Sultan Rahi & Anjuman

Superstars have often faced this problem that while they march steadily on, lesser mortals who may be their partners, get old or tired or flopped, to leave their side. Mega-star, Sultan Rahi faced this dilemma twice or thrice in his career, not only with his heroine, but with his opposite number, Mustafa Qureshi. Rahi could never find a brilliant pair as Mustafa Qureshi, all through the rest of his career. But as far as heroines are concerned, he was fortunate that when Aasia and Mumtaz started to fade during the mid-1980, Rahi already had a ready-made female lead of immense caliber with him. That was Anjuman, who had ventured successfully into Punjabi movies after her early stint in Urdu films during the early 1980’s.

The film that put her immediately into top gear was Younus Malik’s Sher Khan in 1981. Sultan Rahi and Anjuman looked good together. They proved virtual conquerors of the big screen. Their next films like Sala Saheb, Chan Varyam, Jeedar etc, were all hits. Anjuman was a tall Multani specimen of womanhood. Her voice had that special Khanak and audio level that suited both cinemas, the Urdu and the Punjabi. She had already looked good with Mohammed Ali in a few Urdu movies, and then with her typical gestures in Punjabi films, she just took Lollywood by storm. By this time, Rahi had had some 20 years in the industry and looked fit for another 20. As Chakori, Mumtaz and Anujuman were the only heroines on the circuit; Rahi was paired more often with Anjuman.

Film actresses in the subcontinent, willingly or unwillingly, are taught to play up to their heroes. Usually in such cases, an affinity evolves and sometimes, it leads to romance and affairs. This wasn’t the case with Anjuman. For ten to twelve years, there wasn’t any stopping to the Rahi-Anjuman duo. But in 1990, another Amazonian called Saima entered the fray and within the next 3 to 4 years, she was rivaling Anjuman for the number of films she was doing with Sultan Rahi. Moreover, Saima developed romantic leaning with Rahi and it was rumored that they had secretly married. Later, the same year, Rahi was killed coming back from Islamabad, in a car, and as always the murder case was sidelined because there were big political names involved. Anjuman continued for sometime but she had grown flabby and lost her popularity to Saima and the rise of the younger breed like Reema, Meera, Resham and others. She tried desperately for comeback in 1999, with Chaudhrani, which was a hit, but no other film could do the same business.

Maula Jatt (1979)

There is no need to go into the story, a gandasa, a howling musical note, fits of staccato laughter and the dialogue are the only things you need to savour the very essence of Maula Jatt. Memorably scripted by Nasir Adib, and directed with a contagiously maddening, no-holds-barred approach by Yunus Malik, Maula Jatt was made in 1979, and then never forgotten. What you do need to know is that ultimately, Maula Jatt is all about how there is no Yin without the Yang, the eternal struggle between good and evil.

Sultan Rahi as Maula Jatt is the good. Literally the mama’s boy – infamously appearing out of nowhere when his mother, at the top of her lungs, shouts his name, Maula likes to growl, scowl and yell maniacally and when the time comes – which it does, in abundance- Maula likes to shed a lot of blood and enjoys ripped off limbs flying in the air and bits of human intestines dangling from his gandasa, all in the name of honour, justice and the Punjabi way. Mustafa Qureshi (in the role of a lifetime) as Noorie Nath is the evil. A demented sadomasochist like no other, his entry is the tale of legends. We are introduced to a close-up of his foot wrapped in chains, the howling musical note, the staccato laughter and then the most menacing yet hilarious entry dialogue known to man: “Nawa ayah ain soneya?” And if we weren’t having enough fun, Chakori, as Daro Nathni, gives a spectacular performance, probably the best of her career as the sister of Noorie Nath who is as at least as demented and psychotic as her brother.

