16th KIBF gets underway with a bang

 By Abdul Qadir Qureshi 

(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The long-awaited 16th edition of the Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) finally got underway on December 30 and it was off to a sensational start. Hours before the five-day annual was formally inaugurated in afternoon, there were long queues of school students, mostly dressed in tidy uniforms, who swarmed to access the three halls of the Karachi Expo Centre since 10 am when the gates were opened. 

The KIBF 2021 was already in motion, and in full swing, when the Sindh Education Minister, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, declared it open after presiding over a largely attended inauguration ceremony in which Anwar Maqsood, the famous playwright, was the keynote speaker. 

The National Library Association (NLA) was represented in the KIBF opening ceremony by its President, Syed Muzaffar Ali Shah, Advisor, Syed Khalid Mahmood, and Secretary General, Anwar Hussain, besides a few other senior members. 

Aziz Khalid, President, Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA), Southern Zone, in his welcome address, recalled the history of the KIBF as to how it was conceived after watching a book fair take place at New Delhi, India, in 2004. He touched upon the modest beginning of the KIBF and its evolution in the following years, incorporating the templates of success stories from book fairs at Frankfurt and London. 

Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, a former provincial senior minister, in his speech on the occasion, described the KIBF as one of the most significant events of the national calendar and he complimented the local publishers and booksellers for ensuring the availability of books at reasonable prices despite the inflation and other uncontrollable factors. 

Anwar Maqsood lived upto his huge reputation of entertaining and simultaneously enlightening the audience with his witty remarks which were generously applauded. As always, he enlivened the proceedings and charmed everyone on the occasion, including the dignitaries occupying the stage. 

Fatema Hassan, a prominent poet, didn’t mince words in stating that the book culture was here to stay despite the arrival of digital gadgets and other sources of recreation. She was of the opinion that the success of the KIBF was a testimonial of the people’s belief in books which were still doing good business. 

Lastly the chief guest, Syed Sardar Ali Shah, committed to take up the matter of slashing taxes on import of paper for the purpose of educational books to the federal government while he also agreed to take action for activating libraries in the schools and colleges, as requested by the PPBA Southern Zone Chairman. 

The vote of thanks was proposed by the KIBF Convener, Waqar Mateen Khan, in which he acknowledged the support of his team members in making the event successful. In the end awards were presented to some of the publishers and booksellers in recognition of their services to the trade.

Azeem Sarwar, Athar Shah Khan immortalized Jaidi

Pakistan News & Features Services

The legendary radio producer Azeem Sarwar, who is credited to have revived the iconic character of Jaidi, lavished the man, Athar Shah Khan, with huge praise as the celebrated writer, playwright and actor passed away in Karachi on May 10 at the age of 76. 

Although Athar Shah Khan had himself created the character of Jaidi for a television play but it became a household name much later when revived by Azeem Sarwar through radio programmes like ‘Rung hee rung, Jaidi kay sung’ and ‘Jaidy kay mehman’ which ran for a staggering 23 years. 

His monumental success on radio upstaged his own earlier good work for television. 

“The character of Jaidi had died in the television play. Yes it was on my suggestion that he had agreed to revive it. The rest is history as they say. It turned out to be a masterstroke and the character of Jaidi was immortalized with our radio programmes,” Azeem Sarwar recalled modestly while talking exclusively to PNFS.

“Athar Shah Khan was a master craftsman. He excelled in everything he was doing. Being an educated man, he was creative and versatile. As a colleague, he was cooperative and punctual. It was both a privilege as well as pleasure having worked together for so long and we treasured those moments,” he added.

Together, Azeem Sarwar and Athar Shah Khan deserve to be regarded as the trailblazers of the Pakistan entertainment industry as their blockbuster programmes not only popularized Radio Pakistan nationally and globally but they also invented a template which was emulated in future successfully and most notably by the duo of Anwar Maqsood and Moin Akhtar on television.

Remembering Moin Akhtar, the great entertainer

Pakistan News & Features Services

Moin Akhtar, one of the greatest-ever entertainers to have been produced by Pakistan, had passed away nine years ago on April 22 but he’s still fondly and passionately remembered and his works remain fresh in the memory of a large number of audience in different corners of the planet. 

Hailing from Karachi, versatility was the name of the game for him as besides being a television, film and stage artist of pedigree, he was also a terrific humorist, comedian, impersonator, host, writer, singer, director and producer. 

The multi-faceted Moin Akhtar had the elusive quality of doing justice to all his roles and he was incredibly successful in making every character his own with his talents and hard work.

Born on December 24, 1950, he began his career from Radio Pakistan at the age of 16 but he came into prominence with his stints on television as he went from strength to strength and never looked back. 

His all-round excellence made him one of the most after personalities of the showbiz industry in Pakistan. 

He immortalized himself with the popular comedy show ‘Loose Talk’ became not only the talk of the town but it was watched with great interest in many countries as he and Anwar Maqsood, alongwith Bushra Ansari, entertained millions week after week in 1990s. 

The impossibly gifted Moin Akhtar seemed to have many years left in him as he remained fit and agile throughout his career. His journey, however, was cut short abruptly by a fatal heart attack on April 22, 2011 as he was only 60 at the time of his untimely death.