Gallery

Mustansar Hussain Tarar’s TV career spans more than 40 years. His first appearance on TV was in 1967 in the Drama “Purani Baatain”. He wrote plays, acted in dramas, hosted stage programs, started the first ever Live Morning show and moderated the live election transmissions in 1988 on PTV.

As An Actor
Mustansar Hussain Tarar started his television career as an actor in 1967. He has performed in more than four hundred television plays, including the classics such as “Siraj-ud-Duola”, Ashfaq Ahmed’s “Aik Mohabbat Sau Afsane”, Anwar Sajjad’s “Suraj Ko Zara Daikh”, Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi’s “Aik Chehra Kai Chehray, Sadaf Meer’s “Aakhir Sahab” and Riaz Batalvi’s series “Aik Haqeqat Aik Afsana”.
“Aik Haqeqat Aik Afsana” was the most popular drama series in it’s time, in which Tarar acted as a journalist.

As A Drama Writer
Tarar wrote his first PTV drama “Adhi Raat Ka Sooraj” in 1974 and it was directed by Arif Waqar. His other famous plays include “Shehpar”, “Sooraj Kay Sath Sath”, “Kailash” and “Sahib Sarkar”. He also wrote a Punjabi play “Channan Tay Darya” which was telecast-ed on a private channel.

As Host / Compere
Mustansar Hussin Tarar has been the most popular host and compere of various PTV and private channel programs as well as Lok Virsa programs. PTV’s Live Morning transmission, Elections Transmission in 1988, a Punjabi Music show name “Aj Di Shaam”, PTV Pride Show, Music Nights on PTV and Shaadi Online.

First Live Morning Show
“Assalam-o-Alikum Saray Pakistan aur Piyaray Pakistan”. These words remind hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis of the first ever Live Morning Transmission in Pakistan. Mustansar Hussain Tarar has the honor to set the foundations of live morning shows in Pakistan. Tarar was associated with this show for around 7 years during which it was known as “Subha Bakhair Pakistan” and later as “Roshan Pakistan”. What made it a success was his informal and simple one to one conversion style. This show was very popular among children and they would wait for the 7:10 AM cartoons announced by their “Chacha Jee” before going to school. This show included sketch lessons from Mansoor Rahi, Calligraphy Lessons, Origami Lesson and Alphabet songs. Celebrities, writers, singers and people from different walks of life were also invited to the show for discussions and interviews.

Election Transmission 1988
Another feather in his cap is hosting of the 1988 Election Transmission. Mehtab Akbar Rashidi, Tariq Aziz and Khush Bakht Shujat were his co-hosts in the transmission which lasted three days. It was liked by the viewers because of Tarar’s cheerful comparing and discussions with the co-hosts as well as the viewers. Mustansar Hussain Tarar also introduced the term “Election City” which was the name he gave to the extravagant set which was setup for the transmission. This term is still used by many TV channels during elections.

Shadi Online
Shadi Online was a matrimonial show conceived by a private TV channel (Geo TV). It ran for more than 150 episodes and later was turned into an online Matrimonial Website. Tarar was selected as the host due to the trust people, especially parents, had in him. Some parents confessed that they allowed their daughters to participate in this program because Tarar was hosting the program and they trusted him.