Punjabi
Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan
* Punjabi language
* Punjabi people
* Punjabi dialects and languages
Punjabi may also refer to:
* Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...
,
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. He was the father of leading television artists
Bushra Ansari
Bushra Iqbal Ansari is a Pakistani actress, comedian, singer and playwright who started her career as a child performer in the 1950s. Ansari won numerous awards during her career, including the Presidential Pride of Performance Award in 1989 fo ...
,
Asma Abbas
Asma Abbas ( ur, ) is a Pakistani actress, producer, singer and host known for her supporting roles in Urdu films and television. She played a role of Fehmida in 2018 acclaim serial ''Ranjha Ranjha Kardi''. She hosted celebrity talkshow ''Awaz ...
, Sumbal Shahid and poet & author Neelam Ahmad Bashir and son Humayun Sheikh.
Begum Parveen Atif, also an
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Mumtaz Mufti
Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Ibn-e-Insha. Mumtaz Mufti helped him join the now defunct Urdu-language daily newspaper ''Imroze'' after the
independence of Pakistan
The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...
.
Early life
Ahmad Bashir was born in
Eminabad
Eminabad ( pa, ) is a town located in the south east of Gujranwala city, Pakistan. It is 12 to 15 km away from Gujranwala
Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also k ...
near
Gujranwala
Gujranwala ( ur, , label=none; ) is a city and capital of Gujranwala Division located in Pakistan. It is also known as "City of Wrestlers" and is quite famous for its food. It is the 5th most populous List of most populous cities in Pakistan, c ...
, (
Punjab, British India
Punjab was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 2 April 1849, and declared a province of British Rule, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British ...
) on 24 March 1923. He claimed Kashmiri ethnic background. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its ...
and shifted to
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
for a career in acting but soon started writing for film magazines. After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, he came back to Punjab to settle permanently in Pakistan.
Career
After the
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
of Pakistan in 1947, Ahmad Bashir worked for several newspapers in Pakistan. However, he is known for his days at
Daily Imroze
''Daily Imroze'' ( ur, روزنامہ اِمروز) is an Urdu language newspaper in Pakistan published daily from Karachi.
This is one of the oldest newspapers of Pakistan that originally started publishing from Lahore in the newly independent P ...
with particular fondness. He worked as a sub-editor at ''Imroze'' newspaper where he introduced feature writing for the first time in
Urdu
Urdu (;"Urdu" '' Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...
, and later for National Film Development Corporation, Pakistan (NAFDEC) during
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourth ...
regime. He resigned after General
Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, ( Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial ...
imposed martial law in the country in 1977. He faced bitter hardships during this period in which he was never allowed to write columns in newspapers.
Bashir was also a portrait writer. His book ''Jo Milay Thay Raaste Mein'' (My Fellow Travelers) contains pen sketches of eminent literary personalities including
Mumtaz Mufti
Mumtaz Husain, better known as Mumtaz Mufti ( ur, ; September 11, 1905 – October 27, 1995), was a writer from Pakistan.Krishan Chandar
Krishan Chander (23 November 1914 – 8 March 1977) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi writer of short stories and novels. Some of his works have also been translated in English. He was a prolific writer, penning over 20 novels, 30 collections o ...
Chiragh Hasan Hasrat
Chiragh Hasan Hasrat ( ur, Born 1904, Poonch, Kashmir ) was a Poet and Journalist. He began composing poetry when he was still a student at school. He was born in Kashmir but after matriculation he migrated to Pakistan. Early in his career Ch ...
,
Hasrat Mohani
Syed Fazl-ul-Hasan (1 January 1875 – 13 May 1951), known by his pen-name Hasrat Mohani, was an Indian activist, freedom fighter in the Indian independence movement and a noted poet of the Urdu language.
He coined the notable slogan ''Inqui ...
and
Kishwar Naheed
Kishwar Naheed ( ur, ) (born 1940) is a feminist Urdu poet and a writer from Pakistan. She has written several poetry books. She has also received awards including Sitara-e-Imtiaz for her literary contribution towards Urdu literature.
Early ...
. He also wrote an autobiographical novel ''Dil Bhatkey Ga'' (The Restless Heart).
In 1969, Bashir directed and produced an Urdu film, ''
Neela Parbat
Neela Parbat ( ur, ) is a 1969 Pakistani Urdu film directed by Ahmad Bashir. The cast included Mohammad Ali, Husna, Sofia Bano, Komal, Zareen Panna and Agha Talish.
Story theme
It was Pakistan's one of the earliest experimental feature fi ...
''. This film was considered Pakistan's early experimental feature films. However, the film proved to be too much of an alternative genre at the time and flopped at the box-office.
After the failure of ''
Neela Parbat
Neela Parbat ( ur, ) is a 1969 Pakistani Urdu film directed by Ahmad Bashir. The cast included Mohammad Ali, Husna, Sofia Bano, Komal, Zareen Panna and Agha Talish.
Story theme
It was Pakistan's one of the earliest experimental feature fi ...
'', Bashir never ventured back into film making or film production.
Awards and recognition
*
Pride of Performance
The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...
Award in 1994 by the
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th List of largest cities, most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is th ...
of
liver cancer
Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...