LAHORE – “The death of Khayyam Sarhadi is not just the death of an actor; it is the death of an entire tradition,” says playwright Saeed Ahmed. “Sarhadi, one of Lahore’s oldest and veteran actors has an acting style which was so remarkable that his end had marked the end of an acting tradition.”
Sarhadi, who acted in Saeed Ahmed’s play ‘Shanakht’, as a left wing professor, was heavily inspired by his father Zia Sarhadi, one of the leading writers and directors of India and whose films ‘Hum Loag’, ‘Footpath’ and ‘Awaz’ became hits in the 50s and 60s. In fact, Ahmed says, Sarhadi was also inspired by the acting style of that era. “His style of delivery was subtle, restrained and very sophisticated.
He never took to the brash style of shouting and talking loudly and uncouthly on the set as an actor.” Saeed also says that the actor in Khayyam deeply understood what the character was about, and this of course affected his performance. Despite the fact that Khayyam, from his childhood to his last days, felt nothing but bitterness for his own father, he was inevitably influenced by him.
“Khayyam was angry at his father for neglecting his children and being too overly involved in his professional work,” recalls Ahmed. He also remembers Sarhadi as a friendly, affiable and social man along with being a good human being. Saleem Tahir, who directed Saeed Ahmed’s play Shanakht, says that Sarhadi was a friend of all men, while being one of the most remarkable actors of all times, but he had his eccentricities.
“He would learn his Urdu lines after writing them down in Roman,” says Tahir. “But then perhaps it wasn’t an eccentricity at all. I think he was educated abroad and did not know Urdu well enough. Whatever his methods were, once he began to act, it was spell-binding.” Ahson Talish, also remembers the TV and stage artist as being a man with a great sense of humour. “He was hilarious, and light hearted,” says Talish.
“He never stopped himself from being a child with younger people. I was much younger than him but he never patronized me and I often felt as if he was a friend, not a year older than me.” But at the same time, he refuses to reveal any of his private jokes that he shared with Sarhadi. “I cannot tell you their content,” he laughs. “All I can say is he had an excellent sense of humour.”
Khayyam Sarhadi had started his career from theatre, later joining Pakistan Radio but he hit the popularity mark after he became part of television plays like ‘Waris’, ‘Anokha Ladla’, ‘Man Chale Ka Soda’ and recently the hit series ‘Meree Zaat Zarra-e-Benishaan’.
His work is also recognized in feature films including Jamil Dehelvi’s ‘The Blood of Hussain’, ‘Dakoo’ and ‘Bobby’ but eventually preferred TV over film. The actor is survived by two widows, one of them being former film star Saiqa, and three daughters.
