While superstars like Rajesh Khanna, and Rajendra Kumar ruled the romantic age in India, actor Darpan reigned the romantic age in Pakistan. He was called the 'original romantic hero' of Pakistan.
Who was Darpan?
Born as Syed Ishrat Abbas, Darpan was one of the original romantic heroes of the "Golden Age" of Pakistan's film industry. His older brother, Santosh Kumar, was also a superstar of Pakistan, and his other brother, S. Suleman, was a film director.
Darpan Film debut and Bollywood stint
He debuted in films Amanat in 1950 and went on to feature in the Pakistani Punjabi film Billo in 1951. After several other films, he decided to try his luck in India and worked in films like Barati, and Adl-e-Jehangir opposite Meena Kumari. However, he achieved only moderate success in Bollywood.
Darpan's breakthrough
Darpan then came back to Lahore after a few years, where the film industry was booming, and he acted in the film Baap Ka Gunah. He finally got his breakthrough with his self-produced film Sathi. After this he starred in several commercially successful films like Raat Ke Rahi, Saheli, Gulfam, Qaidi, Anchal, Baji, Shikwa, Ik Tera Sahara, and Naela. He won a Best Actor Nigar Award for his performance in Saheli, as well as a Presidential award. His last big film as a hero was Payal Ki Jhankar in 1966. After this, he even played villains in films and did some supporting roles.
He used to play non-serious fun-loving roles in the movies quite unlike his older actor brother Santosh Kumar who used to take serious romantic roles in the Pakistani movies of the 1950s and 1960s.
Darpan fell for a shy, typically eastern lady, fellow actress, Nayyar Sultana. They had been paired together earlier in a super-hit Pakistani film Saheli and tied the knot her. Darpan did a total of 70 films - 58 films in Urdu language, 2 in Hindi language, 8 in Punjabi language and 2 films in Pashto language. He passed away at the age of 52 in 1980.
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