Explained: Pakistan’s ‘truck art’ – its ride to recognition and a special tribute to Moosewala

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Awards for popular song singers Sidhu Moosewala in the form of a big portrait of him painted behind the truck in Pakistan have become viral recently. Truck with a portrait of Moosewala owned by Shahzad Bhatti who is 30 years old from Punjab Province Pakistan. Why did this viral award from across the border stop specifically on the old journey of Pakistani trucks?

Why is an important truck in Pakistan?

Painter Haji Naz (65) from Peshawar, who has spent more than five decades paint portraits in trucks in Pakistan, said that the face painted on the truck symbolizes the love of extraordinary people for that personality.

In my career, I have painted thousands of trucks. Favorite people for many years including General Ayub Khan, General Raheel Sharif, poet Allama Iqbal and the latest is also Imran Khan. From the Pakistani music industry, the portrait of singer Atta Ullah Khan Esakhelvi and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan have been widely painted. To this day, we get orders to paint General Ayub Khan and even Freedom of Abdul Ghaffar Khan … among women, Benazir Bhutto has always been one of the favorites, “Naz said.

He added that some drivers also got portraits painted by their family members who later showed how important space was for them.

Actor Divya Bharti, Aishwarya Rai and Mamta Kulkarni are among some Indians whose portraits are seen painted in trucks in Pakistan even now. “Moosewala may be the first Indian turban that has been given this space but not the first Indian,” Naz said, adding: “I paint a portrait of Divya Bharti to the truck even now.”

About the popularity of Moosewala in Pakistan, Rizwan Mughal from, the son of a truck artist from Rawalpindi, said: “Because initially the humble and struggle in life connected by people here. The songs are close to real life. There is a big madness for Punjabi songs here. “

Before he was killed, Moosewala also promised his fans of Pakistani tour with direct performances in Lahore and Islamabad “before 2022 ended.”