News Desk |
The legendary actor Sultan Rahi is remembered on his 22nd death anniversary on 9th January 2019. Muhammad Sultan Khan was popularly known as Sultan Rahi in the Punjabi film industry and Lollywood.
His friends and family recalled his time in Lollywood and stated that Sultan Rahi’s era was a ‘golden era’ of the Pakistani film industry.
“Without a doubt, the golden era of Pakistan’s film industry was when Sultan Rahi was here as Punjabi films dominated the business. I think such days will never come again and no one can ever replace him or his work,” director Altaf Hussain told the media. “I think such actors are only born once. He was a trendsetter – his films were copied in other countries but no one was able to perform like him.”
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Rahi was amongst the best Punjabi actors and ruled the film industry for over four decades. He appeared in nearly 700 Punjabi and Urdu films and most of them were super hits of their time.
Sultan Rahi was born in a Muslim family in Uttar Pradesh in India in 1938. His family migrated to Pakistan after partition and settled in Gujranwala after 1947. His famous films include Maula Jatt, Sher Khan, Chan Veryam, Babul Sadqay Tere, Sharif Badmash, Basheera and Wehsi Gujjar.
‘Maula Jatt’ was the most successful film of his whole career. Later on, the actor was more commonly identified with the fictional character of ‘Maula Jatt’. Currently ‘Waar’ director Bilal Lashari is collaborating with Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan for a ‘Maula Jatt’ remake.
On January 9th, 1996, Rahi was murdered while returning to Gujranwala late at night from Islamabad. When his car’s tyre deflated near Samnabad close to Gujranwala on Grand Trunk road, taking advantage of the dark, some unidentified people opened fire on Sultan Rahi, killing him on the spot.