Written by: Muhammad Suhayb
Posted on: June 22, 2021 | 
(L to R) Muzaffar Adeeb, Agha Talish and Allauddin (Bottom Right)
Films of the Indian Subcontinent have always relied on ‘bad-boys’ or villains to perform feats that may seem too adventurous for the leading man to do on screen. They swindle the poor, steal from the rich, kidnap the leading lady and seldom have a change of heart for the better. Their villainy and zeal for evil antics have often been one-dimensional, yet a great source of entertainment. The Pakistan film industry also has its fair share of such characters whose charisma left an everlasting mark on the viewers. The following are some of the few devilish masterminds who have helped shape and evolve Pakistan film history.
Mustafa Qureshi
First and foremost, the industry could never repay the man who changed the face of local cinema forever: Allaudin. As a part of Kardar Productions and Nazir’s Hind Pictures in United India, he was a singer, musician and a formidable actor. He had played the role of Nargis’s father in ‘Mela’, alongside Dilip Kumar in the lead. He reigned supreme during the first 10 years of Pakistan films, and his roles got nastier by the end of 1950s.
His roles in ‘Shehri Babu’ (1953), ‘Inteqam’ (1955), ‘Baghi’ (1956), ‘Waada’ (1957), ‘Aakhri Nishan’ (1958), and the titular role of ‘Kartar Singh’ (1959) are clear examples of his versatility. Whether he was pitted against Sudhir or Santosh, he was the one cinemagoers came to watch. By the early 1960s, Allaudin reinvented himself, and played the roles of good guys for the next two decades.
The Film Poster for Kartar Singh
The evildoer torch was then passed on to the legendary and equally talented Agha Talish. The ‘blue-eyed’ bad boy of Pakistan was hated equally by a the tonga driver and the middle classes. Talish had been playing supporting roles, till the character of ‘Ajnabi’ came for the film ‘Shaheed’ (1962) as a ‘Lawrence of Arabia’-like character (Lawrence of Arabia was released nearly a year after ‘Shaheed’).
Agha Talish in Firangi
Talish became a permanent bad-guy for Khalil Qaisar and Riaz Shahid’s movies: An evil landlord in ‘Haveli’ (1964), a British Officer in ‘Farangi’ (1964), an Israeli commander in ‘Zarqa’ (1969), scheming villain in ‘Gharnata’ (1970) and a sympathetic Hindu in ‘Yeh Aman’ (1971). He was not only a versatile actor, but also creative in his characterisations.
Talish also did roles that had some redeeming qualities, but someone like Muzaffar Adeeb never changed on-screen. Unlike Allauddin and Talish, Adeeb moved to Pakistan in 1961, after working in several films across the border. His menacing voice used to send shivers down the audience's spine. He appeared as a ‘baddie’ in Pakistan for the first time in ‘Daal me Kaala’ (1963). Yet the role that turned him into a sensation was in ‘Aadil’ (1966), where he appeared bald to look like Yul Brynner of the Hollywood’s ‘Ten Commandments (1956)’. He was mostly pitted against Muhammad Ali, and was the first casualty in the now-legendary Punjabi film Maula Jatt (1979), whose immortal bad guy Noori Natt was played by Mustafa Qureshi.
The Film Poster for Aadil
Born to a Sindhi family, Mustafa Qureshi had no plans to act after his debut film ‘Pardesi’ (1958) bombed at the box office. Qureshi remained away from the big screen until Raza Mir’s ‘Lakhon Me Aik’ (1967), and he was at his most menacing as the Indian husband of Shamim Ara's character. Whenever he appeared on the screen, the audience was enthralled by his capriciousness. Better roles followed in Urdu films, and he was mostly at the receiving end of punches during on-screen fights with Waheed Murad (‘Andaleeb’ 1969), Muhammad Ali (‘Meray Hamsafar’ 1972) or Nadeem (‘Anari’ 1975), yet the fight that made him a legend was against Sultan Rahi in Maula Jatt.
Similarly, Munawwar Saeed tried his luck in Punjabi films, despite not being Punjabi. Related to famous poets like Raees Amrohvi and Jaun Elia, Munawwar Saeed often had trouble with the Punjabi language, and often reverted back to Urdu in his dialogue. But he was a veteran actor of over 200 films, first introduced in ‘Ghar Damad’ (1969).
He struggled for a few years as the bad guy, but luck changed when he started collaborating with director Pervez Malik. ‘Anmol’ (1973) and ‘Pehchan’ (1975) brought him to the top of his game. Whenever there was need for a sophisticated villain who would either have to smuggle or black mail, Munawwar Saeed was called. Shahnawaz Ghumman and Humayyun Qureshi tried to dethrone him, but neither could match his calibre.
There have been instances when the actor entered the film industry as a villain, but emerged a hero. Legendary actor Muhammad Ali was introduced as a villain in ‘Chiragh Jalta Raha’ (1962), and it was not until Riaz Shahid's ‘Khamosh Raho’ (1964) that he came be seen as a leading man. Shahid Hameed’s debut performance in ‘Aansoo’ (1971) was praised as that of the badboy hearthrob, despite the presence of Firdous, Nadeem, Allaudin, Deeba and Qavi Khan in the film. Shahid's next films had him in leading roles, but he never returned to playing evil characters. Actor-Producer Humayyun Saeed’s debut feature film had him in a negative role as the obsessive lover in ‘Inteha’ (1999).
Shahid Hameed
As for the other end of the spectrum, the examples of Ilyas Kashmiri, Aslam Pervaiz and Asif Khan are those of leading men who were drawn to the malevolent roles. Ilyas Kashmiri made his debut as a lead in a Punjabi film ‘Mundri’ (1949), but found solace in doing comedy as well as negative roles, seldom playing good guys. Similarly, the handsome actor Aslam Pervaiz was paired with Musarrat Nazir in his debut film ‘Qatil’ (1955), but the wicked roles kept coming, and from ‘Neend’ (1959) till ‘Miss Colombo’ (1984), he was always the one ready to sell out his family, his friends or his country for personal gains. Asif Khan, the good looking ‘import’ from the Pushto film industry, debuted in mainstream film as a lead, yet he was cast as a ‘bad-guy’ for most of his career.
Aslam Parvez
Despite having moral ambiguity and few redeeming features, bad boys have helped the survival of Pakistani films by keeping the audience interested. The meaner the villain, the greater applause he got, and the more tickets would be sold. But the most important feature for the most simplistic of villains, were the skills and talent needed to make that role credible and entertaining. In the early days of the film industry, burnt studios, lack of technicians and shortage of equipment were overcome by the sheer talent of its stars. Now, despite the presence of sophisticated sets and equipment, that talent and understanding of the craft is severely lacking in today’s on-screen bad boys.
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