His real name was Rafi Khawar but he was commonly known as Nanna and was a renowned comedy actor of Pakistani films and Television. His first Urdu film was ‘Watan ka Sipahi’, released in 1966. He went on to work in over 350 films in Urdu and Punjabi.
He was regarded as an exceptional comedy talent. For many years, he was the star of the hit TV show “Alif Noon” that ran successfully telecasted during the 70s and 80s. Nanna started his career from Radio Pakistan Lahore’s comedy program ‘Dum baaz dum saaz’ in 1964. Nanna got breakthrough from film Noukar in 1975. He was hero in film Tehka Pehlwan in 1979 and same year his film Dubai Chalo was super hit on box office. His pair with Ali Ejaz was popular since film Insaniyat (1967 film). He worked in over three hundred and fifty films in Urdu and Punjabi. He was regarded as an exceptional comedy talent and people throughout the country still remember his hit serial “Alif Noon” with Kamal Ahmed Rizvi for a very long time. Nanna died on June 2, 1986 in Lahore. Meanwhile, the death anniversary of eminent singer Mujeeb Alam is also being observed on Monday (June 2).
Alam sang around 750 songs. The song that brought him overnight fame was ‘Wo meray samnay tasweer banay baithay hain’ of the film Chakori. Alam won the Nigar Award, the most prestigious film gong in Pakistan, for the song. His film Shama and Perwana also made him popular for its hit songs such as ‘Mein teiray ajnabi sheher mein’. Film Anjaan’s song ‘Khuda kabhi na keray’ was another big hit, as were his vocal performances in Maan Baita, Awara and Lori. Alam is also popular for his romantic songs like ‘Khuda nay husn diya bay mesaal tujhay’ of film Hatim Tai, and for duets with most leading female singers of his time. He also won a Nigar Award for a song about love for the mother, ‘Aye maan teri soorat kay Aagay’ in film Qulli. –radio.gov
