Understanding Aslam Pervaiz, the hero and subsequent villain of Pakistani cinema

It was in Lahore, November 21, 1984 that the favourite villain of Pakistani films, Aslam Pervaiz, died of injuries received in an accident. Fellow actor Iqbal Hassan, who was driving the car, died a week earlier but Aslam remained in the hospital, fighting for his life.

Six months earlier, producer Shamim Ara’s film Miss Colombo, celebrated its platinum jubilee. The climax where Black Eagle, the antagonist essayed by Aslam Pervaiz, is talking to the ensemble cast, with a noose around their necks, is still remembered.

When Babra Sharif and Javed Shaikh were beating this Black Eagle to death (after divine intervention), the crowd shouted as if they wanted to punch the man themselves. For an average film viewer, Aslam Pervaiz was the face of evil.

Few artists could survive the test of time like he did. He was not always the bad guy. He had a fairy tale entry as a hero followed by a sudden fall from grace. But he managed to find a second innings by portraying villainous characters.

An example for lead actors, who fail to rise even after a minor setback, people who grew up watching Shafqat Cheema and Humayun Qureshi in hilarious ‘getups’ could never imagine that a hero’s rival could wear expensive suits, drive imported cars and showcase evil with one frightening glance, a crooked smile. Every word he spoke was drenched in depravity of some sort.

Born on February 1932 as Chaudhary Muhammad Aslam, he belonged to a family of traders in Lahore. By the time he graduated, Aslam wanted to make it big and cinema was the only option for such men.

It was in 1954 when producer/director Anwar Kamal Pasha added him to the cast of Qaatil. Aslam Pervaiz quickly caught attention of others and the year ended with M. A. Rasheed’s Paatay Khan, a Punjabi film where he played hero to Noor Jehan and Musarrat Nazir. Next year, Pasha’s most successful Punjabi film, Chan Mahi had Aslam cast as hero again, this time with debutant Bahar.

Recalling the industry dynamics in those days, veteran actress Bahar tells Instep, “It was a very different industry back in those days; we were fined a rupee if we conversed in Urdu! English was the language with which you communicated and a hero had to behave as such. For someone who had never even done a play in school, I was encouraged a lot by Pasha sahib and Aslam Pervaiz.”

She went on to act as a heroine across Aslam Pervaiz in several films. Ironically, she was paired opposite him in S.M. Yusuf’s 1960 film Saheli, where Aslam’s character displayed shades of grey.

As a hero, Aslam Pervaiz had an enviable list of songs to his credit. Munir Hussain was his voice in ‘Rhim jhim Rhim jhim paray phuaar’ when he was searching for his love Zarina in 1959’s Koel as well as in the film Laila Majnu that released a couple of years earlier.

The great Ahmed Rushdi for ‘Main Ne Kaha Ji’ for 1963’s Ishq Per Zor Nahi. Saleem Raza was his voice in Zia Sarhadi’s 1960’s Rehguzar for the super hit song ‘Tujhay pyar aaye kisi pe kub’. Services of a male singer from across the border were utilized for the first time in a Pakistani film, when Hemant Kumar rendered ‘Raat suhani hai, soya soya hand hai’ by musician Moslehuddin in Humsafar.

Aslam Pervaiz was the fortunate actor to have the voice of Guru Dutt, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand, sing for him. Despite turning villainous on cinema, he continued to get songs. Ali-Zeb’s Aag (1967) had ‘Waqt na dekhe’, a duet with Ahmed Rushdi voicing for Aslam as well as Nayyara Noor and Rushdi’s ‘Dum maaro dum’ style ‘Ura loon dhuwaan hi dhuwaan’ from Sajan Rang Rangeela (1975).

By the year 1960, Santosh Kumar’s younger brother Darpan re-invented himself as a lead with hits like Noor-e-Islam and Saathi. Add to it the phenomenal rise of Ejaz, Kamal and Habib as ‘fresh options’ had Aslam Pervaiz restricted to side-roles.

Director Saeed Fazli, who met him during the making of Sibtain Fazli’s Aankh ka Nasha (1957) spoke about how Aslam survived the testing times.

“It was Hassan Tariq, who was turning director with Koel, who advised Aslam to follow Pran (who didn’t want to compete with Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand) and turn villain instead. Aslam didn’t disappoint and became the highest paid villain in Pakistan,” 84-year-old Fazli tells Instep from his home in Los Angeles.

Koel (1959) with Noor Jehan and Allauddin also in the cast was an instant hit but it was Hassan Tariq’s Shikwa (1963) which finally did the trick. Aslam’s dialogues and sinister laughter in the films was praised as much as a hero’s song or a sidekick’s joke.

Daman (1963), Rivaaj (1965), Payal ki Jhankar (1966) made him someone who had the courage to stand up to the hero. In the famous Nadeem-Kamal-Ejaz starrer Behen Bhai (1968), his screen time was limited but he managed to hold his own with a powerful performance as a lawyer.

By mid-seventies Shahnawaz, Mustafa Qureshi and Munawwar Saeed established themselves as the new bad boys but could hardly ‘dethrone’ the one who had done every role in the book of an actor.

Aslam got the Nigar Award for best supporting actor in 1970 for his role of a gambler in Shabab Kairanvi’s Insaan aur Aadmi. In Tehzeeb (1971), he represented a new generation. In 1972, his role(s) as the Nawab in Baharo Phool Barsao and as the evil cousin (who uses Waheed Murad’s twin for a murder) in Daulat Aur Duniya, still sends shivers down one’s spine. In 1973’s hilarious Rangeela Aur Munawwar Zareef, he played his cards well until Rangeela and Munawwar Zareef strike. A week later, he was Munawwar Zarif’s father in the evergreen Jeera Blade. Ironically, in Society Girl and Mohabbat Aur Mehangai (1976) he was seen preying on Sangeeta, the daughter of Bahaar, once his heroine.

Veteran film actor Ghulam Mohiuddin, who worked with Aslam Pervaiz in a number of films, remembered him as a “gentleman”.

“He was called a Prince in the industry due to his amazing lifestyle,” Mohiuddin tells Instep. “Despite a huge gap in age, he never made me feel junior to him. As a kid I watched Koel in mid-sixties at Liberty Cinema. He was a hero in that film; I never imagined that I would be working with him as a lead.”

Aslam Pervaiz’s untimely death left many films incomplete. Producer and director Iqbal Rizvi’s Gareban was one of them.

“Aslam sahab had worked in some of my written films, but when I approached him for the first time as a producer, I had a budget of Rs. 25,000 in mind. Aslam sahab said, “Tum Mere paas pehli dafa aaye ho, Riyaayat tu banti hai.”

He accepted the role. This rarely happened in the film world. He truly was a prince. Unfortunately, the film could not be completed with him due to his death, and we had to rope in television actor Fareed Nawaz Baloch for it.”

Aslam Pervaiz had the love of the people throughout his life. The bad guy was - earlier this year - recognized by the Government of Pakistan for his services. Although, awards never mattered to artists like him, but being acknowledged for his work three decades after his death shows that he is not forgotten. He deserved it a lot earlier, but as they say, “Better late than never.”