A veteran journalist, film producer, filmmaker, travelogue writer and an institute himself Ali Sufiyan Afaqi died at the age of 81. The veteran artist was fighting the battle against cancer for the past few years when he finally succumbed to it yesterday on 27th January.
The renowned writer was the pioneer of film reviewing in any daily newspaper. Ali Sufiyan was his birth name while his third name Afaqi was derived from a daily newspaper where he worked as an assistant editor. This renowned journalist have also worked as the editor of weekly Aqwam of Meem Sheen, and joint editor daily Aasar. He also wrote columns in “Afaq”, “Nawa-I-waqt”, “Amrooz”, “Ehsan”and “Jang” under the titles of “Dam-e-Khayal” and “Dareechey”.
This man who had an eager for exploring new horizons of profession entered the film arena in 1957 with his first ever movie “Thankdi Sarak”, he was also the writer of the script and story of the film. The success of his first film made him stood tall in the realm filmmaking. He later left the journalism and joined the film industry as a full-fledged filmmaker.
This multifaceted asset of our country was also a gifted storyteller. He had written many travelogues and biographies on famous personalities and places but his master piece is Filmi Aliflaila which is his personal account on Pakistani film industry.
Afaqi has received many awards for his remarkable contribution to the Pakistani film industry and field of journalism that include Graduate Award, Film Critic Award, Mussawir Award and Nigar Award.
This eminent name of the country will always be remembered through his words and services.
