Ejaz Durrani (18 April 1935 – 1 March 2021), known mononymously as Ejaz, was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

film actor, director and producer active from 1956 to 1984. He was married to legendary Pakistani actress-singer

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

. He is mostly remembered for his portrayal of Ranjha in the film ''Heer Ranjha'' (1970). He was especially known for portraying

Punjabi culture Punjabi culture grew out of the settlements along the five rivers (the name ''Punjab'', is derived from two Persian words, ''Panj'' meaning "Five" and ''Âb'' meaning "Water") which served as an important route to the Near East as early as the an ...

folk heroes in epic love stories such as

Heer Ranjha '' Ranjha'' () is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy with many historic poetic narrations; with the first one penned by Damodar Gulati in 1600s, on the preexisting oral legend; and the most famous one, ''Heer'', written by Waris Shah in 17 ...

and

Mirza Sahiban ''Mirza Sahiban'' () is a classical Punjabi folk tragedy, originally recorded in literary form by the 17th-century poet Pilu. Set in a village in Jhang, the tragedy follows the romance between two youths, belonging to chieftain families ...

Life and career

He was born in a village in

Jalalpur Jattan Jalalpur Jattan (, ) is a city in Gujrat District in the province of Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan. It is the centre of Jalalpur Jattan Tehsil and about 50 km from Azad Kashmir, Kashmir. History When Alexander the Great defeated Kin ...

Gujrat District Gujrat ( Punjabi, ) is a district of Gujrat Division in the Pakistani province of Punjab. The Gujrat District was created by the British Government in 1846. According to the 2023 Pakistani census the population of the Gujrat District is 3,219 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

in 1935. He was married to

(21 September 1926 – 23 December 2000) in 1959.Melody Queen Noor Jehan being remembered today
Samaa TV News, Published 21 September 2013, Retrieved 16 February 2020 and had three daughters with her. His three daughters with Noor Jehan are Hina, Shazia and Nazia. They eventually divorced. Noor Jehan got the custody of their daughters and raised them on her own. He later married film actress Firdous.

Legal troubles

Ejaz was detained for smuggling cannabis at the

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport , also colloquially known as London Heathrow Airport and named ''London Airport'' until 1966, is the primary and largest international airport serving London, the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingd ...

. He was arrested and subsequently spent a few years in prison for it.

Filmography

As an actor

As a producer

Some of his hits as a producer are ''Heer Ranjha'' (1970), ''Dosti'' (1971), ''Sholay'' (1984) and ''Maula Bakhsh'' (1988)

Other activities

He was elected as the vice president of the Pakistan Film Producers Association in Pakistan.

References

External links

* 1935 births 2021 deaths Pakistani male film actors Pakistani film producers Foreign nationals imprisoned in the United Kingdom Nigar Award winners People from Gujrat, Pakistan Long stubs with short prose {{Pakistan-film-bio-stub