Sarmad Sehbai (), born 1945,
UrduPoint website, Retrieved 21 October 2021 is 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 ...

poet, playwright, film and theatre director, who has worked in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, Punjabi and English.

Early life and education

He was born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, and pursued his studies at

Government College Lahore The Government College University (colloquially known as GCU; Punjabi, Urdu: ) is a public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded as Government College, Lahore, in 1864 under British administration, it became a university ...

, where he gained recognition for his

Urdu poetry Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

. Actor

Manzar Sehbai Manzar Sehbai (born 19 March 1950) is a Pakistani actor who appears in Lollywood films and serials. He has worked in different drama serials and made his film debut in 2011 with Shoaib Mansoor's '' Bol'' for which he won Lux Style Awards and SA ...

is his brother.

Career

Television and movie scripts

Sarmad first made his career breakthrough in 1968 by getting a job with PTV as a scripts producer. He adapted Manto's ''Naya Qanoon'' and '' Toba Tek Singh'' for

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation (; reporting name: PTV); also known as ''Pakistan Television'', is the Pakistani state-owned broadcasting, broadcaster founded by the Government of Pakistan, operating under the Ministry of Information & Broadc ...

. He wrote the play '' Mor Mahal'' in 2016 for television and the same year produced the script of the film '' Mah e Mir'', Pakistan nomination in the foreign language

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

in the United States.

Poet and playwright

Sarmad Sehbai appeared on the Pakistani literary scene as a poet and made his theatre debut in the early 1970s. His poetry collection includes ''Neeli Kay Su Rung'', ''Un Kahi Baton Ki Thakan'', ''Mulaqat'', ''Raja ka Beya''. He wrote theater play ''The Dark Room'', two Punjabi-language plays ''Panjawan Chiragh'', ''Auss Gali Na Jaween'' and a documentary ''Mughals of the Road''.

Novelist

In late 2024 Sarmad Sehbai released his first English-language novel, ''The Blessed Curse'', a fiction which serves as a satire on the contemporary conditions of Pakistan, and it received critical acclaim from writers such as Mohammed Hanif and

Mohsin Hamid Mohsin Hamid (; born 23 July 1971) is a British Pakistani novelist, writer and brand consultant. His novels are '' Moth Smoke'' (2000), ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' (2007), '' How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia'' (2013), '' Exit West'' ( ...

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award for Literature by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

in 2021.(Associated Press of Pakistan
President confers civil awards
Dawn (newspaper), Published 24 March 2021, Retrieved 22 October 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sehbai, Sarmad Living people 1945 births Pakistani poets Pakistani dramatists and playwrights Pakistani novelists Pakistani television writers Government College University, Lahore alumni Recipients of the Pride of Performance