TOKYO: Veteran actor and director Tanveer Jamal succumbed to cancer on July 13 (today) in Toyama, Tokoyo. The 62-year-old was diagnosed with the disease for the second time in June.

He moved to Japan to undergo treatment and had asked fans to pray for his speedy recovery.

He received his initial cancer diagnosis in 2016, but he was able to beat it. He made a return to TV in 2021 but became ill during the shoot of “Mere Apne”.

“It’s a great loss, of course, no one can predict losses like this, however, it has happened. This is life, what can we do,” said Imran Momina, aka Emu, Tanveer Jamal’s housemate and long-time friend of 16 years.

The two lived in separate portions of Jamal’s house and had been living together in Pakistan since after covid. He spoke highly of their extremely close friendship.

“After covid, we met on a film project, he was acting in a movie called ‘Japanese Connection’ for which I was handling the sound and music. That is why we became really close and he offered to let me stay with him and I did. I even have my studio in his house now.”

“Whenever I saw him or met him, he was a very friendly, very nice, down-to-earth guy and of course a great hero and veteran actor. He often became the centre of attention in a room because he could make anyone laugh and talk. He was very frank,” Imran said when about Tanveer Jamal’s interactions with people around him.

“He had been separated from his wife for the last 10 or 11 years but he had kept in touch with his family. I have spoken to his son and I am aware he has two daughters. All his children live in Japan. He was a great father from what I have seen.” The actor was very lonely during the last couple of years and had been battling the disease since the last six year The last couple of years however he was quite lonely and he had been fighting cancer for the last six years.“

“Last year was especially rough, his body had started deteriorating. That’s what I gathered. He used to take medicines but I am under the impression that those stopped working towards the end. For the last three months, he really wanted to see his family.”

“I saw something in his eyes and I didn’t have the courage to ask him, but I knew he wasn’t going to come back from Japan this time. I just told him to take care of himself. I used to take him to the hospital myself and get his tests done. He was an extremely private and secretive person that never told me how sick he really was to my face, but I gathered that the situation was getting worse when I started taking him to his doctor’s appointments and they would ask how I was related to him.”

Towards the end of the conversation we asked Imran if Tanveer Jamal’s children had come at any point to take care of him and he said “no, nobody came here because they have all settled down in their own lives. He has a daughter, I don’t know her name but she married four years ago. I took care of him on my own while he was here.”

In his 35-year-long career, Jamal starred in several notable dramas, including “Godfather” and “Picture”.

Tanveer Jamal has also been awarded the Best Actor Award by PTV for his best performance.

Speaking to Aaj News, writer Akhtar Qayyum said that he has done a lot of dramas with Tanveer Jamal. Jamal was cast as a qawwal, in Qayyum’s film Rangreza Qawal, in which he did an excellent job.

Qayyum was also a part of the Tokyo Connection with Jamal.