Sultan Rahi ( ur, ﺳﻠﻄﺎﻥ ﺭﺍﮨﯽ ; June 24, 1938 – January 9, 1996) was a Pakistani actor, producer and screenwriter. He established himself as one of the leading and most successful actors of Pakistani and Punjabi cinema, and received a reputation as Pakistan's "

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...

". During a career spanning 40 years, he acted in some 703 Punjabi films and 100 Urdu films, winning around 160 awards. Rahi earned two

Nigar Awards The Nigar Awards ( ur, , translit=Inʿām Negār, lit=Picture Awards) were presented in an annual award show to recognize outstanding achievement in Pakistani cinema. The honors are awarded by Nigar Magazine founded in 1948. The Nigar Awards ...

for his work in ''Babul'' (1971) and ''Basheera'' (1972). In 1975 he portrayed the character of Maula Jatt in ''Wehshi Jatt'', winning his third Nigar Award. He reprised the role in its sequel '' Maula Jatt''. Some of his other films include '' Sher Khan'', ''Chan Veryam'', ''Kaley Chore'', ''The Godfather'', '' Sharif Badmash'' and ''Wehshi Gujjar''.

Life and career

Rahi was born in

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, in 1938 to an

Arain Arain (also known as Raeen) are a large Punjabi agricultural tribe with strong political identity and organisation, found mainly in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Sindh with a small population in parts of Indian Punjab, Uttar Pradesh ...

family during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. His father,

Subedar Major Subedar Major is the senior-most rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian and Pakistani Armies, formerly known as the Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History During the British Raj, Subedar-Major was the hi ...

Abdul Majeed, was a retired officer from the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which cou ...

. He began his film career in 1959 as a guest actor in the film ''Baghi''. His first breakthrough came with the film ''

Wehshi Jatt ''Wehshi'' is an Urdu novel by Pakistani author Razia Butt. The novel revolves around the dysfunctional relation of a son with his mother and stepfather. The novel has been adapted into a film in 1972 and aTV series in 2022. Synopsis The nove ...

'' (1975). This was the unofficial prequel to '' Maula Jatt'' (1979). ''Maula Jatt'' was released on 11 February 1979, which became his most successful Pakistani film. His other works include ''

Behram Daku ''Behram Daku'' (Punjabi: ) is a 1980 Pakistani Punjabi language action film, directed by Rauf Abbasi and produced by Khawaja Feroz Din. Film starring actor Sultan Rahi in the lead role, with Aasia and Allauddin, Talish. Cast * Sultan Rahi ...

'' (1980), ''Sher Khan'' (1981), '' Sala Sahib'' and ''

Ghulami ''Ghulami'' () is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by J. P. Dutta (in his directorial debut). The film has an ensemble cast comprising Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Mazhar Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, Reen ...

'' (1985). Sultan Rahi appeared in key roles in over 535 films.

Family

He had five children, of which one, Haider Sultan, is also an actor.

Death

On 9 January 1996, Rahi and his friend Ahsan, a film director, were travelling from

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...

on the main highway in Pakistan,

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

. Their vehicle got a flat tyre near Aimanabad Chungi, not far from Gujranwala. While they were installing a spare tyre, thieves approached the vehicle and tried to rob them. Rahi and his friend were both shot; Rahi eventually succumbed to his wounds, dying as a result.

Legacy

Rahi worked in the Punjabi film industry for over four decades. He was the highest paid Pakistani actor of his time. He was named in

the Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

as the most prolific actor. Director Altaf Hussain told media about his death and added that "I think such actors are only born once. He was a trendsetter – his films were copied in other countries but no one was able to perform like him."

Bahar Begum Bahar Begum (born Kishwar Begum; ) is an actress best known for many Pakistani movies since 1956. She was first introduced to the Pakistani film industry by the renowned film director Anwar Kamal Pasha in film Chann Mahi (1956). Anwar Kamal ...

reacted by saying: "I remember Sultan always saying that this industry will miss him when he’s gone but at the time, I don’t think we fully understood what he meant, but he truly proved his worth, There was only one Sutlan Rahi in Lollywood and there will always be one Sultan Rahi – no one can replace him". Mustafa Qureshi commented that "Our onscreen chemistry was unique in a number of ways. Our pairing was the most popular film partnership throughout Lollywood's history, It’s true, there will never be another Sultan Rahi, ever. Everything he earned was a result of sheer hard work and talent". Film director Pervaiz Rana added: "Even though we are still making Punjabi films and many new heroes have entered and left the industry, I don’t think the golden era of Sultan Rahi will ever come back. His dialogues are etched in our hearts and memories, It’s the country’s love for Sultan that continues to reflect in his pictures and posters being plastered in shops and on buses."

Awards and honours

;

Won * Nigar Awards 1971 - Special Award for ''Babul''Sultan Rahi's Nigar Award (1971) on cineplot.com website
Retrieved 6 June 2019 * Nigar Awards 1972 -

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

for ''Basheera''Sultan Rahi's Nigar Award (1972) on cineplot.com
Retrieved 6 June 2019 * Nigar Awards 1975 -

for ''

Filmography

Bibliography

Zāhid ʻAkāsī, Sult̤ān Rāhī : Pākistānī filmon̲ kā sult̤ān, Lahore : Jumhuri Publications, 2019 (reprint of the 2010 edition), 169 p. Biography.

References

External links

*
Filmography of Sultan Rahi on Complete Index To World Film (CITWF) website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahi, Sultan 1938 births 1996 deaths 20th-century Pakistani male actors Male actors from Rawalpindi Nigar Award winners Pakistani male film actors Pakistani film producers Pakistani screenwriters Pakistani stunt performers Male actors in Punjabi cinema Punjabi people Male actors in Urdu cinema Deaths by firearm in Pakistan Assassinated Pakistani people 20th-century screenwriters