SWABI: Noted Pashto film and playwright Nisar Mohammad Khan passed away in his native Shahmansoor village here on Friday after a five-year-long battle with cancer, his family said.

He was 78.

The illness curtailed his activities for five years and forced him to remain inside his house.

He left behind a widow, two sons and nine daughters to mourn his death.

“Majority of his daughters and two sons are doctors which showed that how much he was focused on the education of his children despite the fact that his life was extremely busy,”

Prof Noorul Amin Yousafzai, one of his close relatives, told Dawn.

Nisar Mohammad received his early education in the district and graduated from the postgraduate college, Mardan. Then he joined Radio Pakistan Karachi as news reader and translator.

Later, he did masters in Pashto from the University of Peshawar as a private candidate.

He worked on different positions in Radio Pakistan and finally was appointed as station director at Peshawar Centre.

He wrote several Pashto dramas for both Radio Pakistan and Pakistan Television, Peshawar centres.

He also directed many plays. He won the best drama writer award in 2002. He penned scripts and storylines for about 60 top Pashto movies.

He also wrote two exceptional books, one was on Life of Hazrat Bilal (RA) and other was on Pashto music titled Speen Tumbal.

He also wrote the stories of two famous Pashto films, Orbal and Makhroor.

He set new trends in Pashto film making; music and drama were his great strengths.

In Orbal, he played the role of an inspector with famous actor, late Badar Munir, and in Makhroor he played the role of villain with Asif Khan.

Noted writer Noorul Amin Yousafzai said he would always be remembered due to his great and valuable contributions to the Pashto language in a very difficult time.

He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard at Shahmansoor. His funeral was attended by artists, politicians, officials and local people.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2018