Muhammad Qavi Khan (; 13 November 1942 â 5 March 2023) was a Pakistani film, radio, theatre and television actor, director and playwright.
Khan acted in over 200 films and some 1,000 television plays.
Khan is best known for his police drama serial Andhera Ujala, which launched him to stardom alongside his fellow actors Irfan Khoosat and Jameel Fakhri. His other starring roles include Durr-e-Shehwar (2012), Alif Allah Aur Insaan and Aangan (both 2017âÂÂ18), the later most of which earned him Lux Style Award for Best TV Actor (critics' and viewers') nominations at the 18th Lux Style Awards.
In March 2011, Pakistan National Council of the Arts honored his achievements in an event. He was honoured with the Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1980 and 2012 respectively by the government of Pakistan for his contribution to arts.
Khan was born in an Urdu-speaking family of ancestral Pashtun (Yousufzai) roots to a father who served in the British Indian Army. Following the 1947 Partition of India, the family moved to Pakistan, settling down in Khokropar, Sindh, before moving to Peshawar, where they would live opposite the Mahabat Khan Mosque. Khan would get his early education there and later work as a front desk officer at a Grindlays Bank branch before going to Lahore to pursue his passion of acting more seriously.
He married in 1968 and had four children.
In 1952, he began his career as a child artist by joining Radio Pakistan Peshawar.
In 1961, he was cast in Dagha Baz, a play written by Envar Sajjad and directed by Kamal Ahmed Rizvi.
In 1964, he started his television career by playing the lead in PTV's first-ever play, Nazrana, and went on to be part of some 1,000 serials.
In 1966, he appeared in PTV's black-and-white hit drama Lakhon Main Teen (transl. Three in a million) along with Ali Ejaz and Athar Shah Khan Jaidi.
In 2021, he played Muhammad Boota, a Punjabi authoritative older man who has a legacy in the catering business, in Ishq Jalebi, a role written especially for him.
In 1964, he worked in his first movie, Diljeet Mirza's Riwaj.
In 1971, he started producing films, Mr Buddhu being the first of some 13 film productions, while he would eventually act in over 200 films.
He was also a playwright, having written the autobiographical one-man stage play Action and Reaction in 2011.
Khan died of cancer on 5 March 2023, at the age of 80 in Canada and was laid to rest at Meadowvale Cemetery, Section 32, Grave No 114, Brampton, Ontario, Canada.