Initially, Subhani Bayunus performed mostly in Khawaja Moinuddin's plays, and it was to him that he owed his move to PTV. It so happened that after the tremendous success of Khawaja sahib's
Lal Qilay Sey Lalukhet Tuk and
Taleem-i-Balghaan, the writer was invited to adapt the plays for television. Subhani Bayunus, who had performed important roles in these plays on radio, took on the acting assignments on PTV with equal facility and subsequent success. He managed to carve out a niche for himself on PTV with brilliant performances in plays like
Lal Qilay Sey Lalukhet Tuk,
Taleem-i-Balghaan,
Shama,(he did not took part in Shama it was rather Afshan where he played role of Zartaj's father[the 2nd wife of Mr Mohsin Mumtaz and Afshan's Step mom])
Tanhaiyaan,
Tipu Sultan: The Tiger Lord,
Khuda Ki Basti,
Mera Naam Mangu,
Zeenat,
Intizar Farmaiye,
Janey Do,
Insan Aur Aadmi,
Ba Adab Ba Mulahiza Hoshiar,
Akahri Chataan and
Labbaik. He had a knack of playing mystery roles and did a superb job with the lead role of detective Inspector Zuberi in Ali Zafar Jafri's mystery series which was aired on TV and radio. He played character roles in many episodes of
NTM's
Mystery Theatre which was re-telecast on a private TV channel a couple of years ago. It is said he worked for
Ibn-e-Safi as well. Subhani Bayunus tried his hand in films and performed the role of a villain in Iqbal Akhtar's
Nadaan (1973). He played character roles in
Athar Shah Khan Jaidi's
Aas Paas (1982) and Iqbal Akhtar's comeback failure
Muskurahat (1995). He acted in a Gujarati film titled
Mann Tey Maan and
Javed Jabbar's English-language film
Beyond the Last Mountain (1977). It is said that the
Mirza Ghalib role that made Subhani Bayunus a household name in the 1960s was originally given to
Mohammad Yousuf. But the renowned man of letters Nazar Hyderabadi insisted that the role be given to Subhani Bayunus whose height and appearance made him bear a striking resemblance to Ghalib. Subhani Bayunus also played Ghalib in a documentary made by the Directorate of Films and Publications in 1968 as part of Ghalib's centenary celebrations. This documentary was not shown due to political reasons. It is available from Shalimar Recording Company, Islamabad. == Awards ==