Rozi Haroon:The cross dresser we’ll never forget

My ‘Rozi’ was the talk of the town, said Moin Akhtar in one of his most recent interviews with The Express...

KARACHI:

Moin Akhtar left us with many sad faces around but his character of Rozi Haroon still lives in our hearts and this person singlehandedly created a cult by dressing up as a woman. Impersonating as a woman has been a trend in the global media, from Dustin Hoffman as Tootsie to Robin Williams as Mrs Doubtfire and Kamal Hassan as Chachi 420. But for an actor to pull that off in the 90s in Pakistan was more than just a daunting task.

Rozi was a local adaptation of the Hollywood classic Tootsie in which Dustin Hoffman plays a talented but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult forces him to go to extreme lengths to land a job. Hoffman plays the perfectionist — a jobless actor who is looking out for a role but doesn’t get it. In desperation, he dresses as a woman and auditions as “Dorothy Michaels” and wins the part of a female character.

In the local tele-theatre adaptation, Haroon played by Moin Akhtar auditions as Rozi Haroon and wins the role of a hospital matron. And, as Rozi, he becomes a famous actress. As himself, he still remains a nobody. The woman he loves (Fazeela Qazi) doesn’t want to be around him but strikes a chord with Rozi. The character sticks to his female avatar in order to be in his loved one’s company. It soon becomes even more hilarious when the girl’s father falls for Rozi.

“Rozi” was written by Imran Aslam. The play was directed by Saira Kazmi and the other cast members included Frieha Altaf, Lateef Kapadia, Akbar Subhani and Fazeela Qazi

“My ‘Rozi’ was the talk of the town. A man becoming a woman is never acceptable in the society. I did it so gracefully,” Moin Akhtar had proudly told The Express Tribune recently.

Indeed it was more than just “graceful”. Rozi did become the talk of the town. Be it husbands, wives , grandparents or children — all of them considered “Rozi” the perfect enrtertinment.

The play’s outclass characterisation and acting became a hallmark in the history of Pakistan television.

“Rozi” was not a comedy of errors and neither was it just a mere case of cross dressing and people laughing at it. In fact, Rozi Haroon had a bigger purpose as through the impersonation, Haroon lives a life of a true actor by considering the world around him a stage and acting like a perfect woman.

The play starts with Akhtar teaching acting to others and talking about the greater realities of life , explaining how by thinking you are depressed you can never become a depressed person. He advocates in the beginning that the world is a stage and to play your roles perfectly, you need to feel every bit of life. No one knew back then that his character of a struggling actor would actually make him reach all the pinnacles of the craft that he was practising in that story world.

People drew comparisons of him and Hoffman’s performance and many thought that Moin Akhtar as Rozi Haroon was the best this character could get.

“I was at the American Embassy for the processing of my visa. On my turn, the lady at the counter did not ask the routine investigation questions.
I asked her the reason and she said: “There is no interview for the entertainers of this country. I saw your play ‘Rozi’ and you were 100 times better than Dustin Hoffman.”Now there has never been a more credible comment coming my way than this one,” Akhtar told The Express Tribune in an interview.



Published in The Express Tribune, April 24^th, 2011.=