Alas, Lehri

Published September 23, 2012

He belonged to that rare breed of comedians who did not depend on slapstick or risqué to garner applause. With a poker-faced look he could make people laugh so hard that it would hurt their bellies. On Sept 13, the legendary comedian Lehri, who served the Pakistan film industry for more than four decades, passed away in Karachi. He was 83. He was suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiac ailment. He is survived by five sons and two daughters.

Lehri began his acting career with a film titled Anokhi in 1956. After that, there was a hiatus for a couple of years. Once the audience started to get the hang of his comedy, he never looked back. He worked in more than 100 films a majority of which were commercially and critically successful. His last film was Zeba Bakhtiar’s Babu (2001) in which he appeared for three scenes. He was very ill at the time. The kind of comedy that Lehri saheb did was subtle and dialogue-oriented, something that most modern-day comedians are not familiar with. He will be sorely missed.

Opinion

Editorial

New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.
Ceasefire, finally
Updated 26 Mar, 2024

Ceasefire, finally

Palestinian lives matter, and a generation of orphaned Gazan children will be looking to the world community to secure justice for them.
Afghan return
26 Mar, 2024

Afghan return

FOLLOWING a controversial first repatriation phase involving ‘illegal’ Afghan refugees last November, the...
Planes and plans
26 Mar, 2024

Planes and plans

FOR the past many years, PIA has been getting little by way of good press, mostly on account of internal...