Where Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng is breaking records by its enormous success all over the nation, there is another Singh in Panipat who is busy breaking records of a different kind on the name of the movie.

Manjeet Singh’s 37th birthday was surely special because he celebrated the day at a cinema hall not just with his family and friends but with Bollywood’s very own Singh, Akshay Kumar as well.

As a gift to himself, Manjeet booked an entire theatre in Panipat at the cost of Rs1 lakh to watch his favourite star Akshay Kumar’s Singh is Kinng all by himself.

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 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. 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 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.

Meanwhile he had started writing scripts for other directors, Neecha Nagar for Chetan Anand and Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani for V. Shantaram.

In 1945, he made his directorial debut with a film based on the Bengal famine of 1943, Dharti Ke Lal (Children of the Earth) for the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA).

In 1951, he founded his own production company called Naya Sansar, which consistently produced films that were socially relevant including, Anhonee, Munna and the National Film Award winner, Shehar Aur Sapna in 1964.

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.

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.

He went on to write scripts for Jagte Raho, and most of prominent Raj Kapoor films including Awaara, Shri 420, Mera Naam Joker, Bobby and Henna.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas is considered one of pioneers of Indian parallel or neo-realistic cinema, having penned films like Neecha Nagar, Jagte Raho, Dharti Ke Lal, Awara, Saat Hindustani and Naya Sansar.
He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1969.

Maulana Khawaja Altaf Hussain Hali (1837-1914) was an Urdu poet, and the last pupil of Mirza Ghalib. He is also one of the most well-regarded biographers of Ghalib’s life, and a commentator of his poetry. He also wrote the biography of the Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College (MAO) which later on became Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in 1920.

Born in Panipat in 1837, Altaf Hussain was educated in Panipat city and later ran away to Delhi where he wished to gain further education in the Indo-Islamic poetic tradition. It was here he chose the cognomen of Khastah (“The Spent One”, or “The Tired One”). He was forced to return home, and pursued a government job until displaced by the Mutiny of 1857.

Literary works :

Musaddas e-Madd o-Jazr e-Islam, better known as Musaddas-e-Hali
(An elegaic poem on the Ebb and Tide of Islam)

Hayat-i-Javed, is the biography of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan,
(Now among one of the classics of Urdu language)

Yadgar-e-Ghalib, Mirza Ghalib’s life, and a commentator of his poetry

Heyat-e-Saadi, life of great Persian scholar, Shaikh Saadi

Muqaddama-e-Sher-o-Shayari, (A book of literary criticism in Urdu)

Hayaat-e-Hali, Autobiography

Divaan-e-Hali, Collection of Hali’s Poetry

To Hali also goes the credit of being the first to introduce the genre of biography in Urdu and all in total he authored three biographies, Heyat-e-Saadi, life of great Persian scholar, Shaikh Saadi, Heyat-e-Javed, life of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, founder of AMU Aligarh, and his famous Yadgar-e-Ghalib.
Hali was for a new start in politics and society as much as in literature. He believed in the irreversible movement of modern civilisation, arguing that only by contact with the West could life and vigour flow back into India. His simple and deeply moving poetry inspired millions and awakened a decadent people to revive their lost glory and look to the future with renewed hope. Hali’s construction of Islam, his understanding of himself as a Muslim, and as an Indian living in British India, are crucial in tracing the historical development of Islam in South Asia. He shared a political heritage and language, which helped reconstruct Muslim identity in the 19th century. Hali came into prominence during one of the darkest hours of Indian Muslim history. The Muslims had taken lead in India’s first war of independence against the British in 1857, and after losing the war had to face the brunt of the victor’s revenge. Muslim mutineers and their supporters were murdered in the thousands by the British and a policy of systematic discrimination was instituted against the Muslims.
Hali used his pen to bring about social and educational reforms among Muslims. He heralded a new movement in Urdu prose and poetry free from jargon and verbiage. He wrote the famous “Musaddas-e-Hali”, a narrative on the rise and fall of Muslims that was published in 1879.

In his novel, Majalis-un Nisan (Assemblies of Women), Hali, emphasizes the need of educating women. The heroine, Zubaida Khatun, is taught the Qur’an, Arabic, Persian and Urdu as well as mathematics, geography and history by her father. This was at a time, when studying “British” subjects such as geography and mathematics was a taboo even for Indian Muslim men.
Hali passed away on 30th September 1914 in Panipat, but the movement for reformation and renaissance he helped start continues to this day.