You don`t see many old fashioned taxis around the city anymore. With online ride-sharing apps such as Uber, Indrive, Yango and other options available, the classic yellow-and-black taxis have become a rare sight. Still, there are plenty of people like me who find it nostalgic to sit in one, experience the ride, inhale the distinct smell, and fiddle with the lock and window lever with each little detail bringing back a flood of fond memories.

Driving a taxi in the days gone by was considered an honourable profession, a respectable way to earn a living, especially for those who had families to support. Even filmmakers from India and Pakistan made sure that the lead character, in many of their films, was a taxi driver. For them it symbolised the last bastion of respectability.

Taxis have often been featured in films, especially in Lollywood (Pakistani cinema) and Bollywood (Indian cinema). The trope of a hero, typically an unemployed college graduate driving a taxi, was quite common. Numerous films have been made on both sides of the border and nearly every `hero` has, once in his life, been cast as a taxi driver. The character`s journey often revolves around their resilience, the challenges they face, and sometimes a sense of comedy or drama as they navigate life in this humble job.

Sometimes he has to take care of his sister`s education (Waheed Murad in Jaal, 1973) or putting a brother through college (Amitabh Bachchan in Khuddaar, 1982), or at times posing as a guardian angel. It was in the 1950s, long before Robert De Niro starred in the Hollywood film Taxi Driver, that Dev Anand`s Navketan Productions had produced a film with that very same title! Directed by Dev`s brother Chetan, this coming-of-age story featured Dev Anand as a taxi driver named `Hero`. The film also starred Kalpana Kartik, Sheila Ramani and Johnny Walker. During the shooting, Dev Anand and Kalpanagot married and remained together until his death.

In Pakistan, films with a taxi driver hero came into fashion with Khwaja Khurshid Anwar`s film Chingari. In it, Ejaz Durrani plays a novelist who roams around in the guise of a taxi driver for ideas for his novels. The film boasted an ensemble cast, comprising Santosh Kumar, Shamim Ara, Deeba, Talish and Begum Khurshid Shahid, while the songs are still remembered Mehdi Hassan`s `Ae roshniyon ke shehr`, Madam Noor Jehan`s `Kali kali mundalaye` and the tandem `Aaja paas mere by Saleem Raza and Madam Noor Jehan, were quite popular back then and still are.

Yusuf Khan (not Dilip Kumar) also played the title role in the Iqbal Kashmiri-directed film Taxi Driver (1970). However, it was Waheed Murad who truly embodied the role of a caring son and a responsible brother in Jaal (1973) and Khuda Aur Mohabbat (1978), respectively.

The unforgettable rain-soaked song by Runa Laila and Ahmed Rushdi, `Dil ki dharrkan madham madham`, featuring WaheedMurad and Nisho in front of a taxi, transports viewers back in time, evoking a sense of nostalgia. Even the songs in Khuda Aur Mohabbat, by A. Nayyar, were smash hits `Aik baat kahoon dildara` and `Aik larrki tum jaisi.

Muhammad Ali played the roleof a taxi driver in Zakhmi (1973), but the movie had a tragic end and was nowhere close to romance.The title of the most famous taxi driver of all time undoubtedly goes to Amitabh Bachchan, who starred as Chhotu Ustad in Khuddaar (1982).

The film tells the story of a boy who separated from his older brother and drives a taxi to support his younger sibling.

With a cast that included Sanjeev Kumar, Vinod Mehra and Parveen Babi, this film, directed by Ravi Tandon, was a major hit. It became especially popular for its song `Hatjabazoo nahin tau urra doonga`, where Amitabh`s character dreams of singing alongside his taxi an iconic vehicle that, much like its owner, despises fraudsters. Nearly every Bollywood fan knows the entire lyrics of the Lata-Kishore song, `Angrezi mein kehtay hain`, which was also part of the soundtrack.

The final traditional hero of the iconic taxi driver trope, who charmed his way into the heart of the leading lady, was Aamir Khan in Raja Hindustani (1996). The song `Aaye ho meri zindagi mein`, sung by Udit Narayan, won the hearts of millions, including the leading lady, Karisma Kapoor.

Arshad Warsi, famous for his role as Circuit in the Munna Bhai films, swapped his taxi driver seat with Chandrachur Singh in Tere Mere Sapne (1996), a film released at the peak of Raja Hindustani`s run in cinemas. However, he was neither suave nor sophisticated like Aamir Khan`s Raja. Kumar Sanu`s `Larrki aankh maaray` can describe what kind of romance he was up to.

Years later, in the Bolly wood flick Taxi 9211 (2006), Nana Patekar played the character of a gruff, no-nonsense taxi driver whose character is of a complex-layered individual tough on the outside but with a deep sense of justice.

For Pakistani viewers, Junaid Jamshed`s famous taxi in the music video of one of his final songs as a singer, `Hum kyun chalain` from the album Uss Raah Par (1999), serves as a metaphor for life`s journey. The lyrics reflected the internal struggles and the questions one faces about the direction of one`s life. The taxi, in this context, embodies the choices one makes and the path one takes.

Those were also the last days of taxis in the region as, with time, carpooling and, later, Ubertype services became part of our lives, and all themes of societal expectations, class divides and the pursuit of a better life went down the drain in films.