By the mid-60s, Bollywood had produced gems of ‘Muslim social’ films, which had been in production since the 1940s, owing solely to the Fazli Brothers.

Guru Dutt’s Chaudhveen Ka Chand (1960) and the Rajendra Kumar-Sadhna starrer Mere Mehboob (1963) top the list. But Lollywood was lagging behind in such films and even now one can count only a handful of films that depict Subcontinental Muslim culture.

S.M. Yusuf, a veteran director in Bollywood who had experimented with the genre, stepped in to give Pakistan its first such film by assembling the biggest cast of its time. Yusuf co-produced Eid Mubarak with Sardar Fayyaz after moving over and establishing himself in Pakistan towards the end of the ’50s.

During the early years of his stay in Pakistan, he managed to present films such as Saheli (1960), Aulad (1962) and Aashiyana (1964). Starring Darpan, Nayyar Sultana and Shamim Ara, Saheli is still remembered for Naseem Begum’s song Hum bhool gaye har baat magar tera pyar nahin bhoolay.

Eid Mubarak is about a middle-class family, their approach to Eid and the drama that ensues. With the help of legendary poet/writer Fayyaz Hashmi, a story was penned that began and ended at the Islamic religious festival. Eid Mubarak turned out to be a saga based on an average household, where changing values clash with destiny. The result was an abundance of tears, claps and smiles from the audience at the end of the movie’s showing.

The 1965 fi lm Eid Mubarak is among the very rare Pakistani ‘Muslim socials’ and probably the only one revolving around the religious festival

Managing a big cast is a painstaking job but S.M.Yusuf was a veteran. Waheed Murad and Zeba, fresh from the success of Heera aur Patthar (1964) were roped in as the lead pair. Yusuf had been responsible for Waheed Murad’s debut as an actor in Aulad (1962) while Zeba had become a regular in Yusuf’s films with the success of Aashiyana. Habib, Rukhsana, Adeeb, Seema and Faizi returned to the fold, with Iqbal Yusuf and Qamar making their acting debut.

The story begins with Azeem Mian (Habib) the elder brother in a household who adores his brother Nadeem (Waheed Murad) and his bumbly sister Tahira (Rukhsana). He makes sacrifices only to keep them happy.

Despite being the eldest, he is still single. Their aunt lives nearby with her divorced daughter (Seema) who quietly loves Azeem. The role of their uncle Chacha Khalil aka Bakheel is played to perfection by ace comedian Nirala, who is a greedy moneylender.

Chacha Khalil offers small loans at high interest rates and his pet sentence ‘Ghareebo ki eid kharab guzray yeh na mere khuda ko pasand hai, aur na mujhay pasand hai’ [Neither me nor my God want the poor to be wanting come Eid] is an attack on the dual nature of the corrupt financial system we have. Chacha Khalil also kept his son, Aslam, from becoming a doctor. However, Aslam eventually succeeds by investing the money he secretly steals from his miserly father.

S.M. Yusuf was known for his music sense and never compromised on it. A. Hameed was his favourite, as is evident with the failure of Dulhan (1963) — which flopped when Yusuf brought Rasheed Attre on board. The music of Eid Mubarak is still popular with Mala’s naat Rehm karo ya Shah-i-Do Alam considered an evergreen number. 

Taqdeer hans rahi thi, rendered soulfully by Mala, is not far behind, while there was a tight race between Ahmed Rushdi’s Meri gurriya ka jalwa nirala and the Rushdi-Munir Hussain song Shampakshoo [‘Sh’ for shararat (mischief), ‘ma’ for maaqool waqt (right moment), ‘pa’ for par (at) and ‘kah’ for kabhi kabhi (occassionally)] vies for the third slot. 

Similarly, Hum ko duaayain do tumhain is soothing for the eyes and relives the time when the natural arch at Paradise Point was still intact, now a mere memory for Karachiites. The ’60s Karachi is beautifully captured on film in Eid Mubarak. Be it Paradise Point, the famous musical fountain near Zainab Market, Empress Market, Cantt Station or the place where the Expo Centre is now situated near Hasan Square and Civic Centre.

