Our Story

Chatting over a cuppa on a damp December evening in 1992 two journalist friends while discussing “The Mouse Trap” stumbled upon an idea that was to impact the cultural scene in Britain for decades to come.

Zaffar Tanweer and Afzaal Shahid, two prominent journalists with roots in Kashmir and Pakistan rued over the state of Pakistani theatre. It was Afzaal Shahid who had recently moved to Britain from Pakistan and had been editing show business edition of the largest Pakistani newspaper for years, came up with an idea.

“Why not take it upon ourselves to revive Pakistani theatre and introduce it to a wider audience” and within moments of this utterance a handshake had sealed the deal.

Another key person in realizing the idea was a prominent Pakistani actor  late Jamil Fakhri who played a pivotal role in later developements of what was to become PM Promoters

Setting up a body to achieve the goals that Zaffar Tanweer and Afzaal Shahid had envisaged the organisation was formed and named PM Promoters using the initials of their respective wives.

Zaffar Tanweer, however ended up in hospital following a heart attack but as soon as he came back after a bypass surgery he set about to get sponsorship from Daily Jang newspaper and the only Asian Television in UK at the time – TV Asia and the first ever Pakistani theatre event in Britain was launched.

Green Green Card was the first ever production of PM Promoters and it feature some of the top names from Pakistan’s showbiz industry including Moin Akhtar, Khalid Abbas Dar, Seema Rizvi, Salim Afridi, Shakeel Siddiqui, Ambar Ayyub, Saood Hashmi and the lead actor Khalil Rana. The play was directed by Furqan Haider and was performed at London, Bradford, Manchester and Glasgow.

Lauding the success of “Green Green Card” Khalid Abbas Dar went on to call Zaffar Tanweer the Ibn-e-Batuta of Pakistan theatre while expressing hope that this event will attract audiences from the next generation of Pakistan, Kashmiri and Indian communities.

The hope expressed by Khalid Abbas Dar all those years has indeed come to pass. Afzaal Shahid sadly didn’t live to see all the successes that were to follow but his idea lives on. PM Promoters have sponsored many hundreds of Pakistani Artists to come and deliver performances in the UK. Ranging from theatre and television productions to the new talent in folk music PM Promoters continue to introduce new talents to the British cultural scene and are thankful to their supporters and sponsors for all the appreciation.

PM Promoters have held concerts, theatre performances, Saif ul Maluk festivals and countless other cultural events and continue to do so. Art forms like Sher Khwani, Qawwali and Sufi poetry are now well established in this country. Our commitment to the cultural roots has helped us introduce our children to the culture of their forefathers and developed a tradition within Britain and Europe where the third and fourth generation are now holding pride in their roots. An example of this attachment is evident in the fact that PM Promoters now supply Dhol players and other traditional musicians to perform at weddings and our artists are constantly busy performing around the country.