3. Zarqa (1969)

Language: Urdu

Director: Riaz Shahid

Starring: Neelo, Ejaz, Talish, Allauddin, Saqi

Zarqa, a village girl (played by Neelo, director Shahid's wife) joins a freedom fighters organisation after the Israeli army kills her father. She ultimately becomes a martyr to the cause.

"Riaz Shahid's epic Zarqa, was based on the struggle of Palestinians against an international Jewish conspiracy. It was made at a time when American-Pakistan relations at the government level were at their lowest ebb. Exposure of imperialist designs in any form was encouraged by the regime and willingly cleared by the Censor Board. Zarqa appealed equally to a cross section of the country and turned out to be the top box-office hit of the year and the first diamond jubilee hit of the local film industry." (Mushtaq Gazdar, Pakistan Cinema 1947-1997, OUP, 1997)