PESHAWAR: The participants of a ceremony here on Sunday demanded of the provincial government to name Cinema Road in Peshawar after Badar Munir, a noted film star of yore days.

The film, stage and TV artists and fans gathered at Peshawar Press Club to pay tributes to Bandar Munir on his 12th death anniversary and billed him as a memorable icon of Pashto films industry because of his huge contributions spanning over more than three decades.

The event was organised by All Pakistan Badar Munir Federation (APBF).

The participants passed a few resolutions unanimously asking culture department to issue official notification to name Cinema Road in Peshawar after Badar Munir.

Tributes paid to film star on his 12th death anniversary

Noted actor Tariq Jamal said that Pashto cinema would take time to get revived on modern lines. He said that Badar Munir spent golden period on Pashto silver screen.

Senior artist Hazrat Gul chaired the event while young film star Bilal Khan was chief guest on the occasion.

The speakers shed light on various aspects of the Munir films fair in which memorable movies of the late film star would be showcased. The late legendary actor performed leading part in more than 600 movies in Pashto, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Urdu from early 70s till late 90s.

He appeared in different roles and reigned over hearts of millions of Pakhtuns for his stunning performance.

Hailing from Swat, Badar Munir started his acting career from first Pashto movie ‘Yousaf Khan Sherbano’ released in December 1970 which hit the silver screen in Karachi and KP.

He played Yousaf Khan while Shamshad aka Yasmin Khan performed as Sherbano and since then the duo was widely termed as the king and queen of the Pashto cinema.

Sharinzada Khan Badar, central chairman of APBF, in his opening remarks said that Badar Munir was a multi-faceted artist owing to his inborn talent. He said that he set trends in acting and paved way for the creative production but unfortunately his quality work was largely ignored by his successors and Pashto cinema was declined to the point of no return.

“KP culture department should take concrete steps to revive Pashto film industry while using digital technology but it is stated with great regret that our officials allow demolition of cinema theatres and today only two to three cinema houses screen old runs with no standard stuff because film makers are unable to afford high standard contents and quality production has become a far-fetched cry,” he said.

Noted songwriter Naeem Muhklis, Haji Aslam Khan and Samad Shad also spoke at the event.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2020