LAHORE: Popular veteran film hero, Ejaz Durrani, passed away here at the age of 86.

Having acted in over 150 Urdu and Punjabi films, Ejaz became a household name with the iconic ‘Heer Ranjha’ wherein he was paired with the late Firdous.

Ejaz’s funeral was held at Garden Town’s Ahmed Block Mosque on Monday and he was laid to rest at Miyani Sahib graveyard. His qul will be held on Tuesday (today) at his Garden Town residence. He is survived by six daughters and a widow.

The funeral prayers were attended by provincial minister Mian Aslam Iqbal, Syed Noor, Ghulam Mohiyuddin, Hassan Sardar, Chaudhry Kamran, Achi Khan, Faisal Bukhari and many other film and TV personalities.

Ejaz was born in 1935 in Jallalpur Jattan near Gujrat. Also a producer and director, Ejaz started his career in the 1950s with the film ‘Hameeda’. His Punjabi movie career kicked off with Sheikh Iqabl’s ‘Sachay Moti’ with Neelo as his heroine. He was known for portraying the Punjabi culture and folk heroes through his films, while he is most popularly known for his portrayal of the legendary romantic character of Ranjha.

Ejaz entered the film industry at a time when Santosh Kumar, Sudhir and Aslam Pervaiz were ruling the roost. However, he was the first actor to have a diamond jubilee film to his credit. He married iconic singer Noor Jehan, but the marriage ended in a divorce.

Director Humayun Mirza cast him in his film ‘Bara Adami’ with Meena Shorey. Then he did ‘Raaz’ with Musarrat Nazir as the female lead that proved to be a huge success at the box office. He also did Ashfaq Malik’s ‘Salma’ with Bahar and Yasmin. Great music composer Khurshid Anwar signed him in his film ‘Chingari’ with Shamim Ara. Raza Mir’s film ‘Lakhon Mein Aik’ was also a box office hit.

Some of his other renowned films include ‘Mirza Sahiban’, ‘Sachay Moti’, ‘Dillan De Sauday’, ‘Ishq Na Puchay Zaat’ and ‘Banarsi Thag’.

He also remained the vice president of Film Producers Association.

Published in Dawn, March 2nd, 2021