Already missing Jamshed
By OMAIR ALAVI
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If those with a talent to make others laugh left later than the rest, then Jamshed Ansari might never have left this world. He was a master comedian, a dependable actor and a great human being who made his audiences laugh for nearly 40 years. His fan following is so huge that people remember him more as the various characters he portrayed than as Jamshed Ansari the person. Be it Timmy of Ankahi, Safdar saheb of Kiran Kahani, Hasnat Bhai of Uncle Urfi or Buqrat of Tanhayiaan, the late actor was a class act, a person who knew what the director wanted, enacted what the writer imagined and delivered what the viewers expected.
Born on December 31, 1942, at Saharanpur in India, Jamshed migrated to Pakistan with his family soon after Partition. After working in more than 300 TV plays, nine films and numerous stage and radio plays, he breathed his last in the early hours of August 24, 2005, losing his fight against brain tumour. He had the honour of working with the best TV directors — the late Mohsin Ali, late Shereen Khan, Shoaib Mansoor, Zaheer Khan, Qasim Jalali, Haider Imam Rizvi, Syed Ameer Imam and Iqbal Latif — mostly for PTV during his illustrious career that spanned four decades.
Jamshed started his career during the 1960s by working in some plays for BBC while doing GCE and TV production certificate courses in London at a time when TV was in its infancy in Pakistan. His credentials, during his four-year stay in London, before returning to Pakistan in 1968, also included a stage play written by the great Shaukat Thanvi, Sunta Nahin Hoon Baat, besides some more plays for BBC. He made his PTV debut on his return with Lahore TV’s Jharokay while Syed Ameer Imam introduced him in Agha Nasir’s Ghora Ghaas Khata Hai, which was his first Karachi TV play. Thus began his lifelong relationship with Karachi TV.
Although Jamshed Ansari won more than 50 national awards the quality of his work and the characters he portrayed to utter perfection are his biggest achievements. It is through them that he will always be remembered
It was soon discovered that Jamshed had a flair for comedy and the first one to use his talent as a comic actor was Haseena Moin for the role of the unsuccessful Romeo, Safdar saheb, in Kiran Kahani and then as Hasnat Bhai, who threatened all with his pocketknife by saying “Chakku hai mere paas (I’ve got a knife) in Uncle Urfi. When Mohsin Ali and Shoaib Mansoor were making Ankahi, again for Haseena Moin, no actor could have come to their minds for the role of Timmy than Jamshed who once again played the role to perfection. In the presence of stalwarts like Javed Sheikh, Behroze Sabzwari, Shakeel and the late Saleem Nasir, Jamshed outshone all with his brilliant “Kya aap waaqi sanjeeda hain?” act which made Ankahi one of his best plays to date.
Director Shehzad Khalil then cast him as the highly intellectual servant Buqrat again in Haseena Moin’s Tanhayiaan, working under the worst lady boss Apa Bi (Azra Sherwani) but still getting the last word in an argument with “Kehne main kya harj hai” (what harm is there in saying). Buqrat was considered a confidante by Apa Bi’s brother Faran (Qazi Wajid) and his secretary Qabacha (Behroze Sabzwari) and it was the interesting dialogues between Qabacha and Buqrat that added colour to the evergreen play. Playing the gardener in Zaheer Khan’s Kohr was probably his last great role in a Haseena Moin play, although he made an appearance in the remake of Kiran Kahani as Mamoon in the 1990s. In Moin Akhtar’s stage show, Yes Sir No Sir, written by Manzar Imam in 1988, he made a formidable team with the late Afreen Baig as the two appeared at the end of each episode and played skits, mocking all the guests invited in the weekly programme.
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Jamshed Ansari was a regular feature in TV serials, long plays and stage programmes of Anwar Maqsood and Athar Shah Khan. It was his association with Haseena Moin that saw him deliver the best roles of his enchanting career. His most famous plays included Kiran Kahani, Uncle Urfi, Zair Zabr Pesh, Silver Jubilee, Shosha, Ankahi, Tanhayiaan, Yes Sir No Sir, Kohr, Half Plate, Rafta Rafta, etc. Haider Imam Rizvi’s Mah-i-Neem Shab was his last appearance on PTV while Chand Babu, one of his last plays, is being aired on TV these days.
Jamshed also tried his hand at acting in films but besides bagging a role in Jan Mohammad’s surprise comedy hit Dekha Jaye Ga in 1976 where he and Shahid were shown to be pals in distress due to ‘abundance’ of money given to them by Babra’s father (played by Lehri), he never got a challenging role, bowing out of Lollywood after a total of nine films which included hits such as Deewar and Sharmeeli.
“Zindagi aik moamma hai, jis ka hal kahin kho chuka hai” (life is a mystery, the solution of which has been lost), one of the most serious dialogue uttered by Jamshed in Tanhayiaan, perhaps best describes his life and career. Although he never had the chance to do serious roles, except for one in Kohr and in private plays towards the end of his career, he managed to carve a niche for himself in whatever roles were put before him.
Jamshed was one of those actors who are born rarely and although he won more than 50 national awards, including the Graduate Award and the Quaid-i-Azam Award, the quality of his work and the characters he portrayed to utter perfection are his biggest achievements. It is through them that he will always be remembered.