“ ME JAA CHUKAA HUUN PHIR BHI TERI MEHFILON MEIN HUUN “
K A ABBAS (1914- 1987)
Yes he is K A Abbas . Lonely , left out by people ( whom he helped to grow ) at the fag end of his life. Many betrayals visited
him and made him to suffer but he never opened his mouth . At heart , he
remained a child . Simple, without malice , sensitive and forgiving but
emotional to the core; That was K A Abbas . Any scene that touched him brought
tears to his eyes .Any story that he heard made him pensive . Those who worked
with him were often touched by his childlike simplicity .
He loved cooking . He would feel happy making tea for friends and guests who visited him.Yaqub Bhai, his trusted cook remained with him all along his life.
He loved cooking . He would feel happy making tea for friends and guests who visited him.Yaqub Bhai, his trusted cook remained with him all along his life.
A small, simple , ground-floor flat , a small table , Some
chairs and books . Here in this room , sitting on his chair and sometimes
sitting on the mattress below, he wrote some master pieces for Indian Cinema.
He wrote short stories , Books , Plays , columns and articles for many News
papers . On the simple white washed walls of his room , a visitor would see photographs of Abbas with Khrushchev, Tito,
Nasser or Nehru. And here ,he would be
seen cooking his own food or making Tea for the guests that visited him .
Actor Tinu Anand ( son of inder Raj Anand ), who treated him
like his father would drop in and be by his side during those critical days . Inder
Raj Anand was always dear friend
to Abbas .
He was the man who gave first break to Amitabh Bachan in
Saat Hindustani (1969) . Amitabh once clarified this issue in an interview .
And before allowing him to report for shooting , Abbas spoke over telephone to
his father Dr Harivansh Rai Bachan to confirm that Amitabh had not run away
from his home. Dr Harivansh Rai Bachan was a personal friend of Abbas .
His wife died at a young age . He had a daughter. He helped
his friends and relatives in whatever way he could. He would make it a point to
attend marriage functions and other events of his friends and relatives . A
present on Walima or Gift on Birthdays would always come from his side .
He remained connected to IPTA , never joined any political
party or group but remained steadfast in his commitment to Socialism and
Democracy .
Great Grandson of well known urdu poet Altaf Hussain Hali
from Panipat, K A Abbas was doyen of paralell cinema.The man who wrote Naya
Sansar for Himanshu Rai and the man who
gave a new lease of life to Raj kapoor ( His life long friend ) after the Great
showman landed himself in severe financial Mess with his
Autobiographical venture “ Mera Naam Joker “. For his friend he compromised
with his story and script and wrote a playful teen-romance Bobby. And that
turned out to be a superhit ! Raj Kapoor not only paid all his debts but also
earned enough for his newer Projects.
For his friend Raj kapoor , He also wrote many successful
films like Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Jagte Raho(1956), Boot Polish ,Bobby etc..
RK banner’s Henna (1991), which was directed by Randhir Kapoor, was also based
on one his story . In fact , he also wrote the beginning and end of Raj
Kapoor’s Ram Teri Ganga Maili, a fact that not many people know. And Raj Kapoor almost snatched Awaara from Mehboob Khan who had read the story and wanted to make a film based on the story.
He lost everything in his production venture ” Chaar Dil Chaar Raahein “ (1959) .but never gave up. He believed that the show must go on.
He lost everything in his production venture ” Chaar Dil Chaar Raahein “ (1959) .but never gave up. He believed that the show must go on.
In 1953 he made Rahi (1953), a story by Mulk Raj Anand,
depicting the plight of workers in tea-plantation estates. His next film,
Munna, (1954) so impressed Mr. Jawaharlal Nehru, then Prime Minister, that he
expressed a wish to meet the child actor of the film, Master Romi. Some other
films of Abbas come to my mind at the moment . I can recall Shehar Aur Sapna
(1963) that won the National Film Award ,Bombay Raat ki Bahoon Mein , Asmaan
Mahal and Do Boond Pani (1972).
And for 35 years , he wrote the last page of Bombay’s
popular English Tabloid Blitz. As a matter of fact , this tabloid had ever
widening readership on account of the last
page that Abbas wrote . He wrote it in his
unique humanistic and beautiful style.
I still remember his short story Abaabeel ( Swallow ) and
the central Character Rahim Khan . I believe I read the story sometime around
1985. He was as brilliant as Ernest Hemingway .
He also did some films with Chetan Anand who was his associate at IPTA. Neecha Nagar written by K A Abbas for Chetan Anand is worth mentioning cover here.
Abbas's best known fictional work remains 'Inquilab', based on communal violence, which made him a household name in the Indian literature.
Abbas was a Kashmir lover.
He had so many close friends and admirers in Kashmir both in literary and political
fields .
( 1947..K A Abbas in kashmir with Navtej singh ,Som Nath Zutshi and Rajinder Singh Bedi )
So Long so much . More some other time.
I end this post with some couplets of Ahmed Faraaz ,
“Aey Yaar e Khush Dayaar Tujhe Kyaa khabar Ki me
Kab se Udaasiyon ke Ghane Jangalon Mein Huun
Tu Loot kar Bhi Ahle Tamanna Ko Khush Nahin
Me luut Ke Bhi Vafaa ke Unheen Kaafilon Mein Huun…”
( Avtar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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