Google Doodle honours Moin Akhtar on 71st birth anniversary
Google Doodle has shared an illustration by Lahore-based artist Hazem Asif, to celebrate the 71st birth anniversary of the legendary Moin Akhtar. As per Doodle Archive, Akhtar was a "champion of everyday people" and widely regarded as one of Pakistan’s greatest comedic actors.
Hazem told Doodle, "Never in my life did I think of working as a guest artist for Google Doodle or let alone designing a Doodle for the legendary Moin Akthar. I was not expecting it and when I was approached at first, I felt humbled and honoured. I had already decided that I will put all my heart and soul into creating a perfect tribute to celebrate Moin Akhtar's birthday. Working on this project has been the most rewarding experience of my career to date." He also shared his illustration on Twiiter.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan on this day in 1950, Moin began his stage career at 16 and quickly became known for his masterful impersonations and side-splitting skits. After a breakout 1966 appearance on a popular Pakistani talk show, Akhtar became a household name.
He had mastered several languages and comedic delivery in each. His dedication fuelled the steady success of a four-decade career on both stage and television. Our greatest loss to laughter, Akhtar’s last words, as recorded in an interview with The Express Tribune were: “Everything I did is a part of history now. To live with history is difficult but there will be people, who will say one day, there was a man who did it and did it so differently.”
Master parodist and king of Urdu comedy, the man of a million characters but one identity and that of a true showman, Akhtar was someone who could bring a smile to your face no matter how bad your circumstances. So, from Google, here’s to the many faces of Akhtar and the smiles they brought to fans around the world!
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