A legend relives the journey of his life

Veteran artist Muhammad Qavi Khan offers glimpses of his life in a one man stage play ‘Action and Reaction’.

ISLAMABAD:

Veteran artist Muhammad Qavi Khan offered glimpses of his life in a one man stage play ‘Action and Reaction’ that he wrote and enacted before a very receptive audience at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) auditorium on Tuesday evening.

The younger generation which may not have seen his great plays of the black and white days was intrigued by the ease with which he entered one role after another as he narrated the story of his career.

Qavi started his artistic work at a young age from Radio Pakistan Peshawar. From there he rose to stardom television came to Pakistan.

“Action and Reaction” illustrated the ebb and flow of his life. The performance was a recollection of sorts. He shared incidents from his childhood in Peshawar, speaking fondly of places and people like legendary poet Ahmed Faraz that made an impression on his life. The life of make-belief which is what acting is fascinated him. He would watch films and study how the great actors transformed themselves into odd characters in a play.

He married in 1968 and had four children all of whom , instead of following in his footsteps, decided to settle abroad. He travelled the world but found himself bound to his country.

Ultimately after a long acting career in television, theatre and films he landed in the director’s chair. He became obsessed with the idea of making films. But it was a business beyond his creative talent. He was too simple a man for the devious ways of distributors and exhibitors. He lost a great deal of money in this enterprise.

Scenes from his acclaimed works played on a projection screen. The performance was punctuated by situational songs. He would transform into his characters seamlessly and his body language and facial expressions fell in sync, even in mute characterizations.

“It gave me a lot of insight into the personal and professional life of the actor. It left an impact. His passion for acting lends respectability to the profession,” said Nigar Nazar, the first woman cartoonist of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 10^th, 2011.