April 25th, 2010

Talish

Talish

Talish

He was a man who knew how to conserve his energies! He was a sensitive actor who brought to his roles a flair of literary nuances. He may have got a taste for this oeuvre while living and working in Bombay, where he kept the company of literary stalwarts like Krishan Chandra. Talish also worked for Peshawar radio where he learned to vary the tone of his voice and accent. One of Talish’s earliest movies in Bombay was Saraiy Ke Bahar, in Pakistan one of his most outstanding earlier roles was in Saat Lakh with Sabiha and Santosh in the late ‘50s. Talish made his presence felt with the drunken ditty, “Yaaron Mujhe Maaf Rukho Main Nashe Main Hoon.” It was an amazing performance, especially for a censored Pakistani cinema. Although, he became revered as one of Pakistani cinema’s most respected character actors, many lay people (that common breed who eschew making a habit of watching Pakistani films) may remember actor Talish (Agha Ali Abbas) from a television ad campaign he made for electricity conservation in the Zia fueled ‘80s. Grandfatherly and with a large rolling belly, he bellowed in a sequence that ended with his freeze frame, ‘Yeh load shedding nahin hai likin load sharing, ya Bijli ke istamal mai Shirakat!’ This casting was apt because Talish was one of the only artists, who during a forty year career had no scandal attached to him.

In the ‘60s, Talish again made a mark in the multi award winning Shaheed which co-starred Ejaz, Musarrat Nazir and goonga Allauddin. Talish played the role of a British army officer. The ‘60s was a more propitious and productive decade for Talish and he made a slew of memorable films. He reprised the role of an Englishman in Farangi co-staring Shamim Ara in which he played a British spy. Other roles in the ‘60s included Zarqa with Neelo and Ejaz; Sarhad Ki Goud Main; Yeh Aman; Sachai with Allauddin; 1969′s Andaleeb with Shabnam and Waheed Murad and the flop, Anila with Nadeem and Rozina, the same year.

In the ‘70s, Talish’s most memorable role was in 1972′s Umrao Jaan Ada with Shahid and the beautiful Rani, in which Talish played a mujra attending nawab. In the mid 90′s Talish graced the mini screen in the hugely successful 13 episode serial Fareb (betrayal) written by Dr. Dennis Isaac and directed by Samina Peerzada. The play co-starred Salman Shahid, Shabir Jan, Samina Peerzada and her sister, Amna Butt who played Talish’s daughters. Interestingly Talish’s son Ahsan Talish later helped Samina Peerzada in her directorial film debut Inteha. (Ahsan has also directed Nadia Jamil in Number 26, and is a promising director) Talish passed away on February 19, 1998 after a protracted illness. His name will always be remembered with respect – By Zurain Imam

Actors & Actresses