Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti: Biography, Death & Legacy

 

The Story of Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti: The Man Who Quizzed a Nation Into Unity

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1. Prologue – A Winter Morning in Gujranwala, 1948

The fog clung to the brick-kilns of Gujranwala like cotton on a wound. On 30 November 1948 – Sagittarius season, for the star-sign lovers  a boy was born in a modest two-room house in the grain-market quarter. The azan echoed; the father, a soft-spoken primary-school teacher named Nisar Bhatti, whispered two names into the infant’s ear: “Dildar  the one with heart; Pervaiz  victorious.” No one in the lane could spell “broadcaster” yet, but the mic was already waiting.

Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti Biography Overview

Attribute	Details
Full Name	Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti
Date of Birth	30 November 1948
Birth Place	Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan
Zodiac Sign	Sagittarius
Education	MA English, Urdu & Persian (Punjab University)
Profession	Lecturer, Radio & TV Broadcaster, Writer
Famous Show	Takra (PTV Quiz Show, 1974-1983)
Spouse	Married (name not public)
Children	2 sons, 1 daughter
Date of Death	30 October 1994
Place of Burial	Wahdat Colony Graveyard, Lahore

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2. Childhood – Cricket Bat in One Hand, Persian Poetry in the Other

Dildar grew up on the banks of the Chenab, speaking Punjabi that dripped with Gujranwala’s raw humour. He was the middle child  elder brother Iftikhar (future banker) and two younger sisters who would later become homemakers.

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3. School Bell to College Debates – The First Taste of Applause

Government Model School, Gujranwala, had no debating society until Dildar formed one in Grade-9. He bunked maths to mimic teachers in the annual play  and still scored a distinction in English.

College: Government College, Sahiwal (BA English, 1967).

University: MA triple – English, Urdu & Persian – from Punjab University, 1969.

Teachers predicted he would top the civil-service exam; instead he topped every stage he walked onto.

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4. Pay Cheque vs Passion – Lecturer by Day, Microphone by Night

1970: appointed lecturer at Government College, Lahore. 

Evenings: free-lance compère for Radio Pakistan’s “Sohni Dharti”.

He would finish Chaucer at 4 p.m., cycle to the station, and by 7 p.m. transform into a velvet-voiced host introducing folk singers.

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5. The Accidental Quizmaster – “Takra” is Born (1974)

PTV Lahore centre needed a last-minute replacement for its live youth quiz. Dildar was given a chance  and asked impromptu questions that made teenagers sweat and parents smile. Ratings jumped 38 %. “Takra” ran every Friday for nine uninterrupted years  a record still unbroken.

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6. Height, Weight & the Signature Style

Colleagues joked he was “5 foot 9 of voice, 6 foot 2 of vocabulary.” Weight hovered at 74 kg; the real height was his courtesy – he bowed slightly before asking the next question, making even losers feel like winners.

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7. Family – The Quiet Corner of a Loud Life

In 1972 he married; the couple had two sons and a daughter. No Information is further available in this regard.

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8. Net Worth – Not in Banknotes but in Airtime

No verified Information Available.

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9. The Night of 30 October 1994 – Curtain Call in New York

Invited to raise funds for Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, he finished a three-hour show at the Pakistan-American Community Theatre, Queens. Backstage, he complained of “a thunderstorm inside my head.” A ruptured cerebral vein silenced him at 2:17 a.m. He was 45.

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10. Legacy – The Host Who Never Left the Stage

✔Imran Khan named an entire hospital ward “Dildar” after him.

✔PTV’s Lifetime Achievement Award was created the next year specifically to honour him first.

✔Every December, GC Lahore holds the “Bhatti Declamation Contest” in the same hall where he once taught Paradise Lost.

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11. Scandals? Zero. Controversy? Only Love Letters

Search the archives , you will not find a single controversy or scandal during his career which reflect his Great Character.

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12. Where to Find Him Today – Grave & Gigabytes

✔Grave: Wahdat Colony Graveyard, Lahore 

✔Digital: Fan-run Instagram @dildarpervaizbhatti (65 k), YouTube tribute channel (120 k), Radio Pakistan archives (free stream).

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13. Quick FAQ 

Q: When did Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti die?
A: 30 October 1994 in New York from a brain haemorrhage.

Q: What was his first TV show?
A: “Takra”, a live youth quiz that began on PTV Lahore in 1974.

Q: Did he ever act in Bollywood?
A: No; his entire screen career was Pakistani radio and PTV.

Q: How many books did he write?
A: Three collections of humorous essays: Amna Samna, Dildarian, Dilbar Dildar.

Q: Where is he buried?
A: Wahdat Colony Graveyard, Lahore.

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15. Epilogue – The Question He Never Asked

Minutes before the haemorrhage, he reportedly smiled at the empty auditorium and said, “If knowledge is power, why do we still feel power-less?” The mic is off, but the question echoes every time a GC student steps onto the debating stage that bears his name.

That is the story and the legacy  of Dildar Pervaiz Bhatti: the lecturer who became the voice of a nation, the quizmaster who taught Pakistan to ask before answering, and the only broadcaster whose scandal-sheet remains blissfully blank.

 

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