The television play Ishq Murshid being aired on Hum TV, a private channel, has gained critical acclaim from across the country for its romantic storyline and significant performance of Bilal Abbas Khan, Dur-e-Fishan, seasoned actor Noor Ul Hassan and others.
The play, directed by Farooq Rind, has brought countrywide fame to Ali Gul Malah, who is a household name of Sindhi media but was less known in the mainstream media of the country.
Ali Gul Malah has appeared in this play in the comic role of vegetable-vendor Fazal Bux who lends his name to his friend Sahmeer (Bilal Abbas) to inspire Shibra (Dur-e-Fishan) with whom he is infatuated. So far, Ali Gul Malah has appeared in the play several times with his short cameo roles and has managed to attract audiences from across the country.
His distinct dialogue delivery, style of laughing, comic timing and more importantly his catchphrase “Bhalay, Bhalay” in the play has drawn attention of television viewers who wanted to see innovation in Pakistani plays.
Ali Gul Malah has been entertaining Sindhi audiences for the past two decades through his solo performance as well as joint performance with his partner Sohrab Soomro, Asif Pahore and Zakir Sheikh. Born in Kashmore district of Sindh, Ali Gul Malah showed qualities of a phenomenal comedy actor since his childhood. He would mimic his teachers at the school to earn the appreciation of his friends.
Initially he started playing roles in stage plays, despite the displeasure of his father he continued to appear in stage plays shown in Kashmore and Sukkur district.
While working at a cycle workshop in Sukkur he realised that he should move to Karachi to unleash his skills at a mega level. But he never knew that Karachi was going to give him a tough time.
His early days in Karachi passed roaming in front of the PTV centre. Eventually, after a long wait, lady luck smiled at him and he got a short role playing a watchman in a play written by Rahemat Manjoti. Though his role was brief, it left an impact on directors as well as bigwigs of television, and he started getting small roles in television plays.
Ali Gul rose to fame after the advent of private Sindh channels: mainly KTN, Kashish and Sindh-TV. Since then he has appeared in various television plays and talk shows. The duo of Ali Gul Malah and Sohrab Soomro is said to be the pioneer of comedy talk shows in Sindhi media.
The noted actor has appeared in several charters in different talk shows on Sindhi channels: prominent among those are Typical Talk, Laughter House, Mazedar Mahefil, Evening Time and Laugh Shore. Besides Pakistan, he has performed one-man shows and stage plays in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UK on the occasion of culture day.
His double-role of Masi-Chapra and his son Dablo on his Youtube channel during the restrictions of COVID-19 further added to his fame across Sindh. In recognition of his services, he has been bestowed with several appreciation awards that also includes a Best Comedy Actor Award by PTV for play Dadlo presented to him by legendary actor Nadeem – who he describes as his favourite actor.
Like Ali Gul, there are many talented actors awaiting a chance for a mega-platform to showcase their skills.