Pakistan

Veteran writer Iqbal Rizvi, who wrote the dialogues for Road to Swat(RTS), already had Gulfam, Heera Aur Pathar and Armaan to his credit. In a recent meeting with Icon he recalled the zero-point of the film, “It was director Munawwar Rasheed who asked me for a film “Jo ek jaga na ho, chalti rahay” [which would not be in one place but be on the move] to which I replied “Sarrkon pe na bana dain?” [Why not make it on the roads?]

RTS revolved round three cousins played by Kamal, Maqsood and Safeer (Lehri) trying to earn a living after completing college education. Kamal is a judo champion, Lehri a good sprinter and Maqsood a top biker. Due to financial constraints, they all drop their plans to study further. When their love interests, played by Naseema Khan, Mahpaara and Aasiya (not to be confused with her more famous namesake), plan a trip to Swat, the fun begins.

Enter Hanif, a known villain from that era, who wants to marry Seemi (Naseema Khan) for her wealth. He makes several attempts to kidnap her and the three friends team up to save her. Kamal and Maqsood pose as two elderly guards while Lehri joins them as a driver. Together they thwart several kidnapping attempts, sometimes in disguise. The scene where Maqsood saves Naseema Khan from the baddies is a treat to watch because of the stunts he performs.

Malik Maqsood Golawala was the stunt double for Kamal in NLNM. An expert driver, Maqsood used to perform stunt rides in the well of death (‘Gola’) and had also performed in Congo and South Africa before joining films. Iqbal Rizvi remembered meeting him and was told that he could even walk the tightrope.

The scenic beauty of Sukkur, Multan, Lahore and Swat were artfully captured in RTS but the climax where Maqsood performs the breathtaking stunt of riding a bike on a tightrope over the mighty River Swat is terrifying to watch.

But a multi-star cast also led to multiple issues. Iqbal Rizvi recalled an incident where Mahpara and Aasiya had a rather filmi off-screen fight. Mahpara was a couple of films old in the industry while Aasiya was making her debut with RTS. The crewwere staying at a hotel and everybody was waiting for breakfast. Niazi Malik and Rizvi were responsible for collecting eggs from the locality for the entire crew of at least 35-40 persons. When the waiter started laying out the plates, he put one in front of Aasiya before Mahpara. Claiming seniority, Mahpara wanted hers first. Thus began a fight with verbal barbs and soon turned more aggressive. They were eventually stopped by Niazi.

Hanif, Mahpaara, Naseema Khan and Aasiya
Hanif, Mahpaara, Naseema Khan and Aasiya

The film’s soundtrack had its ‘good, bad and ugly’ points. The good was two songs: Yeh ada yeh naaz yeh andaaz aapka by Mala and Ahmed Rushdi and Chalain hain dil walay road to Swat, which are still popular. The bad part was too many songs; and the ugly part was the title track which was lifted from music composer Ennio Morricone’s classic 1966 Western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The Clint Eastwood-starrer was not shown in Pakistan until 1973, and few knew about the impact the music had had in the West. Maybe Syed Kamal’s trips for the shoot of Jamil Akhtar’s Love in Europe (1970) had something to do with the ‘inspiration’.

In the song Yeh ada yeh naaz, just before Maqsood’s entry, Aasiya enters the frame and utters, “Hello, honey.” Maqsood liked the words so much that the champion biker named his son — who was born during the production of the film — Hunni.

RTS was released a week before the general elections of 1970. It celebrated over 30 weeks at the box office, completing a Silver Jubilee. Many believed that had Aaliya been cast in place of Mahpara, the film would have matched the success of NLNM. However, a reward of 100,000 rupees announced by Maqsood for anyone ‘who could prove his tightrope act was a camera trick’ played its part. The trick attracted a lot of people who wanted to see a super biker who could do wonders.

Whenever Kamal and Lehri resorted to any mischief in NLNM, the former would call the latter “Chhotay” [youngster] who would retort with “Barray” [elder]. The final scene of RTS is a tribute to the previous venture when Kamal and Lehri indulge in the same talk.

Sadly, the team could not come together for another project. The movement for the creation of Bangladesh started in early 1971. Naseema Khan, who hailed from the Eastern wing, moved back to the newly-created Bangladesh. RTS turned out to be her last film. Mahpara’s and Aasiya’s careers failed to take off despite them receiving praise for their work. Maqsood moved on in life and established Golawala Autos in Karachi. It also has a branch in Toronto, Canada. He was next seen in Kamal’s Siyasat, 15 years later, in a cameo.

Maqsood died in 1999 but lived to see his son feature in a film Mehndi with Kamal and Kamal’s son Ghalib, in 1996. Hunni’s entry into films was reminiscent of his father’s as he was also seen performing stunts on a motorbike.

The editor of RTS, Iqbal Akhter, went on to become a successful director and churned out numerous hits such as Jub Jub Phool Khile and Phool Mere Gulshan Ka. The latter was the first film where the then ruling stars of the ’70s, Muhammad Ali, Nadeem and Waheed Murad worked together with Jub Jub being the third and the last. Meanwhile, veteran director and scriptwriter of over 100 films, Iqbal Rizvi, is still healthy and busy scripting a new venture with director/producer Saeed Rizvi at the ripe old age of 86.

Published in Dawn, ICON, March 11th, 2018

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