‘Uncle Sargam’ dies of cardiac arrest at age of 76

Farooq Qaiser, the legendary Uncle Sargam passed away in Islamabad on Friday.

King of social satire, comedy, puppetry, and communication, who trained and entertained at least two generations with his timeless work.

Pakistan Television’s official handle broke the news to his millions of fans in a tweet, saying, “We regret to inform you on the passing away of a true legend, and an icon of television & one of the pioneers of puppetry & art in Pakistan. PTV’s #QaisarFarooq is no more”.

Farooq Sahab started his TV career in 1971 when his teacher Salima Hashmi put him into her children’s television puppet show Akkar Bakkar.

In that show, he worked along with the help of Shoaib Hashmi and Faiz Ahmad Faiz on the scripts and puppets.

Later in 1976 he directed and wrote his own puppet show Kaliyan which earned a high ranking in Pakistan at that time.

His grandson, Hasnain Qaiser Iqbal, said he had been suffering from a heart ailment for some time. He added that his condition worsened on Friday after which an ambulance rushed him to a hospital but he could not be revived.

He is survived by three children, a son and two daughters, according to Iqbal.