It was during the recording of AFSHAN at PTV-K’s studio ‘B’ that I first met the young, charming and robust Shafi Muhammad Shah. My segments of the three episodes as an African State Sheikh…were however not with him but with Shakeel & Tahira Wasti. But the entire & huge cast always were together as Bajya always wanted everyone remain as close as she wants even now.
That particular scene when I met Shafi…was perhaps the most powerful one of AFSHAN. It shows him consoling his sister (Ayesha Khan) in a tense situation and so powerful and well delivered were Shafi’s dialogues that whenever I met Shafi…I use to talk about it…and so did he.
Thereafter…on account of a very good chemistry…Shafi & myself got well together–whenever we did plays and serials.
It was during 35 days shoot of CHAHATAIN at Malaysia that I came to know Shafi even better.
He was literally a faqeer at heart. Highky caring, very concerned and going an extra mile for anyone in need of counseling or assistance–be it financially also. He feared GOD and always talked good of everyone. Never once did I hear him talk ill of any of his colleagues or friends. He never looked or eyed any female artiste out of the norm. He never participated in any discussion he thought was a back-biting one on anyone.
SHAFI MUHAMMAD SHAH was a jewel. His acting talents were par excellence. His performance in CHAND GIRHAIN took him to the heights I had predicted to him when I saw the promo with him & Sohail Asghar as Huma Nawab specially invited me for the same.
At Kuala Lumpur…I did over 40 scenes with him. We joked, we danced, we laughed and we could never end wisecracks on each other which became an after-recording routine at the behest of Humayun, Ahsaan Zaidi, Atiqa, Uzma Aapa & Vinny…and we heard him tell tales of his Lahore movie days—how he handled Nadeem and Waheed Murad and how he made his way at Lollywood and called it a day…
During 43rd birthday of PTV at convention centre-Islamabad recently..his son who came to receive Shafi’s LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, sat next to me, Shoaib Mansoor and Anwar Maqsood. Such a fine lad this young boy is. When he went to receive the award from Prez. Musharraf…Moin Akhtar walked an extra mile and requested the President of Pakistan to assist Shafi’s son pursue his higher studies abroad…which the President happily agreed and there and then instructed his MS to proceed with the acceptance of application by forwarding it to Dr. Atta at HEC.
The legacy which Shafi leaves behind…the memories which Shafi left behind…will be cherished not by those who worked with him but by those viewers who had received a different taste and rejoiced his acting talents which were almost natural with a real sense and feeling of reality.
**I received Shafi’s sad demise’ news from Sadia Imam via sms right when myself, Maria Wasti, Nabeel, Ismat Zaidi, Qazi Waji, Ayesha Sana, Mona Lisa & Munawwar Saeed were busy recording at Edinburgh…and it was like we ALL were stunned! a silence prevailed for almost an hour when we all just looked at each other’s face in bewilderedment. I saw tears in Ismat’s eyes ***(her current serial of GEO by Yasir Nawaz paired her with Shafi)*and it was unbelievable the fact…that SHAFI is no more.
A huge vaccum has been created with Shafi’s demise at Pak-Showbiz.
ALLAH USSAY KARWAT KARWAT JANNAT NASEEB KARAY (A’meen)
-Raju Jamil
