Excerpt from an article on Latif Kapadia on Wikipedia
March 8, 2010
Latif Kapadia (Urdu: لطيف کپاڈیا) was a Pakistani stage and television actor. Latif Kapadia was born on March 27, 1934 in Nasik, Maharashtra, in British India. At the age of just 13, Latif Kapadia was migrated to Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Latif started his career as a stage actor. He was initiated into acting in 1953 by a theatre-loving couple, Meherji and Pervaiz Dastur. They presented many plays in the 1950s
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Two’s Company
May 28, 2009
It is one thing to sit on a rock by the channel in Defence Phase VIII and catch fish and quite another to go deep-sea fishing in a luxury yacht.
Enjoyment of life
“I want to see the word but I don’t have money,” said Babboo. “You should first see your own country. Pahle apna mulk to achhi tarah dekh lo.”“I can see my country any time, at my leisure, but when would I be able to see the world? Waqt nikla ja raha hai,” he said sadly. “But you don’t have the money.”
“I have the time, also the desire. An irony, isn’t it?”
“But, my friend, even very rich people are unable to see the entire world. I suppose even our very own former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz failed to see a number of countries – despite spending, according to a newspaper report, one billion rupees on foreign travels!”
“A billion rupees?” Babboo cried
“Yes, one billion rupees. He could achieve this feat by undertaking as many as 47 foreign trips between the years 2004 and 2007.”
“How great enjoyment he must have had, kaash main Pakistan ka Vazeer-i-Azam hota!”
“You have not even been on umra as a free-loader. If only you had known one of the presidents or prime ministers of this country, you would have been invited to tag along and fulfill your religious obligation too.”
“Alas! Na Khuda hi mila na visal-i-sanam!”
“Aisi mout se to zindigi behtar thee,” I said.
“What?” Babboo failed to grasp the humor.
After a while he said: “Come to think of it, what is life after all but for going places and enjoying?”
“And what better enjoyment if it is at the cost of public money,” I said.
He ignored my remark and said: “Our late friend Latif Kapadia used to say, zindigi mein maza aana chahiye.”
“He did enjoy his life to the full, didn’t he, till his last breath?”
“But sometimes, he also complained about his empty pocket.”
“That we, the common natives of the motherland, always do for one reason or the other. But in the case of Latif did his empty pocket ever come in the way of his enjoyment of life?” I asked. “Wait a minute! Don’t you think if Latif had been a senior bureaucrat or a politician – in other words, if he had access to public money – he would have roamed the world and enjoyed his life much more fully?”
Shocked at this outrageous remark, I said, “Babboo, I only wish Latif was here today to respond to your idea! It would have been fun watching him taking care of you!
Babboo overlooked my comment and asked: “What was the secret of our friend’s joyous life?”
“The secret was his being ready to enjoy the things available to him – simple things that life offered him. He loved his food and sherbet, he loved looking at the clouds, the sea, the moon, felt the breeze on his face, smelled the grass, the flowers, the mustard fields… he loved music, above all, he loved his family and friends and their company.”
“You are romanticizing him too much. How could he enjoy life without being a rich man?”
“You don’t need money to enjoy the clouds, the sea and the moon, do you, Latif did not go to the Maldives to enjoy the moon, to Pataya Beach in Thailand to enjoy the sea, to Seychelles Island to enjoy the clouds,” I tried to depress Babboo by naming these places and reminding him what he was missing, but a clever customer that he is, he asked: “Who told you they go to these places to enjoy nature?’
“What do they go there for?”
“Jab baray ho jao ge to samujh mein aa jaye ga (you will know when your are matured enough).”
Babboo had scored a point and a perverted smile lit his face. Continuing the offensive, he said; “It is clear you are still living in your childhood, in a fool’s paradise, in a time when you were a small silly boy and your grandmother told you stories about handsome princes and beautiful princesses, tales of their great love and their journey to exotic places beyond the mountain in a golden chariot …” “You are making fun of my grandmother’s storytelling. You don’t know what enjoyment is. I am sure if you were given a golden chariot today, your warped sense of enjoyment would not let you enjoy riding in it.”
“Who goes riding in a chariot today, for heavens sake? Give me a Lexus, a Prado, a Mercedes, and you will see how I enjoy my life. Or give me an air ticket to the Maldives, Bangkok or Seychelles and I’ll show you how to have a good time. My friend, it is one thing to go on a picnic by bus or bicycle and another thing to go in a four-wheeler; eating ice cream by the roadside and enjoying it in a five star hotel are two different things; yes, it is one thing to sit on a rock by the channel in Defence Phase VIII and catch fish and quite another to go deep-sea fishing in a luxury yacht…” “… and catch barracudas and marlins made of pure gold,” I said.
“Don’t be sarcastic! The truth is gone are the days when people used their mind’s eye to see things beautiful. We are not living in the era of Ghalib any more and we don’t need to follow his doctrine Baithay rahen tassawur-i-janan kiye huye,”
“Yes, of course,” I said, “now you don’t need to use your inner eye to see beauty; the inner eye is no more there – all you need now is luxury cars, air tickets, electronic equipment and gadgets in order to enjoy your life!” I sat back in my sofa, closed my eyes and went to see the world in my golden chariot.
