Pakistan has been blessed with many great actors who have churned out roles and plays that have been labelled as cults for future generations. In the recent death of veteran actor Zahoor Ahmed the country has lost not only one of its foremost actors but also a performer who worked all his life to come up with varied roles, mostly of historical value and importance.

Zahoor Ahmed was born in 1930s and shot to prominence soon after Partition, gaining respect as an actor through theatre that was funded by a leading banker at the time. Back in the days when there was no TV, theatre provided a formidable rivalry to films, thus actors had to pass the stage-level test if they were to eventually graduate to films. Zahoor excelled in the stage plays of the era, and was part of Mirza Ghalib Bunder Road Par and Nizam Saqqa, the most popular Radio Pakistan plays of that era.

Many people, including many of his costars, associate Zahoor with Khawaja Mohiuddin`s Taleem-i-Balighan but Qazi Wajid, who played a memorable role in the play`s TV and stage version, has a different story. “Zahoor bhai was a senior artiste,” he remembers. “But he was never part of Taleem-i-Balighan because he was busy with other plays at the time. He was a strict disciplinarian and in fact it was his brilliance on stage that saw him emerge as a versatile actor. Although he was cast mostly as a villain, he was a gentleman by nature who was always there with words of wisdom.”

Recalling one incident, he said, “He was a very patriotic person and once he lost his cool when an actor sang an Indian song on stage ... such was his patriotism.”

But even Qazi Wajid agrees that when television took the country by storm, Zahoor was at ease with the new medium. He was a very busy TV actor in the `60s and the `70s, but Khuda Ki Basti became his identity where he was cast as Niaz Kabariya, the antagonist of Shaukat Siddiqui`s novel-turned-play.

Veteran actor Behroze Sabzwari, who was instrumental in bringing an end to Niaz Kabariya on screen, reminiscences, “Zahoor bhai was one of the fatherly figures who guided me a lot during the early part of my career. He was always there to lend advice and told me how to move about, speak and even deliver certain dialogues. He was a thorough professional who was always dedicated on set and a strong-willed individual. As a villain he was fantastic and as all villains on screen are great human beings by nature, same was the case with Zahoor bhai. I regret being known as Nausha, the person who ended up murdering Zahoor bhai`s of Niaz Kabariya in Khuda Ki Basti, but working along side him was an honour and I, like most of the people, will miss him.”

Zahoor Ahmed also had a brief stint in films and his most famous role was  that of Waheed Murad`s father in Pakistan`s first platinum jubilee film, Armaan. His contemporaries also believe that it was Zahoor`s love for his country that saw him turn into a dramatist later in his career

When Lahore became the hub of films in Pakistan, Zahoor Ahmed chose to stay back in Karachi, working in TV dramas and long plays. His presence in Afshan, Akhara and many others brought them to a higher level but he will always be remembered for playing the title roles of Nizam Saqqa and Nooruddin Zangi in long plays, as well as that of Changez Khan in Aakhri Chattan — roles of historical nature and played exceedingly well by the great thespian.

Zahoor Ahmed also had a brief stint in films and his most famous role was that of Waheed Murad`s father in Pakistan`s first platinum jubilee film, Armaan. Qazi Wajid agrees that he played himself into the role of Nawab Sahib who was strict but a great person at heart. His contemporaries also believe that it was his love for his country that saw him turn a dramatist in the latter part of his career ... and he penned plays on solidarity and the Kashmir issue, one of which, Lahoo Se Kar Kay Wazoo, launched Humayun Saeed as a star.

During his last years, Zahoor Ahmed moved from city to city with his son who serves in the Pakistan Army. He breathed his last on February 1, 2009 in Islamabad, leaving family, fans and friends in shock.