What you need to remember by heart-as many do- are the confrontations between Maula Jatt and Noorie Nath where both exchange booming one liners, the juggat as well as a number of high pitched war cries, the barrak both unique to Punjabi culture. Ok, the visual style might give some a headache-the sudden close-ups, the whiplash pan – which is very popular in Indian soap-operas today. The production values are horrible and the sound is pathetic, but who can deny the sheer menace of Noorie Nath, the electric chemistry between Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi, the last fight -where Maula Jatt slaughters at least a hundred men, and made a diehard fan exclaim that it inspired the makers of Matrix 2 to do the same with Neo – and the dialogue, which if nothing else, is street poetry (Rating – 2 OUT OF 5)

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1979, Genre – Action, Country – Pakistan, Language – Punjabi, Producer – Sarwar Bhatti, Director – Yunus Malik, Music Director – Inayat, Cast – Sultan Rahi, Mustafa Qureshi, Chakori, Aasiya, Kaifi, Adeeb

Sultan Rahi

The late documentary film maker Mushtaq Guzdar in his chronicle on Pakistan cinema noted that the cinema of Pakistan claimed distinction for itself with three factors: the number of songs Madame Noorjehan contributed; the number of stories writer Nasir Adeeb was credited with; and the number of films Sultan Rahi acted in. During his 28 years long career, Sultan acted in over 300 films and during a period in 1980′s almost monopolized Punjabi films with fellow cohorts Mustufa Qureshi and Anjuman who acted in about 80% of the punjabi films made. Madam Noor Jahan often lilted in the back ground. The chemistry between the trio virtually ruled the punjabi film scene for over a decade with absolute no competition, just as Nadeem, Shabnam and Babra Sharif ruled Urdu films. The 1980′s were actually marked by the rise of the gun-toting, law-defying ‘Sultan Rahi Phenomenon’ of punjabi films. These movies forever changed the face and timbre of Pakistani cinema.

The problem with Sultan Rahi era however, was that he dominated it absolutely. No other actor was allowed to exist while he was around; the only actresses who thrived were heroines he favored, with Anjuman heading the list with Saima, (who was rumored to be married to him,) coming a close second and Aasiya and Mumtaz appearing in his earlier films. Scripts were altered to suit him, and directors were fired if he didn’t like their vision. Critics also blame the demise of comedy in Pakistani cinema to Sultan.

Sultan didn’t understand the comedy and during his reign it gradually disappeared from Pakistani films. ‘The Tiger of Punjab’ began his career as an extra in the 50′s with mute roles, often standing still as a guard, toting a sword and a shield. These include roles in films like Baghawat, Shahi Mehal and Aadil. In the early 70′s he was noticed in the Punjabi film ‘Janj’ (literally Barat) but it was in Rangeela’s 1970′s Urdu film ‘Dil Aur Dunya’ where Sultan plays a Seraiki jailbird from Multan, that he made an impact. Real stardom came with Aslam Dar’s1974 massive hit, Basheera, where Sultan played a central role. Sikhs are still enamored of this film for it’s strong ethnic message. Sultan also made a quite impact in director M.A Rasheed’s mainstream film, ‘Rastay Ka Pathar’ (1976) with Waheed Murad and Nisho. However the film that literally rocked the nation and characterized Sultan’s persona was 1979′s ‘Maula jat’ which was released on February 11,1979 and immortalized Sultan as an icon. It was a bloody revenge saga of Maula Jat (Sultan Rahi) and Noori Nat (Mustufa Qureshi) that captured the imagination of the rural population who made up the majority of Punjabi films-goers. The movie opened in Punjab to a disastrous response and was soon shut. However Odeon cinema in Karachi decided to reshow the movie for a week. It was suddenly a huge hit and kept showing to great public demand. Perhaps the story of two warring men reflected the ire and frustration that the Pakistani populace felt towards General Zia’s April 1979 assassination of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Sultan also made some what bizarre Daliesque films such as 1980′s Hitler with Mustufa Qureshi, Anjuman, Bahar and Zamarrud. The premise of director Idrees Khan’s ridiculously kitschy film was that Hitler never died, but escaped to the Punjab heartland with an astonishingly dashing Titan like Sultan promising to battle against the forces of injustice and brutality that Hitler’s son’s regime perpetuates. Some sparks flew in the grueling scenes between Mustufa Qureshi and Sultan Rahi, but the film flopped.

The moderately successful Dum Mast Qalander with Anjuman, Sidra and Mohammed Ali was realized posthumously in 1997. One wonders what sort of roles Sultan would be offered today, if he were alive. Would he accept playing the guiding father to today’s leading action heroes, Shaan ,Moammar Rana, Babar Ali and Saud? One thinks he would still want to be a center stage, roaring his Punjabi expletives!