To film Shampaksoo, special permission was sought by the producers. Actor Raju Jamil clearly remembers, “It was the first day of the International Trade Fair when S.M. Yusuf and his crew reached the spot to shoot without permission. Habib and Waheed were spotted by the crowd, which made it difficult for the team to manage to accomplish what they had come for.

“The administration objected to the shoot but Jamiluddin Aali, my father, who was quite close to President Gen Ayub Khan, stepped in to resolve the issue. The shooting was done on two separate days. The last day was used for visuals of the ‘accident’, which results in the fracture of Rukhsana’s character, Tahira in Eid Mubarak. ”

Similarly, the footage of the Eid prayers was smartly captured from the top of the PIDC House, a spot perfect for the shot. In those days, Eid congregations were held at the Polo Ground, adjacent to where Pearl Continental Hotel is now situated.

“It was sheer dedication on the part of S.M. Yusuf and his team, who managed to get ample footage — the scenes when Waheed’s character embraces his brother and the ones when he doesn’t,” recalls Jamil who recalls the dialogues of the movie even now. “Yusuf had arranged for the actors’ stay at Hotel Metropole and made them skip Eid celebrations with their families in Lahore just to get that shot.”

Habib as Azeem was mostly clad in a sherwani and Jinnah cap. A gentleman to the core, the character of Azeem is a true representation of the ideals of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Waheed Murad’s character Nadeem represents the confused young generation, while Aslam, despite his antics, emerges as a saner being focused on his future.

Nadeem’s marriage to Naheed, played by the ravishing Zeba, happens immediately after Tahira’s baraat returns in the film. The bua (handmaiden) of Naheed, played brilliantly by Samiya Naz, was successful in dividing the household with her usual lagai-bujhai (loose tongue).

The scene when Habib grabs his brother by the neck for hitting the handicapped sister, and Waheed’s angry expression that follows displays the growing aggression between the mild-mannered brothers. The family gets separated and, in the next hour, a cat-and-mouse-like chase ensues, when the disintegrated clan is brought back together.

Naheed finally relents and a handicapped Tahira ends up marrying the same person whose father had earlier refused. Those who had suffered at the hands of Chacha Khalil revolt and the greedy uncle is left with no option but to finally give in. He even returns the property to Azeem and his siblings, and Seema ends up marrying the man of the house.

Keep in mind that Pakistan was governed by a dictator back then, and was also divided into eastern and western wings. Eid was celebrated free of any hassles and moon-sighting committees had not become the mainstay of the night before. Chaand raat was celebrated with family, not in marketplaces and everyone wanted to greet the elders after sighting the moon.

The movie depicted how simply Eid was celebrated. Even if someone had not fasted regularly during Ramazan, there was no preaching or victimisation. As is evident from the dialogues of this movie “Dhuaan bata raha hai ke khaana lazeez hai, wallah rozadaaro ne bayrozagaron ke liye kya kya takleefain uthai hain [One can tell from the aroma wafting in from the delicious food that those who have been fasting have spared no pains to prepare such a splendid feast, even for those who have not observed fasting regularly].”

The movie, which revolved around the religious festival of Eid, strangely did not come out on Eid. Released in July 1965, it managed to celebrate a Silver Jubilee. Being one of the last films released when Bollywood films were screened in Pakistani, it fared quite well.

Yusuf once again tried to repeat the Waheed and Iqbal Yusuf pairing in Zindagi Ek Safar Hai (1972), but could not succeed. S.M. Yusuf made his last film in 1976 and retired. As per Eid Mubarak, Iqbal Yusuf and Waheed Murad continued to do shampakshoo together until the latter’s death on November 23, 1983.

Waheed Murad’s last film Hero (1985) was released 14 months after his death, only when it was completed by Iqbal Yusuf.

With Pakistan still having next to no films that revolve around the religious festival of Eid, it certainly seems that social movies such as Eid Mubarak, along with its actors, have now become a thing of the past.

Published in Dawn, ICON, April 30th, 2023