Sultan Rahi
Table of Contents
Sultan Rahi Biography
Sultan Muhammad or Sultan Rahi (1938-1996) was a very popular film actor in Pakistan. He acted in mostly Punjabi films. Sultan Rahi has acted in more than 800 Punjabi and Urdu films in his film career. His name is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Sultan Rahi Date of birth
Rahi was born into an Aryan family in Saharanpur, UP in 1938 during the British Raj. At the birth of Sultan Rahi, his father Major Abdul Majeed named him Sultan Muhammad and wished that his son would rule over the people like a king. And nothing happened! Today, as far as Urdu and Punjabi are spoken and understood, the name of Sultan Rahi is imprinted on the hearts of the people.
Sultan’s father, Subedar Major Abdul Majeed, served in the British Indian Army and then spent the rest of his life as a retired army officer. Major Abdul had two sons and a daughter and his eldest son had died before the birth of Sultan Rahi. His second son died when Sultan Rahi was four years old. After the death of his second son, his daughter also died. As a result, Sultan Rahi became the blue eye of his parents.
Sultan Rahi's childhood
Sultan Rahi learned thirty verses of the Quran from the mosque of Gawalmandi area of ​​Rawalpindi under the supervision of Qari Abdul Sattar. Besides, Sultan Rahi used to say Azan five times in the same mosque. The atmosphere in their home was Islamic. His father never compromised on his studies.
Sultan Rahi was fond of working in films from an early age. With this passion he moved from Rawalpindi to Lahore and started his artistic career with stage dramas.
The hard work of Sultan Rahi
After coming to Lahore, he tried to make room in Al-Hamra Art Theater for stage plays but failed. He continued his efforts and started touring the King Circle Hotel where the actors used to spend their free time.
He also visited the Royal Park which was the hub of film producers. But all their efforts failed. They did not get the attention of producers and directors. During the struggle, he met other wrestlers, including music director Kamal Ahmed and Qawi Khan. Kamal and Sultan met several producers to get a chance to act.
Early career
- Riaz Bukhari predicted that Sultan Rahi would be one of the top actors in Pakistan. Through his friend Chingizi, he got a role in Ashfaq Malik’s film Baghi. This was his first performance. Rebel was released on September 14, 1956.
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- He wrote some dialogues for the 1960 SM film ‘Sahaili’. Through these performances he was introduced to other films including Qaidi, Gulfam, and Al-Aad. In 1966, he got a minor role in Humayun Mirza’s film ‘Aag Ka Dari’. At that time, he was also doing stage plays but he stopped performing the last stage play of Rafi Pirzada on stage.
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- Rahi played the role of a side villain in a Punjab film in 1968. The film flopped but Rahi gained recognition through this role. Filmgoers liked his acting. In the same year, he also appeared as a traditional villain in the movie ‘Badla’. His facial expressions, body language, and dialogue delivery demonstrated his ability to be a villain. As a result, the film producers started casting him as a villain in many films. He appeared as a hero in his first Urdu film ‘Zindagi Ke Mela’ and acted very well.
The height of career
- Aslam Dar gave the lead role to Sultan Rahi in the movie Basheera. After this project, he continued to reach the heights of his film career. In 1975, director Hassan directed a film based on the story of Gandasa, Vahshi Jutt, in which Sultan Rahi was portrayed as a hero.
- In Mula Jutt, he played the lead role of Mula Jutt, which was the exact opposite of his role in Vahshi Jutt. He presented a dialogue in the film, “If you don’t kill a mullah, you won’t kill a mullah”, and this dialogue and his acting made him a legendary actor. Maula Jutt changed the trend and style of Punjabi cinema in Pakistan. Sultan Rahi set many records on the success of Maula Jat and maintained this success till the end of his life.
- In every movie of Lollywood in the eighties and nineties, Sultan Rahi was considered as the hero and Sultan Rahi was considered as the only one necessary to keep the wheels of Lollywood running. In addition to being a successful and talented actor, he was a humble and generous man who always helped his fellow actors, personal staff and technicians. Every institution of art has given him entertainment awards. Rahi has also been given Nigar Award for his films Basheera and Babil.
- Sultan Rahi had two marriages. Their first marriage ended a few months later due to financial differences. When he became financially stable, his father chose a girl from his family for him. Allah blessed this couple with five children, three sons and two daughters. Haider Sultan, son of Sultan Rahi, also followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the showbiz. Haider Sultan Also Play Some Roles in Punjabi Films.
Sultan Rahi Death
Anyone who has come into this world has to go one day. Sultan Rahi was returning to Lahore from GT Road on January 9, 1996 after applying for a US visa in Islamabad. His driver Haji Ahsan was with him. The tire of his car exploded on Gujranwala bypass. Haji Ahsan was busy changing the tires with a jack when two masked robbers tried to search Sultan Rahi.
Sultan Rahi started fighting with dacoits. The robbers fired in panic and the bullet pierced Sultan Rahi’s jaw and pierced his brain. The dacoits fled and Haji Ahsan kept signaling to stop the vehicles but no one stopped the vehicle. Haji Ahsan somehow reached the nearby petrol pump and reported the incident to the police. The body of Sultan Rahi was taken to Divisional Headquarters Hospital.
News of Sultan Rahi’s assassination spread like wildfire in Gujranwala city and his loved ones started reaching the hospital. After the postmortem, Sultan Rahi’s body was shifted to Lahore. His family was in the United States, his arrival was awaited and on January 14, 1996, he was buried in the premises of Shah Shams Qadri’s mausoleum in Lahore.
List of Sultan Rahi movies
Sultan Rahi acted in a total of 804 films in which 756 films were screened including 538 films in Punjabi language and 157 films in Urdu language, 5 in Pashto and one in Sindhi.
His more than 50 films were double versions, of which 430 films had title roles played by Sultan Rahi. At the time of his assassination, 54 of his films were being made. Of the more than 800 films of Sultan Rahi, 28 were Diamond Jubilee, 54 were Platinum Jubilee and 156 were Silver Jubilee.
Sultan Rahi’s popularity at one time was due to the fact that on August 12, 1981, his five films Sher Khan, Melaga Zalim Da Badla, Athra Putar, Chan Wariam and Sala Sahib were screened on the same day which set a record of success. After his departure, his counterpart Javed Hassan completed many of his unfinished films. But After Some Years Javed Hassan Also Died.
