Moin Akhtar Lives in the Hearts of Common Pakistanis
Celebrity or not, close family members always feel extreme pain in an event of a death. Strange thing is that why common Pakistanis are feeling such pain on Moin�s death? Apart from family members and now Moin Akhtar, the only other time I felt the same way was on hearing the news of Bob Woolmer�s untimely death.
The answer is very simple � we (public in Pakistan and Pakistanis abroad) connected with the likes of Bob Woolmer and Moin Akhtar.
Comedian, actor (theatre, television, films), host, not-a-bad singer, Moin was an artist, full stop. A performer of supreme quality. I don�t know but feel that his talent was probably Anwar Maqsood�s biggest motivation to write. I sincerely hope and wish that he continues to write.
Moin played thousands of characters on screen and it is hard to pick which one we like more than the rest. My personal favorites are Gulab Khan � the mini bus driver, the poet in half plate and of course Rosy. His performance is Rosy would do world�s better actors proud.
He received plethora of awards including the Pride of Performance from the Government of Pakistan, though in my opinion the love and affection he got from us (public) was no lesser prize � we absolutely loved him and will continue to do so.
Glued to Television screen here in UK, we watched fellow Pakistanis mourning Moin�s death. During a special transmission on a private TV channel, there were some of Moin�s friends and colleagues who were all praise for him and why not? This was a death of a great artist, a great man.
We saw Umar Shareef in tears, almost choked, gave Moin all the credit of his own success. We all love Umar and we have a different level of respect for him now.
The only predicament during this otherwise wonderful transmission was the host�s brother who called in and as always wasn�t in a mood to let an opportunity of self-promotion go by (a legend died, even better) � No Sir, we don�t see Moin in you, not even an iota of Moin. This would be an outright insult to the great man.
Now the most important part � how to continue Moin�s legacy? If Sindh government wants to name a road, bridge after him or build a monument then please do. However what will be fitting is to start an academy which will serve this nation.
Make no mistake, there will not be another Moin Akhtar, but if this academy produces one artist half as good as Moin then we should consider ourselves fortunate. May I also request that we rename National Arts Council in Karachi and/or Alhamra in Lahore after Moin. There was a talk of renaming National Stadium Karachi after Bob Woolmer but nothing materialized.
I also request (Imran, MQM, Sindh Government, anyone?) that a fund is set up with public contribution to help the struggling artists. It was heart breaking to hear Lehri saying that Moin was supporting him financially. People like Lehri are our national assets and deserve better.
Moin Akhtar will always remain in his eternal place � that is the hearts of common Pakistanis. Rest in peace.moin akhtar www.pakpositive.com