Pakistani legend actor Shafi Muhammad Shah

Karachi-born television, radio and film artist Shafi Muhammad Shah died in his Sea View residence on November 10.2007. He was 57. The exact cause of his death was not known but the actor, who acquired the reputation of slipping into the role of a landlord with great ease, was said to be suffering from many ailments.

The death of an actor sometimes serves as a virtual blow to the viewers' aspirations in life. The sad news of his demise also struck a chord with members of the online photographers' community Flickr. Its members of Pakistani origin have piled up their tributes in a thread of messages under Shafi's image posted by Dr G.N.Kazi of Who-Pakistan.

"He was truly a great actor. In Chand Girhen, anybody could have sworn he was a feudal ex-chief minister. He had observed them well," writes Dr Kazi. "He led his life of 57 years enriching the quality of life of his viewers. Such people in the limelight often live hard lives and keep odd hours. God bless his soul."

Some commentators could not believe that the versatile TV actor has left the world. Though Fayyaz Ahmed just said that "God bless him...Great actor" but Ashee's short message is all shock with a sense of submission to the Almighty: "Oh no! Really? Inna lilla he wa Inna ellehe rajeoon."

"A great and atypical actor indeed," Nauman Khwaja adds to the thread of message. "I think he was the best in his serial Aanch, playing the role of a widower who got married again, depicting the problems faced by him, his new wife and three children due to this change in their lives. Superb, out of the ordinary! Something that will be etched in my memory for a long."

Anwar Solangi, famous radio and TV artist, says he met Shafi in 1972 at Karachi Hotel in Hyderabad and was immediately attracted to his voice. "I took him to the radio station for an audition. He was selected and given a lead role in a drama, but he left didn't do it. Later he appeared in films after doing a Sindhi drama for TV. He was serious about films but it was TV which earned him accolades."

Critics unanimously acknowledge Shafi's acting prowess but believe that he had problems with memorising dialogues, which prevented his appearance in Ayub Khan-Din's play East is East, presented by the British theatre company, Tamasha, in 1996. His best friends think he was truly great actor, but was not proactive most of the time and somewhat careless about his health.

Qaiser Nizamani, TV actor-director, very fondly remembers his 18-year association with Shafi, saying he misses his brotherly presence. "He wanted to be in films but did not click in the medium. The late actor was all about expression and accent. He knew exactly how to punctuate dialogue with matching emotion."

According to Solangi, Nusrat Thakur made use of Shafi's talent remarkably well registering his expression-filled dialogues through big close-up shots in Urta Aasman. "Teesra Kinara established his strong screen presence and he never faced a slump," he adds. "He was a great actor who had courage to admit that he could not do justice to the role being offered to him. It is still very rare."

Shafi Muhammad Shah had won the PTV award for best actor for his role in drama Kali Dhoop in 1985. Interestingly, Abid Ali, another versatile actor who was competing for the very coveted award of those days, quit the award ceremony in a huff. "Shafi regretted winning because it hurt Abid Ali's expectations and feelings," Qaiser recalls. "He was also awarded President's Pride of Performance Award."

Both Qaiser and Shafi contested for National Assembly seats from Karachi as candidates of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in 2002 but lost. Qaiser says Shafi was fond of owning fancy vehicles. Qaiser's thoughts over his departure perfectly echoes in another message posted on Flickr by Human Seasons: May Allah bless this great, great thespian. I loved his acting. Great loss indeed!