Farooq Qaiser with his alter ego Uncle Sargam | Guddu Film Archive
Pakistan Television has produced countless gems over a period of time but not all of them were timeless. Characters such as Uncle Jedi, Qabacha and Hasnat Bhai inspired a generation but ultimately faded away with the passage of time. But one character never faded from memory Uncle Sargam, created by the legendary Farooq Qaiser, became a household name the moment the character debuted in 1976.
Those were the days when music director Sohail Rana used to do a weekly music show Saaray Dost Hamaray from Pakistan Television’s (PTV’s) Karachi centre. The kids who participated in the show addressed Sohail Rana as ‘uncle’, and used to sway sideways while singing. When Kaliyaan debuted in 1976, Uncle Sargam made sure the puppets performed in the same manner as the kids in the music show, and sang, ‘Aao mil ke gayein, aayen baayen shaayen, sur ka tiah paancha kar ke waapas ghar ko jayein’ [Come let us sing sing t
IN MEMORIAM: OUR BIG BIRD, FAROOQ QAISER - Newspaper
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Daily Times
May 21, 2021
It takes patience, practice and persistence to create a fictional character, add life to it, and elevate its status to that of a national figure. Farooq Qaiser was able to achieve all this and more during his lifetime. A creative genius by birth – and a passionate learner – Farooq Qaiser advanced the thoughts of the youth as well as the intellectual capacity of adults through his well-scripted puppet shows. Indeed, his television show, Kaliyan, was a novel concept when it was first aired in 1976. While puppetry may have been an art form in villages and suburban areas, it was not promoted as a television show with a theme, story, and message. Through Kaliyan and Uncle Sargam, the masses across Pakistan were introduced to a puppet-based show akin to the American educational children’s television series, ‘Sesame Street’. The man who magically brought puppets to life passed away on May 14, 2021. Farooq Qaiser was 75. His popular TV programmes included