- Lollywood News - Music Directory Of Pakistani Film And Music Industry.

WHEN FILM BUFFS in Pakistan talk about screen villainy, Mazhar Shah is way up there in their estimations, who was a terror for the Lollywood hero in the late Fifties and early Sixties. It was his loud slogan, called barhak in Punjabi that hit the cinema halls like bombs, and the booming decibel delighted the audiences in a period known for the feudal lords and their tyranny. Another man, whose character roles became legendary in his life time, was Alauddin, the Awami Adakar. He is known for playing a striking variety of roles. I mentioned these two famous artistes in order to make a point that Shafqat Cheema, despite the paucity of roles in local cinema today, imbibes the styles of both the celebrated actors of Pakistan!
Today, Shafqat Cheema is truly an awami adakar, and people look out for his antics whenever his new film is screened. Unfortunately, today, we are too commercial and cheap to work on scripts that need an actor to test himself on a film screen. Cheema is a great fan of Alauddin, and watches his films to learn to use his expressions and gestures. He showed how much he had learnt from his study in Syed Noor's film, Chooriyan, where he did a role that was quite different from his usual one-dimensional portrayals. Similarly, he performed quite well in Mehndiwaley Hath.
Now, Shafqat Cheema has been invited by an Indian film producer, Iqbal Dhillon to act in his Punjabi film, Baba Ram Raheem Singh, in East Punjab. With the current popularity of Akshay's Singh is King, it seems that Indian film-makers are inclined to make more movies on Sikh personalities. Of course, BRRS is going to be a very different film to the typically commercial ventures. It is focusing on the humanitarian aspects of the religion. This is what makes Shafqat Cheema's inclusion as the leading character in the film so important. The director of the film, Radhey Sethi says that he had been watching Pakistani Punjabi films, and he liked Shafqat Cheema's versatility so much that he called him, and asked him to do this role in his film. The other cast of the film will be from Chandigarh, Delhi and Mumbai.
Shafqat Cheema is one of the busiest actors in Lollywood these days. He is working in Punjabi, Urdu and Pushto films. Recently, he has signed a Pushto film, Zalmi da Pakhtoonkhwa, which has Asif Khan and Shahid Khan in important roles. So, Cheema is really a people's actor.