Ashfaq Ahmed - Style

Style

Ashfaq Ahmed's subtle sense of humour is reflected in his long-running radio programs and characters like Talqeen Shah, while several TV drama series based on his plays are still broadcast. His popular TV plays include Aik muhabbat sau afsanay ("Bunch of Love Stories"), Uchhay burj Lahore dey ("Barbicans of Lahore"), Tota kahani ("Story of the Parrot"), Lekin ("But"), Hairat kadah ("Incredibility") and Mun chalay ka sauda ("Bargain of the Stubborn"). Throughout his life, Ahmad endeavoured to reform society through his writings. He authored over twenty five books including a travelogue, Safar dar safar {"Long Way Journey"), with an atypical style. In fact, he gave a new mould to diction and locale situations which many of his readers would fondly remember. He used Punjabi literary words very well in Urdu and introduced a new kind of prose, which was unique to him. For his excellent literary work, he was awarded the President's Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz for meritorious services in the field of literature and broadcasting.

In his later period of life, Ahmed was greatly inclined towards sufism, which was visibly reflected in most of his works. His close association with Qudrat Ullah Shahab and Mumtaz Mufti was also attributed for this tendency. Of-late, he used to appear in a get-together with his fans in television's program Baithhakh and Zaviya wherein he gave swift but satisfying responses to each and every query, placed before him, explicitly by the youth of each gender, in a mystic style.