Remembering Latif on a personal note
October 30, 2008
By S.M. Shahid
I was once asked by a journalist friend to write the obituary of a famous artist. “But he is alive!” I said.
“Indeed he is. But he is very ill. We generally keep obituaries of famous people ready just in case… you know what I mean… one should avoid last minute embarrassment….”
Getting a cue from the above and in a moment of light heartedness I suggested to my journalist friend: “You, Latif Kapadia and I are in the same age group and vulnerable in equal measure. What about our obituaries?”
“Good idea!” my friend said.
“But let’s not leave it to others. We can write our own obituaries, can’t we? I can write yours, you will perhaps write Latif’s.”
“Who will write mine?” I asked.
Needless to say, none of us took the matter seriously and forgot all about it. Read more
I feel young and full of Life
October 29, 2008
By Nafees Ghaznavi
1st July 2001
Latif Kapadia, the seasoned stage, television and move actor was asked, “When does an actor reach perfection? “Never!,” he thundered in his gravel voice.
“What is perfection?” He continues in the same authoritative tone. “And once you believe you have reached perfection, what do you do? Retire, or start sliding downwards!”
End of the argument.
Kapadia believes that after acting for a while under competent directors, most actors attain a certain level of professionalism and are on the same pedestal as actors. Only good roles separate them, the kind of roles that win them acclaim and awards. Read more
2002: News and Views
October 29, 2008
BY: FAISAL QURAISHI
The year 2002 was marked by countless events but compared to its predecessors, it was a year when nothing extreme rocked the showbiz boat. Here, we attempt to assess all the happenings that occurred in the year that was, setting off a chain of events that will most certainly spill over into 2003 as well.
For starters, Chalo ishq larain was a flop, much to the surprise of the viewers, critics (and the cast and crew) alike, after all the hype that was created before its release. It featured Urooj and Ali Haider, both of whom failed to make the esteemed mark. Nevertheless, it was a brave attempt. Read more
Looking Back at 2002
October 29, 2008
Those who left us
January
2nd: Famous industrialist Ahmed Daud, aged 97.
18th: TV Artist Yasmeen Ismail died, aged 52.
27th: Ustad Allah Rakha Khan, one of the last surviving virtuosos of the sarangi, aged 73.
February
9th: Princess Margaret, the younger sister of Queen Elizabeth II, aged 71.
14th: Former Vice Chancellor of Karachi University, Dr Ahsaan Rasheed, aged 75.
16th: Former Pakistani filmmaker and director AJ Kardar, aged 76.
23rd: Nasrullah Khan, well known Urdu journalist, aged 83,
March
23rd: England’s cricket all rounder Ben Hollioake.
29th: Renowned Artist Latif Kapadia, aged 68.
30th: Sehba Lakhnawi, a noted poet aged 82.
Queen Mother, the 101 year old mother of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, who died in her sleep.
April Read more
Timeliness
October 29, 2008
MAG May 4 – 10, 2002
What matters most in mass media is timing. To come up with the most update events and happenings is why most people turn to newspapers and magazines. I always thought that weeklies and monthlies lack this particular trait because they have to meet a deadline and be sent for publication well before they are actually to hit the news-stands. But it goes to the credit of MAG for coming up with most relevant news items and features. By this I mean the ‘Flashback’ that MAG carried on the occasion of the demise of TV artist Latif Kapadia
Lateef Kapadia – Forty fruitful years on stage
October 29, 2008
STAR WEEKEND
Thursday. August 15,1996
By Sikandar Sarwar
Don’t think you’ve come to the wrong place if you see long queues of people in the compound on the ground floor,” said Lateef Kapadia, the well known character actor of TV plays and Karachi theatre. He was trying to explain into Lateef’s drawing room on the first floor it is full of paintings. After the interview Lateef drew my attention to some of the more than 25 originals. There are several by Mansur Aye, one of which is signed 1968. Among the others are two each by Anwar Maqsood and his son Bilal, one sketch of nudes in his typical style by Sadequain, one by Bashir Mirza and one unsigned by Ahmad Parvez. There is a small sketch of Ganpati, a Maharashtrian God by F.M. Husain, when he visited Karachi in 1995. Read more
In the words of Lateef Kapadia…
October 29, 2008
THE STAR
Thursday, September 17, 1987
“I accept even the smallest role. Even a major is meaningless if of does not feel satisfied with it.”
“I accept even the smallest of roles”, Lateef Kapadia was saying.
Lateef Kapadia—! But wait…
I have seen him in Ali Ahmed’s and Kamal Ahmed Rizvi’s stage plays, and in Theatre- walley’s ‘Chor Ke Sau Din’. Recently he appeared in Iqbal Ansari’s play, ‘F.I.R.’ on 14th August. Before that in ‘Shikast-e-Aarzoo’; and even before that in Barzakh’; and even before that…
To make a long story short, this actor has never startled me. Seeing him perform is just like seeing someone in real life. Inspite of being involved with theatre for such a long time, there is no ‘drama’ in his voice, perhaps that is why this senior actor does not get roles as eminent as his stature. Read more