Amanullah - curtain falls on 'the king of comedy'.

Byline: Shoaib Ahmed

LAHORE -- The trendsetting comedian from Punjab, Amanullah, who ruled commercial theatre for almost three decades, passed away here on Friday after a protracted illness. He was 70.

Amanullah had been critically ill for a few months during which he was being admitted to various hospitals on and off. Two weeks ago, he had been admitted to a private hospital where he passed away on Friday after suffering from multiple health complications such as pneumonia, kidney and respiratory issues.

Amanullah Khan, a stand-up comedian and rightly called the king of commercial theatre, was born in Ramchakdas village near Gujranwala in 1950. Though his family was settled in Sant Nagar in Lahore, but he was born in his maternal hometown.

This versatile and spontaneous comedian had a very humble beginning from selling sweets near Data Darbar. His antics of hawking were so amusing that people often used to gather around him just to listen to him. He called himself a huge fan of poplar radio broadcaster Nizam Deen and used to follow him. That was a time when the likes of Jamil Bismil, Khalid Abbas Dar, Ali Ejaz and Albela were all the rage in commercial theatre.

While selling sweets, Amanullah kept looking for an opportunity to display his talent on stage. It was in 1977 that he met stage producer Effendi, who gave the actor his maiden play, Sixer, at Alhamra, which was called the Pakistan Arts Council back then. Sixer turned out to be a smash hit and the audience gave a standing ovation to the newcomer. Since people didn't know his name, they used to call him kaala. It was the first and firm step towards...