Umer Sharif, a legendary comedian, passed away on Saturday in Germany at the age of 66 after suffering from serious health issues. Sharif’s death was verified by his wife Zareen Umer’s sister.

Fans all around the world are in deep sorrow after hearing the news. Many celebrities either Pakistanis or from our neighbor country India also sent their condolences.

On this sad occasion, Dialogue Pakistan exclusively talked with two of the colleagues of legendary Umer Sharif. Saleem Afridi and Rauf Lala, both also renowned comedians and colleagues of comedy legend expressed their grief about the great loss this nation has suffered.

“It is a shock for the entire nation and a bigger shock for us too because we have spent time with Umer Sharif […..] we had our upbringing in his house,” said Saleem Afridi.

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Saleem Afridi considered him as a father figure who always took care of people associated with Umer.

Afridi expressed “He was like a father to me, big brother and a teacher[…..] we have a lot of memories with him because we have done all of our theater with him. He has shaped us taught us how to do comedy.”

“Every eye will be teary[…..] people will mourn for 10-15-20 years,” said Saleem Afridi.

Apart from being a great teacher for comedy students, Umer was also a good family man. He always took care of his mother and sisters, always abiding by the commands of his mother. “Umer Sharif gave atleast 1 kilogram of gold to his mother, he gave dowry to his sisters a second time,” Saleem Afridi revealed.

Rauf Lala, another famous name of comedy has worked a lot with Umer Sharif. Rauf expressed “I have spent half of my life with Umer Sharif. He was like a teacher and father figure for me […..] he was so good in nature and helped a lot of the comedians.”

People say that whenever comedy will be discussed, Umer Sharif’s name will always be mentioned.

The Funeral prayers of legendary comedian and artist Umer Sharif will be offered on Monday (today), in Nuremberg, Germany. However, Umer Sharif’s dead body will be brought to Pakistan and the actor’s widow Zareen Ghazal will arrive in Karachi with the body.

The Sindh government has granted the family of legendary comedian Umer Sharif permission to bury him at the Abdullah Shah Ghazi cemetery, fulfilling the comedian’s lifelong wish.