Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i
comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
series directed by
Rauf Khalid
Abdul Rauf Khalid ( ur, ; 19 December 1957 in Peshawar – 24 November 2011) was a Pakistani actor, filmmaker and television writer/director.
Early life and career
Rauf Khalid, while he was still a college student, began writing for Radio ...
which was produced and shown by PTV in the early to mid-1990s. The setting is a fictional
guest house
A guest house (also guesthouse) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), guest houses are a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the exclusive use o ...
named ''Guest House'' located in a posh area of
Islamabad
Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital T ...
. It is run by Mr. Shameem and his wife with the help of three permanent regular employees, Naveed, Murad and Rambo.
Plot
Every episode starts with the arrival of new guests and the involvement of the guest house's employees in their comic and tragic situations. Almost all the episodes end with the guest's problems solved by the help of all-too-readily helpful employees and reluctant owners of the guest house.
Pilot episode
The pilot episode introduces the janitor of the guest house, 'John Rambo', in a very dramatic way. He is holding a janitor's wiper like a
rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
or
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
and thrilling background music is playing. The camera moves in a way that the wiper actually looks like a rifle at the beginning of the scene. Later it turns out that 'John Rambo, Cockroach Killer' is inspired by the main character of the Hollywood movie ''
First Blood
''First Blood'' (also known as ''Rambo: First Blood'') is a 1982 American action film directed by Ted Kotcheff, and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. It co-stars Richard Crenna as Rambo's mentor ...
''.
The character of Rambo was an instant hit and played a vital role in the popularity of the series. Producers wanted to remove the character after the pilot episode, but his success made them decide otherwise. One of the producers admitted on TV that after the success of Rambo in the pilot episodes, he was the focus of every episode.
Characters
All the main characters associated with the guest house are shown as very simple people and, on several occasions, have been fooled by charlatans posing as ''PEERS'' (fake jogis) or film directors. They tend to get involved in personal matters of their guests and try to resolve their issues.
Mr. Shameem
Mr. Sharneem (played by Khalid Hafeez) is the founder and owner of the guest house. Although he is very faithful to his wife, she always suspects him of having an affair or having another wife mostly because he likes to flirt and has been caught doing so on many occasions, especially with small-time female celebrities who stay at the guest house. He is very stingy and doesn't like his wife's occasional shopping sprees, which are the main cause of their domestic problems.
Mr. Shameem is a good businessman. He is always ready to please his guests and tries to meet their often outrageous demands. He is a strict taskmaster and often deducts small amounts from the salaries of his employees in order to punish them.
Unlike his employees, he does not like to get involved in his guests' personal problems. However, he often finds himself in situations where he has to get involved to bail out his employees and save the reputation of his guest house.
Mrs. Raheela Shameem
Mrs. Shameem (played by Sarwat Ateeq) is the wife of Mr. Shameem and is always addressed as Mrs. Shameem, never by her first name, except in episode 3, where an old college friend reveals her first name to be Raheela. She is very outspoken and has no qualms expressing her opinions, even if it means disapproval of the guests. She has almost the same powers in the matters of the guest house as her husband, but she scarcely uses them. She loves shopping and complains that her husband is stingy and doesn't support her shopping. She is often nostalgic of her youth and remembers the long hair she used to have. She is compassionate and easily gets involved in the personal matters of the guests. She often takes sides with the women in huests' domestic disputes. She can easily find the reflections of her own personal life in the personal problems of others.
She is very soft on the employees, often takes their side, and tries to stop her husband from punishing them. She even hid Rambo in a room when he was fired by her husband. Later she persuaded Mr. Shameem to rehire him.
Murad
Murad (played by Tariq Malik) is the 'bell boy' of the guest house. He hums "TIP TIP karta mein kumray mein aata hoon" when walking around the guest house, meaning, "I am entering the room singing, TIP TIP". He drops subtle hints to the guests in order to get tips from them. He often starts a conversation with a guest asking if they know English and then proceeds to ask if they know what T-I-P stands for. His other pet phrase is "Easy Feel" which he uses in many different contexts.
