Death of Umar Daraz termed another loss to art & culture

PESHAWAR: Fans and artiste community have termed the recent death of noted film actor Umar Daraz Khalil another loss to the art and culture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He suffered brain hemorrhage at his Abbottabad home a few days ago and was admitted to Ayub Medical Complex. He was shifted to Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar when his condition worsened but he breathed his last on Friday at the age of 74.

His funeral prayer was offered at the Government College ground here on Saturday. He was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard at Chamkani. The noted actor is survived by a widow and a daughter.

Born in 1948 at Chamkani village in the suburbs of Peshawar city, Umar Daraz received education up to degree level and started his career in acting in 1971 from a hit Pashto film Darra Khyber. He played the role of Malik Dilawar Khan, defiant tribal chieftain in the classic movie.

The late actor performed in around 700 Pashto and 350 Urdu and Punjabi films. He was known for character of a popular villain. He also worked in Pashto and Hindko language dramas.

Umar Daraz was the son of late Khalil Khan, a noted film and stage actor who had shifted to India in 1920 and worked in silent and sound films as villain till 1940.

He joined the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) as clerk till shifting to Lahore in 1971 to quench his thirst for acting as he was inspired from his father. His younger brother Ishrat Abbas is also a noted TV artiste and has performed in a number of Hindko, Pashto and Urdu plays.

Umar Daraz worked in Pashto movies along with famous hero Badar Munir, Asif Khan and Baidar Bakht and got popularity as villain. Pashto film fans used to repeat his dialogues in hit movies in the 80s.

After the decline of the film industry Umar Daraz said goodbye to movies but later started performing in CD dramas and earned fame. However, his financial position was not well in the last part of his life.