Dareechah-e-Nigaarish

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Shahid Mahmood Nadeem: Playwright/Director

Shahid Mahmood Nadeem (1947- ) is a brilliant Urdu playwright and director of many cutting edge political satire Urdu TV plays which are popular and are hot favorites of millions of Pakistanis. He is married to the very talented actress Madeeha Gohar and together they have spearheaded the writing, direction and production of many avant garde plays as well as the popularization of Street Theatre in Pakistan.

Zard Doephar is a Pakistan Television Corporation play written and directed by Shahid Mahmood Nadeem. It was broadcast originally in 1995 and recounts how Pakistan's ISI Generals create "political leaders" (puppet leaders who are manipulated all the time by the Pakistan Army and the Establishment) by recruiting from the upper middle class of Pakistan. These puppet leaders are lured by promises of wealth and power.

Watch the Urdu political satire TV play Zard Dopehar written and directed by Shahid Mahmood Nadeem at YouTube by clicking the link embedded in the play's title here.

Bio Sketch of Shahid Mahmood Nadeem

courtesy of Wikipedia

Early life

Shahid Mahmood Nadeem was born to a Muslim family in 1947 during the partitioning of British India in Kashmir; he later settled in Lahore, Punjab.^[4]

Career

Shahid Mahmood Nadeem started his career as a human rights and social activist in Lahore. Shahid was imprisoned three times viz. first, at the age of 32 in 1969, then in 1970 and finally during the cruel Gen. Ziaul Haq's Martial Law in 1979 for his political activism.^[4]^[5] In 1980 he was forced into exile. He lived abroad in London where he worked eight years for Amnesty International from 1980 to 1988 and later from 1991 to 1993 in Hong Kong and finally in Los Angeles.^[4]

Nadeem has directed and written several plays for theatres, also directed and written television serials mostly for PTV.^[6]^[7] His plays are originally written in Urdu and Punjabi languages while others are adaptations of English plays.^[4]

He also worked for some newspapers like The Express Tribune.^[8]

In 1995 Nadeem directed and wrote two television serials for Pakistan Television Corporation, one is a political drama television serial Zard Dopehar which aired on PTV, starred Shujaat Hashmi and Samina Peerzada. The serial was about a corrupt political figure grown up in a middle class family.^[9] The other television serial is Uraan which also aired in the same year on PTV and earned great ratings and audiences. This serial was about the Pakistani Aviation which showed the culture and management of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). It was shot mostly at the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and covered the flights went or came from different countries. Some of its parts also shot in Kathmandu, London, Nairobi, New York City and Paris. The serial was lead starred by Shakeel as a PIA aircraft Captain and Faryal Gohar as Senior Flight Purser.^[10]

Nadeem also wrote a hit comedy television series Janjaal Pura for PTV during 2000s. The serial was directed by Tariq Jamil and lead starred by Savera Nadeem, Mehmood Aslam and Naseem Vicky.^[11]

On 23 August 2008 Alhamra Arts Council hosted the launch of Selected Plays published by Oxford University Press (OUP) with the help of Ajoka.^[5] The book contains seven of his famous plays Teesri Dastak, Barri, Aik Thi Nani, Kala Meda Bhes, Dukhini, Bulha and Burqavaganza.^[12] The book again launched at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), Islamabad on 25 August 2008 with the help of Pakistan Academy of Letters.^[13] His book, Selected Plays, a collection of his six famous plays in an English translation was published by OUP in August 2008.^[14] Two collections of his Urdu and Punjabi plays have been published.^[4]

In 2012 Nadeem wrote a play Kaun Hai Yeh Gustakh,^[15] directed by Madeeha Gauhar and first played at Alhamra Arts Council, Lahore on 14 December 2012 by Ajoka Theater group. The play is based on the life of Saadat Hassan Manto, and was well-received by audiences. Manto was played by Naseem Abbas.^[16] In January 2013 the play was presented at the Akshara Theatre in New Delhi, India.^[17] The play was due to be presented at the National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi but was cancelled due to security concerns.^[18] In February 2013 play was held at Nishtar Hall, Peshawar by Ajoka.^[19]

In 2013 Nadeem started writing the script for the television serial Main Manto based on the real life of Saadat Hasan Manto. The series is directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat,^[20] with Sarmad Khoosat playing the lead; he is supported by Mahira Khan and Saba Qamar. The serial is currently filming in Lahore.^[2]

Personal life

Nadeem has a daughter Savera Nadeem from his first marriage. Savera is a television actress.^[7] Later Nadeem married Madeeha Gauhar and has two sons,Sarang and 'Nirvaan'. Nadeem and Gauhar first met in London when Shahid was working at Amnesty International and Gauhar was a studying on a scholarship from the British Council.^[21]