Tahira Wasti

Actress. An aristocratic beauty, she shall be remembered for her long career on Pakistani television that frequently saw her cast in royal or upper-crust roles. Born at Sargodha in what was then British India, she originally intended to be a writer and published her first short story at 16. Tahira joined the Pakistan Television Corporation in 1968 and soon became familiar via her numerous appearances in commercials; she had her initial major success with the 1971 “Jaib Qatra” and went on to parts in such series as “Tipu Sultan”, “Jaangloos”, “Krashkol”, “Shahheen”, and “Garnata”. Particularly praised for the role of the two protagonists’ mother in “Piyaas”, she was probably best known for “Afshan” and “Aakhri Chatan”. Tahira left acting in the early 1990s and for 20 years owned and operated an upscale Karachi hair salon. Over her working life she wrote a number of television plays, predominantly science fiction, and in her final years was again seen on the small screen in such features as “Harjai”, “Maamta”, “Daraha”. The wife of actor and English language newscaster Rizwan Wasti (1937-2011) and the mother of actress Laila Wasti, she died following a protracted illness.