Indian Film director, screenwriter, novelist and journalist
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As a screenwriter, he wrote a number of neo-realistic films, such asDharti Ke Lal (which he also directed),[3]Neecha Nagar (1946) which won thePalme d'Or at thefirst Cannes Film Festival,Naya Sansar (1941),Jagte Raho (1956), andSaat Hindustani (which he also directed). He is also known for writing Raj Kapoor's films, including thePalme d'Or-nominatedAwaara (1951), as well asShree 420 (1955),Mera Naam Joker (1970),Bobby (1973) andHenna (1991).[5]
His column 'Last Page' was one of the longest-running newspaper columns in the history of Indian journalism. It began in 1935, inThe Bombay Chronicle, and moved to theBlitz after theChronicle's closure, where it continued until his death in 1987.[6] He was awarded thePadma Shri by theGovernment of India in 1969.
In total, his works include 74 books, 90 short stories, 3000 journalistic articles and 40 films.[7]
Abbas belonged to theAnsari family ofPanipat, tracing its roots back toAbu Ayyub al-Ansari, a close companion of the Islamic prophetMuhammad, and among the famed personalities that it produced we find: the 12th centurySufi saintAbdullah Ansari ofHerat inAfghanistan; his maternal great-grandfatherAltaf Hussain Hali, a student ofMirza Ghalib and himself an Urdu poet of repute; his paternal grandfather Khwaja Ghulam Abbas, one of the chief rebels of the1857 Rebellion movement, and the first martyr ofPanipat to be blown from the mouth of a cannon; his father Ghulam-us-Sibtain, among the first graduates fromAligarh Muslim University, who was a tutor of a prince and a businessman who modernised the preparation ofUnani medicines; Abbas's mother, Masroora Khatoon, was the daughter of Khwaja Sajjad Husain, an educator keen on female education, having established the first school for girls in Panipat.[8]
Abbas was born inPanipat,undivided Punjab.[9] He attended Hali Muslim High School, which was established by his maternal grandfather, Hali.[8] He was instructed to read the Arabic text of the Quran and matriculated at the age of fifteen.[10]: 30
Abbas suffered from a heart attack in the 60s, followed by another more serious heart attack, a paralytic stroke as well a on set accident injuring his legs, but he kept working till his death at the age of 72 on 1 June 1987.[12]
After leaving university,K.A Abbas began his career as a journalist at theNational Call, a New Delhi-based newspaper. Later while studying law in 1934, startedAligarh Opinion.[9]
He joinedThe Bombay Chronicle in 1935 as a political correspondent and later, became a film critic for the newspaper.[9]
While atThe Bombay Chronicle (1935–1947), he started a weekly column called 'Last Page', which he continued when he joined the Blitz magazine.[5] "The Last Page", ('Azad Kalam' in the Urdu edition) became the longest-running political column in India's history (1935–87).[13] A collection of these columns was later published as two books. He continued to write for The Blitz and Mirror until his last days.
Abbas interviewed several renowned personalities in literary and non-literary fields, including the Russian Prime Minister Khrushchov, American President Roosevelt, Charlie Chaplin, Mao-Tse-Tung and Yuri Gagarin.
Abbas wrote 74 books in English, Hindi and Urdu[14] and was considered the leading light of the Urdu short story.[15] His best known fictional work remains 'Inquilab', which made him a household name in Indian literature.[16] Like Inquilab, many of his works were translated into many Indian and foreign languages, like Russian, German, Italian, French and Arabic.
His autobiography,I Am not an Island: An Experiment in Autobiography, was published in 1977 and again in 2010.[6]
In 1968, Abbas made a documentary film calledChar Shaher Ek Kahani (A Tale of Four Cities).[17] The film depicted the contrast between the luxurious life of the rich in the four cities ofCalcutta,Bombay,Madras andDelhi and that of the squalor and poverty of the poor. He approached theCentral Board of Film Certification to obtain a'U' (Unrestricted Public Exhibition) certificate. Abbas was, however, informed by the regional office of theBoard that the film was not eligible to be granted a 'U' certificate, but was suitable for exhibition only for adults. His appeal to the revising committee of theCentral Board of Film Certification led to the decision of the censors being upheld.[18]
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas further appealed to theCentral Government but the government decided to grant the film a 'U' certificate provided certain scenes were cut. Following this, Abbas approached theSupreme Court of India by filing awrit petition under Article 19(1) of theIndian Constitution. He claimed that hisfundamental right of free speech and expression was denied by theCentral Government's refusal to grant the film a 'U' certificate.[18] Abbas also challenged the constitutional validity of pre-censorship on films.[19]
Haryana State Robe of Honour for literary achievements in 1969, the Ghalib Award for his contribution to Urdu prose literature in 1983[29]
Vorosky Literary Award of the Soviet Union in 1984, Urdu Akademi Delhi Special Award 1984, Maharashtra State Urdu Akademi Award in 1985 and the Soviet Award for his contribution to the cause of Indo-Soviet Friendship in 1985.
^Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen; Professor of Critical Studies Paul Willemen (10 July 2014).Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. pp. 69–.ISBN978-1-135-94318-9.Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved4 March 2015.
^M.K. Naik, "Abbas, Khwaja Ahmad (1914–1987)" in Eugene Benson (ed.), Bholi,Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, Routledge (2004), p. 2
