Famous comedian Lehri remembered

ISLAMABAD: Ace film actor and comedian Safirullah Lehri was remembered on the occasion of his death anniversary.

Safirullah was born on 2 January 1929 in Kanpur. After independence, he along with his family migrated to Pakistan and settled in Karachi. He performed on radio and stage before entering the film industry.

Lehri acted in approximately 225 films and his first film was Anokhi in 1956 , while his last production was Dhanak in 1986. The vast majority of his films had been in Urdu, though he did perform in a few Punjabi productions.

Also, even though he tried his hand at a few serious roles, it was Lehri's comic roles that brought him the highest acclaim.

He won the Nigar Award for best comedian for 11 times for various films between 1964 and 1986.

Lehri's forte was the quip and in his monotone, his audience became used to finding a brand of quiet, almost surreptitious humour. To critics and to his fans, his restrained style came to personify the 'decency' of times gone by. After the mid-1980s, Lehri was reduced to occasional appearances on television and newspaper columns.

He died on September 13, 2012 in Karachi, aged 83, from lung, kidney diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart issues.