Rafi Khawar

Rafi Khawer (Urdu: رفیع خاور; died June 2, 1986 popularly known as Nanna (Urdu: ننھا), was a renowned comedy actor of Pakistani films and TV drama.

Career

His first Urdu film was Watan ka sipahi, released in 1966. Nanna got breakthrough from film Noukar in 1975. He was hero in film Tehka Pehlwan in 1979 and same year his film Dubai Chalo was super hit on box office. His pair with Ali Ejaz was popular since film Insaniyat (1967 film).

He was regarded as an exceptional comedy talent and for many years was the star of the hit TV show " Alif Noon" that ran across three seasons during the 70s and 80s. He was a familiar face, well known and loved by all. He was a respected figure in his community.

Early in the career, he used to play minor roles in Punjabi movies since in the presence of Munawwar Zareef and Rangeela it was difficult for him to make place for himself in Lollywood. However, all that changed after the film Ziddi (1973) and later on with the Urdu film Naukar (1975). He began to be paired more frequently in comic roles with Tammana Begum in Urdu movies, playing the role of a father, grandfather or servant.

Despite the dominance of Sultan Rahi and action films, the mostly comic act of Nannah and Ali Ejaz (of Dubai Chalo fame) gained immense popularity in the first half of the ’80s, and were seen in more than 50 movies in the main lead. In the films of that era, Sultan Rahi was usually paired with Anjuman, Ali Ejaz with Mumtaz and Rani, and Nannah with Nazli.

Rafi Khawer Aka Nannah and Nazli became romantically involved and were often seen together in public. The best proof of their love on film can be seen in the song Vekh meri baanh tap di mundia, Aakhian rehndiyan mast mast, Mera kar le koi bandobast, and also in Ve yari tori na, Ve mukh methon moree na (Tehka Pehlwan).

Death

According to an inside source, money was never an issue with Nannah (Rafi Khawar) during his love affair with Nazli. His celebrity status was at an all-time high and he was delivering hits left, right and center. He even forced his producers to cast Nazli with him in all his films. Nazli made the most of the opportunity and the two became inseparable. But after Nannah started delivering flops and fell on hard times financially, Nazli started to lose interest in him as well.

Nannah allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with a shotgun in Lahore on June 2, 1986. A witness, producer Jamshaid Zafar, narrates that there was a pool of blood in the room and it was a truly horrific scene, something that appeared to be right out of a mystery crime film. However, the actual circumstances leading to Nannah’s death remain a mystery to this day. There were also rumors that he had decided to give away all his property to actress Nazli which sent alarm bells ringing within his family.

Filmography

Awards

See also

• List of Lollywood actors

References

External links

• Rafi Khawer Profile - IMDb.com
• The dark side of Lollywood
• Rafi Khawer - Mazhar.dk
• Myurdunews