The Presidential Pride of Performance is an award presented by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people who have made ‘an especially meritorious contribution to the field of literature, art, sports, science & education’.
Check out who were the recipients this year!
1. Maulana Tariq Jamil (Religious Scholar)
A Pakistani Islamic television preacher, religious writer, scholar & a member of the Tablighi Jamaat.
2. Mohammed Ali Shehki (Singing)
A Pakistani pop singer who entered the music industry in the 1970s with his originally composed & written songs, with a touch of Persian music.
3. Resham (Acting)
A Pakistani film & television actress & model who was a leading actress of Lollywood during the 1990s. She made her debut with Jeeva in 1995. She has also been awarded the National Award for best actress for Sangam and was nominated for the film actress award at the Lux Style Awards for Laaj and Man O Salwa. Her passion for her work can be found in all her projects and till date, she remains a top favorite actress in the industry.
4. Humayun Saeed (Acting)
A Pakistani actor & producer who is also a co-founder of the media production house Six Sigma Plus that produces television drama serials and films such as Main Hoon Shahid Afridi, Punjab Nahi Jaun Gi, Jawani Phir Nahi Aani among numerous others. Humayun Saeed stepped into the showbiz industry with Karooron Ka Aadmi in 1995. Since then he’s never looked back!
5. Ali Zafar (Singing)
Zafar is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, model, actor, producer & screenwriter. He started out on Pakistani television before becoming a popular musician. Ali Zafar’s first song Channo became an instant mega hit among the audience, at times, to this day we find ourselves humming to it too!
Other than that, Ali Zafar has worked in Bollywood hits too, such as Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Kill Dil.
Bhai Chha gya!
6. Ruth Wenny Lekardal (Services)
A Swedish nun who has spent 37 years away from her homeland in Sweden serving Pakistani slum dwellers. Having arrived in Pakistan in 1969, Sister Wenny worked in Christian Hospitals in Rawalpindi & Sahiwal. She’s worked with local sanitary workers in a slum area of Lal Kurti and spent 27 years of her time in Pakistan at the Christian Hospital Taxila.
7. Prof Dr Khalid Masood Gondal (Education)
Vice Chancellor of King Edward Medical University Lahore. He has been Chairman Dept. of surgery KEMU.
8. Naimat Sarhadi (Film)
The king of Pashto film industry for negative villain roles. He can be seen in Dhamki, Akbar Khan and Yadona. Will you be watching his films this weekend?
9. Hina Nasrullah (Sufi singing)
A Musical Artist who is well known for her Sufi Singing. The folk/Sufi singer has mastered singing in Urdu, Sindhi and Saraiki. Wow! Meherma Ve, Channa ve Channa and Bahar Rut Mein Ujaar Rasty are some of her hits.
10. Sarmad Sehbai (Literature)
A Pakistani poet, playwright, film & theatre director who worked in Urdu, Punjabi & English mediums. He’s the writer of The Dark Room and the 2016 hit Mahe Mir, starring Fahad Mustafa and Iman Ali. The film was also nominated for an Oscar the following year.
11. Indu Mariam Mitha (Dancing)
A Pakistani exponent of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance, originating from Tamil Nadu.
Did you know that having spent years in Pakistan, Mitha had songs specially composed in Urdu as it was difficult for her to understand Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit.
12. Farhan Mehboob (Sports: Squash)
A professional squash player who reached a career-high world ranking of World No.16 in May 2009. He was also a part of part of the gold medal winning team at the Asian Games held in Guannzhou, China.
Abdul Majeed Qureshi (Philanthropy)
Abdul Majeed Qureshi is an IT Specialist in an engineering company in Peshawar who was enthusiastic about helping the needy people of his city Peshawar.
13. Muhammad Faheem (Arts)
What was your favorite win at the prestigious Presditential Pride of Performance awards? Let us know!
