Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987), popularly known as K. A. Abbas, was an Indian film director, novelist, screenwriter, and a journalist in the Urdu, Hindi and English languages.
His column ‘Last Page’ holds the distinction of being the longest-running column in the history of Indian journalism. The column began in 1935, at Bombay Chronicle, and when it closed, it moved to the Blitz, where it continued till his death in 1987. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1969, by Government of India.
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was born in Panipat, Punjab, British India (now Haryana, India). He was born in the home of celebrated Urdu poet, 'Khwaja Altaf Husain Hali', a student of Mirza Ghalib. His grandfather Khwaja Gulam Abbas was one of the chief rebels of the 1857 Rebellion movement, and the first martyr of Panipat to be blown from the mouth of a cannon.
Abbas's father Ghulam-Us-Sibtain, graduated from Aligarh Muslim University, was a tutor of a prince and a prosperous businessman, who modernised the preparation of Unani medicines. Abbas's mother, 'Masroor Khatoon', was the daughter of Sajjad Husain, an enlightened educationist.
Abbas took his early education in 'Hali Muslim High School', which was established by his great grand father Hali.
He had his early education till 7th in Panipat. He was instructed to read the Arabic text of the Quran and his childhood dreams swung at the compulsive behest of his father. Abbas completed his matriculation at the age of fifteen. He did his B.A. with English literature in 1933 and LL.B. in 1935 from Aligarh Muslim University.
Abbas's family tree goes back to Aiyub Ansari, the companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the grandson of Hali, the chief protégé of Urdu poet Ghalib, while Abbas's great grandson is Anwar Azeem, a prominent Marxist journalist and Urdu writer, and father of actor/dancer, Neelima Azeem, mother of Bollywood sensation Shahid Kapoor.
Abbas began his career as a journalist, when he joined 'National Call', a New Delhi based paper after his finishing his B.A. Later, while studying law in 1934, started 'Aligarh Opinion', India's first university students' weekly during the pre-independence period.
After completing his education at Aligarh Muslim University, Abbas joined the Bombay Chronicle in 1935. He occasionally served a film critic, but after the film critic of the paper died, he was made the editor of the film section.
He entered films as a part time publicist for Bombay Talkies in 1936, a production house owned by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani, to whom he sold his first screenplay Naya Sansar (1941).
While at the Bombay Chronicle, (1935-1947), he started a weekly column called 'Last Page', which he continued when he joined the Blitz magazine. "The Last Page", (‘Azad Kalam’ in the Urdu edition), thus became the longest-running political column in India's history (1935-87). A collection of these columns was later published as two books. He continued to write for The Blitz and Mirror till his last days.
As a prolific writer, and novelist, during his illustrious career spanning five decades, Abbas wrote over 73 books in English, Hindi and Urdu. Abbas was considered a leading light of the Urdu short story. His best known fictional work remains 'Inquilab', based Communal violence, which made him a household name in Indian literature. Like Inquilab, many of his works were translated into many Indian, and foreign languages, like Russian, German, Italian, French and Arabic.
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.
His autobiography, I Am not an Island: An Experiment in Autobiography, was first published in 1977 and later released in 2010.
Haryana State Robe of Honour for literary achievements in 1969, the prestigious Ghalib Award for his contribution to Urdu prose literature in 1983.
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.
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