Dr Enver Sajjad

Dr Enver Sajjad is no more. His name was his introduction. Even superlatives fail to measure up to the intellectual calibre and the scholarly class that Dr Enver Sajjad belonged to. He was a complete artist, a genuine intellectual and a truly creative soul. A man of many talents, he was a novelist, playwright, actor, director, producer, voice-over artist, columnist, painter, dancer — and a physician as well. It was he who had the honour and the privilege to write the first-ever commissioned play to have been telecast in the sub-continent, in November 1964. Such was his stature in the world of literature that legendary Ashfaq Ahmed once confessed that he learned to write screenplay from him.

With the world now obsessed with technology and innovation, little space is left for literature to thrive — in fact, to even survive. Nowadays, habits and hobbies are driven by passion for money and wealth. The love for literature — scantily capable of bringing affluence for catering to the material needs of the contemporary world — is dimming, therefore. The space for truly gifted individuals, in particular, is sadly shrinking. Aware of the leanings of the new generation, the creator in Dr Enver Sajjad had taken a back seat. And the fast fading love for literature, coupled with the apathy of the ruling lot, ensured that a rare polymath was forgotten years before his death — of lung cancer at the age of 84 in a financially-challenged state.

Dr Enver Sajjad has left us a treasure of art that talks about our society and proposes solutions for its normative problems. Chauraha, Janam Roop, Khushiyon Ka Bagh, and Neeli Note Book are among his books that hardly have a parallel. Some of his notable television plays include Picnic, Raat Ka Pichhla Pehar, Koyal and Yeh Zameen Meri Hai. A Pride of Performance he was awarded with, in 1989, is no match to the genius of the legend who is truly the pride of Urdu literature.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2019.

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