John Rambo
John Rambo (played by Afzal Khan) is the janitor of the guest house. He is an illiterate person and belongs to a village in the suburbs of the city. He is simple and honest and has very high self-esteem. He never accepts any
tip
Tip commonly refers to:
* Tip (gambling)
* Tip (gratuity)
* Tip (law enforcement)
* another term for Advice (opinion), Advice
Tip or TIP may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Tank phone, a device allowing infantry to communicate with the oc ...
s and feels offended when they are offered. He can be easily persuaded into anything if he feels it is morally right. In one episode, he goes on a mission against pollution and is beaten when he tries to stop a pop concert to prevent
noise pollution
Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them are harmful to a degree. The source of outdoor noise worldwide is main ...
.
He is obsessed with Hollywood action movies, the ''Rambo'' series in particular, and wants to be an action film hero. Many guests have tried to exploit his ambition for movies, often costing him financial losses. He wears a sleeveless black
T-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
with a skull and crossbones and a pair of loose orange
pajamas
Pajamas (American English, US) or pyjamas (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth) (), sometimes colloquially shortened to PJs, jammies, jam-jams, or in South Asia night suits, are several related types of clothing worn as night ...
. He has a butterfly tattoo on each arm.
He has a strange style of introducing himself. He crosses his arms, keeping them at a small distance from his body, poses his head at an angle to his torso and says this English-language sentence in the local accent: "My name is Rambo Rambo, John Rambo, Silver Stallone, Cockroach Killer". He always mispronounces "
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
" as "Silver Stallone". When he is excited, he adds "After Kar" at the beginning of his signature sentence. This is a combination of "After All" and "Aakhir Kar" (Urdu: آخر کار). Both of these phrases have the same meanings in English and Urdu respectively.
He always wears a janitor's wiper like a rifle on his back. His well-intentioned misadventures and indulgence into the private lives of the guests often put him in trouble with Mr. Shameem, and Mrs. Shameem comes to his rescue, who has sisterly affection for him.
He has a
fiancée
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
named Jeeran who lives in his village. He often
daydream
Daydreaming is the stream of consciousness that detaches from current, external tasks when attention drifts to a more personal and internal direction. This phenomenon is common in people's daily life shown by a large-scale study in which partici ...
s about her, while working.
Rambo, after giving his best performance in ''Guest House'', became very popular in Pakistan and then suddenly became a
Lollywood
Lollywood ( ur, , translit=lâli vuḍ) refers to Pakistan's film industry based in Lahore, previously the base for both Punjabi and Urdu language film production.
Lahore has been the center of Pakistani cinema since the partition of ...
star and played many lead and supporting roles in Pakistani movies.
During his successful film career, he proposed to his fellow actress Sahiba (daughter of the famous actress Nisho) and later married her. Now she is known as
Sahiba Afzal
Sahiba Afzal is a Pakistani actress and producer. She is the daughter of Nisho and Tasleem Fazli. She appeared in movies ''Hero'' (1992), ''Hathi Meray Sathi'' (1993), ''Munda Bigra Jaey'' (1995), ''Chor Machaye Shor'' (1996), ''Lur Da Sheitan'' ...
in the
Pakistani film industry
Cinema of Pakistan, popularly known as Lollywood ( ur, ), refers to the filmmaking industry in Pakistan. Pakistan is home to several film studios centres, primarily located in its three largest cities – Karachi, Lahore, and Faisalabad.
...
.
Bao Naveed
Naveed (played by Nasir Iqbal) is the Manager of the guest house.
Nazia
Raheela Shameem's sister (played by
Nabeela Khan Nabila, and its variant spellings Nabeela, Nabillah, a Nabeelah, is the feminine variation of the given name Nabil, meaning ''noble''. Notable people with the name include:
* Masuma Rahman Nabila, Bangladeshi film actress and model
* Nabila Ebei ...
) and sister-in-law to Mr. Shameem.
Begum
Noshi's mother (played by
Ghazala Butt
Ghazala Butt is a Pakistani actress. She is known for her roles in dramas ''Kalmoohi'', '' Rishton Ki Dor'', '' Babban Khala Ki Betiyann'', Zindaan, Ishq Zahe Naseeb, '' Tohmat'' and '' Naqab Zan''.
Early life
Ghazala was born on October 21, 1 ...