“By chance, a famous film producer was also present in the waiting area and Waheed put him on the spot by asking if
he had a role for him for Javed Sheikh’s father in his movie. The producer had a difficult time dodging Waheed.”
–Ilyas Rasheedi – 1983

He was a ladykiller, a “chocolate man” and a true legendary hero of the Pakistani film industry. There is no Pakistani actor to date, known to have won the hearts of its people and achieved overnight fame but, Waheed Murad. Waheed was born in Sialkot to a film distributor. He graduated from the University of Karachi with a Masters in English and was the first Pakistani actor to have attained this qualification. He started off his career in 1961 as a film producer. With encouragement from friends, he switched to acting and appeared in his first film “Heera aur pathar” in 1964 with a lead role. This earned him his first Nigar award in the category for best actor. His second film was a romantic story, “Armaan” that became a box office hit in 1966 earning him huge fame and another award for best actor. Subsequently, Waheed went on to work in more films alongside popular actresses of the time such as Zeba, Nisho, Shabnam, Deeba and Babra Sharif. In his 25-year career, he earned huge success and critical acclaim. His acting was rather unique with naughty facial gestures, bold romanticism and attractive performance style. He had a charming personality with tender voice and a lot of talent. He is the only actor of the Pakistani film industry to secure the highest number of platinum, diamond, golden and silver jubilees. He is also considered to be one of the most influential actors of South Asia. The late years of Waheed’s life were characterised by his depression and addiction to drugs. Then one night, in 1983, at the age of 45, Waheed was found dead in a room where he was staying over for a night. This sent a shock to his fans in Pakistan and abroad and was a great loss to the film industry. He was survived by his wife, a daughter and a son. Long after his death, Waheed’s name does not leave the hearts of his admirers. His hair cut, dressing style and even his conversation style are still very popular among the youth.