Word’s to know before reading:
- Kanjar (associated with people who are socially different in speech, obscenity, and vulgarity)
- Beradari(Tribe, brotherhood, usually people belonging to the same Caste)
- Dera (A place, where everyone gathers, usually a Chief or Chaudhary(Lord) have a Dera, where they host guests and their village people – most festivities and court decisions in village life take place here)
- Panchayyat (This is a rural court. Where a Chief of the village, a Sardar or Chaudhary preside over hearings or complaints of the village people – a verdict is passed. In Pathan culture this is also known as a Jirga – these decisions are admissible in court as valid legal documents in certain cases)
- Pehlwaan (A wrestler, as well as a caste of people who were generally Large in stature and very powerful – they produced the best Kabbadi players and Hakims(medical practitioners) before the medical profession became prominent in Rural regions)
- Shareeka (A feud within a family/tribe)
Noori Natt & The People of Punjab
Sarwar Bhatti & Lashari both have orchestrated a magnanimous Protagonist, that plays the anti-hero to all that is right. Credit for birthing the iconic film character will forever reside with Mustafa Qureshi and Sarwar Bhatti. Any insult or mockery of the excellence of the character within the film world, will forever lay with Hamza Abbasi and Bilal Lashari’s mockery of the film.
Noori Natt was a pehlwaan. A Jatt, and a Chaudhary of his area. His story begins in Sharakpura, a few kilometers from the Ravi river in Lahore, north towards Sheikhupura. Noori was famous for being incredibly strong, and was named in most criminal cases that took place in the Sessions Courts at that time. Noori’s greatest feat was when he killed seven police officers and a DSP – District Superintendent – Ikramullah Niazi, near his Dera at Sharakpura. The incident was captured by many members of the police forces at the time, who say that the whole force of Sheikhupura and Lahore had reached Ravi Pull(Bridge) to beat Noori in an encounter situation.
Many criminal cases were filed against him in Lahore, especially the murder charges of the seven he eliminated near his dera. Misfortune surrounded Noori as he was being booked for certain charges of racketeering and bribes, but neither of which were true, but a constant effort to catch the powerful Natt.
Natt maintained as much composure as one could at such struggling times, when his demise came of rival Chieftains, who took Noori’s life, leaving him to become the legend the film was based on. Maula Jatt, a fictional character, was promoted by Sarwar Bhatti deriving it from Nasir Adeebs book, which favoured all rival Pehlwaan’s of that time. Noori, in our eyes, is a villainous and treacherous character as we now know him – especially after the disgusting rendition that was created by Bilal Lashari.
A clearer view of history gives a different light to who Noori Natt, and characters similar to him, were like.
The real story is based in the 1970’s, not the conundrum of time periods as seen in Lashari’s atrocity of the characters. In the 70’s, villagers felt safe amongst people of Natt’s stature. The villagers relied on them and sought protection from outsiders from these pehlwaans’. In the latest rendition, Makkah Natt and Noori were bloodthirsty rapists, who did drugs and lusted for death of self or others. However, in reality, these characters were those with whom most families left their women for safety. Drugs were an absolute no go zone. No Chief of any Pindh was involved in any such petty activity. They saw the indulgence in anything that would stray the mind as a weak or poor man’s endeavour, who couldn’t face the trials and tribulations of life.
Noori Natt’s power was immense, there was rarely any question of this, however, it was the police at that time that was considered unreliable. The police force had a habit of booking criminals for random reasons and fixed times to fulfill quotas and other such orders that were passed from the hierarchy. The internal corruption and weak demeanor of the police was usually the reason for people like Natt to gain fame and reliance within their localities. When the police was aware that Natt was a powerful force in their region, they had him cornered from all angles to create the perfect image of the State being most powerful. Killing was not a pass-time of people of Noori’s stature, but when attacked and cornered in such ferocity, in self-defence, Noori showed his prowess. Taking out 7-police officers in the encounter raid, including Ikhramullah Niazi, who was posted as DSP of Thaana Thokar at the time. This not only cemented Noori’s reputation as a gangster, but that too a very dangerous and famous one.
The Natt beradri had their own trivial shareeka that were on-going at the time, when Noori was being tried for Murder in Lahore’s Criminal Court. The rivalry between tribesman and his own family, led for a fierce attack on Noori whilst he was alone at a stop near his own dera in Sharakpura. Thus, causing the end of the man, but the birth of a legend, Noori Natt.
