PESHAWAR: Veteran drama artist Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah has said that upcoming actors should make a careful choice of their careers and prefer to go for the inborn talent as it could give a great push to them to achieve their set goals.

“I would advise young people that they should not waste time in pursuing careers for which they don’t have a natural flair. Talent is something one is born with. Deep observation, sharp mind and natural thrash can take far us when it comes to art,” he told this scribe during a chat.

Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah was born in 1930 in Speenwa Warrai village of Peshawar.

He did his matric from the historic Islamia Collegiate School Peshawar in 1948. One of his relatives took him to Radio Pakistan, Peshawar as he was working as an audio engineer after audition he was offered a two-line dialogue in a Pashto drama and it proved a turning point in his acting career.

He said that so many facilities in the modern hi-tech age rolled out the spirit of art from the artists where feelings and emotions were reduced to robotics and script being empty words, remarked the nonagenarian actor.

Mumtaz Ali Shah says people should not waste time in pursuing careers for which they don’t have flair

“Commercial is yet another thing that robs art of its originality. Today’s contents and cast don’t qualify a drama to come up to public expectations. Most characters are alien,” said the veteran actor.

Mr Shah has already become a household name as his acting career is spanned over 50 years. Three years ago during a drama shoot, he fell down and developed pain in his back and got bedridden ever since.

The artist advised upcoming artists to sharpen their inborn talent and never waste time in chasing unattainable dreams. He said that he had acted out every kind of role in radio, TV and theatre. He added that self-negativity was one essential element that could help one become an exact copy of the original character.

Recipient of numerous awards, Mr Shah has played lead roles in around 1,500 radio, TV, theatre Pashto and Urdu plays and also a major role in a Pashto film ‘Mafroo’ released in early 80s. Retired from government works department, he has a collection of unpublished Pashto poems.

Mr Shah’s voice quality, performance range and facial expressions made him a popular drama name. He said that his fans had showered on him almost every kind of award, commendation certificate and shield and that alone served him to live a satisfying life.

“I am old and sick now but a young artist is still alive within urging me to play the last act with strength,” said Mr Shah with rich a laughter.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2020