Khwaja Ahmad Abbas

Writing

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas

Born 1914-06-06 · Panipat, Haryana State, India

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, also known as K. A. Abbas, was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and a journalist in the Urdu, Hindi and English languages.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Awaara poster
7.2

A petty thief is put on trial for the attempted murder of a lawyer. Through a series of flashbacks, the intertwining lives of the thief, the lawyer, and the thief's defense lawyer are illustrated.

Awaara

1951

Mera Naam Joker poster
7.3

Raju faces many hurdles and disappointments in matters of the heart throughout his life. But as a clown in a circus, he tries to make his audience laugh at the cost of his own sorrows. Along the way, Raju loves and loses, but must always keep a smile on his face because, in the words of his circus manager, "The show must go on."

Mera Naam Joker

1970

Shree 420 poster
7.5

The story of a small-town man who comes to make it big in the city, where he is almost instantly relieved of all his possessions. Homeless and penniless, he is taken in by a woman who looks after him.

Shree 420

1955

No artwork available
NR

On the border, a mysterious woman is captured by police on suspicion of espionage. Despite intense interrogations, she refuses to reveal her identity, leading the police inspector to label her a spy and traitor. But she escapes and reveals her true nature. This revelation highlights the profound power and the mysterious forces beyond human understanding.

Zabaan

2024

Bobby poster
6.1

Raja is the 18-year-old son of a wealthy Bombay businessman who suffers from his parents coldness and neglect. Shortly after finishing school he meets Bobby, the 16-year-old daughter of a poor Christian fisherman. They fall head over heels for each other, but they'll need everything they have to defend their love as their families won't accept them marrying each other...

Bobby

1973

Sapnon Ka Saudagar poster
8.0

Film starring Raj Kapoor, Hema Malini and Jayant

Sapnon Ka Saudagar

1968

Two Drops of Water poster
8.0

Ganga Singh (Jalal Agha), newly married to Gauri (Simi Garewal), brings his wife to his village where he lives with his father Hari Singh (Sajjan), and sister Sonki (Madhu Chanda). The village is suffering from drought and villagers have to travel a long distance to get water. Ganga Singh hears of a dam being constructed and leaves his wife to join in the building of it. His family goes through misfortunes, with his father dying and his sister being raped by the dacoit Mangal Singh. Ganga himself dies preventing a disaster at the dam. The dam is eventually built bringing greenery to an arid region. His wife bears a son and lives on in the village.

Two Drops of Water

1971

Two Drops of Water poster
8.0

Ganga Singh (Jalal Agha), newly married to Gauri (Simi Garewal), brings his wife to his village where he lives with his father Hari Singh (Sajjan), and sister Sonki (Madhu Chanda). The village is suffering from drought and villagers have to travel a long distance to get water. Ganga Singh hears of a dam being constructed and leaves his wife to join in the building of it. His family goes through misfortunes, with his father dying and his sister being raped by the dacoit Mangal Singh. Ganga himself dies preventing a disaster at the dam. The dam is eventually built bringing greenery to an arid region. His wife bears a son and lives on in the village.

Two Drops of Water

1971

Two Drops of Water poster
8.0

Ganga Singh (Jalal Agha), newly married to Gauri (Simi Garewal), brings his wife to his village where he lives with his father Hari Singh (Sajjan), and sister Sonki (Madhu Chanda). The village is suffering from drought and villagers have to travel a long distance to get water. Ganga Singh hears of a dam being constructed and leaves his wife to join in the building of it. His family goes through misfortunes, with his father dying and his sister being raped by the dacoit Mangal Singh. Ganga himself dies preventing a disaster at the dam. The dam is eventually built bringing greenery to an arid region. His wife bears a son and lives on in the village.

Two Drops of Water

1971

Dharti Ke Lal poster
10.0

Based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story Annadata by Krishan Chander. A film about the famine that swept through Indian villages in the final years of the war for independence. After natural disasters (floods and droughts), villagers seek refuge in the city.

Dharti Ke Lal

1946

Dharti Ke Lal poster
10.0

Based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story Annadata by Krishan Chander. A film about the famine that swept through Indian villages in the final years of the war for independence. After natural disasters (floods and droughts), villagers seek refuge in the city.

Dharti Ke Lal

1946

Dharti Ke Lal poster
10.0

Based on plays by Bhattacharya and the story Annadata by Krishan Chander. A film about the famine that swept through Indian villages in the final years of the war for independence. After natural disasters (floods and droughts), villagers seek refuge in the city.

Dharti Ke Lal

1946

Neecha Nagar poster
6.3

Wealthy landlord Sarkar decides to direct all waste into the village to make space for his real estate project. However, the poor villagers agitate against his plan and the protest is led by Balraj.

Neecha Nagar

1946

Pardesi poster
6.1

This first co-production of the Soviet and Indian cinematographers is dedicated to the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin who in 1466-1472 blazed the trade way from Europe to India. The film is based on Nikitin’s travel notes. Starring in the film are popular Russian actor Oleg Strizhenov and India’s 1950s movie star Nargis.

Pardesi

1957

Pardesi poster
6.1

This first co-production of the Soviet and Indian cinematographers is dedicated to the Tver merchant Afanasy Nikitin who in 1466-1472 blazed the trade way from Europe to India. The film is based on Nikitin’s travel notes. Starring in the film are popular Russian actor Oleg Strizhenov and India’s 1950s movie star Nargis.

Pardesi

1957

Bombay In The Night's Embrace poster
9.0

A news reporter becomes a suspect after a robbery and a homicide aboard an aircraft.

Bombay In The Night's Embrace

1967

No artwork available
7.0

In "Char Shaher Ek Kahani" (1968), K.A. Abbas contrasts official images of India’s industrial progress with stark footage of urban poverty and Bombay’s red-light district. The 16-minute documentary became a landmark censorship case after the Central Board of Film Certification objected to its depiction of prostitution, leading Abbas to successfully challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

A Tale of Four Cities

1968

No artwork available
7.0

In "Char Shaher Ek Kahani" (1968), K.A. Abbas contrasts official images of India’s industrial progress with stark footage of urban poverty and Bombay’s red-light district. The 16-minute documentary became a landmark censorship case after the Central Board of Film Certification objected to its depiction of prostitution, leading Abbas to successfully challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

A Tale of Four Cities

1968

No artwork available
7.0

In "Char Shaher Ek Kahani" (1968), K.A. Abbas contrasts official images of India’s industrial progress with stark footage of urban poverty and Bombay’s red-light district. The 16-minute documentary became a landmark censorship case after the Central Board of Film Certification objected to its depiction of prostitution, leading Abbas to successfully challenge the decision in the Supreme Court.

A Tale of Four Cities

1968

Char Dil Char Rahen poster
8.0

Three love stories that take place simultaneously but do not intersect, because the characters do not interact with each other, even though they all live in the same neighborhood. Govinda, a gloomy Airai boy who was cruelly separated from his beloved girlfriend, Chalvi, who was expelled from the village. Johnny Braganza, a waiter who has just been released from prison after being unjustly accused of falsifying the accounts of the hotel owner, Ferrara, who successfully seduces Johnny's girlfriend, Stella. Now he is setting up a car garage at the same intersection.

Char Dil Char Rahen

1959

Char Dil Char Rahen poster
8.0

Three love stories that take place simultaneously but do not intersect, because the characters do not interact with each other, even though they all live in the same neighborhood. Govinda, a gloomy Airai boy who was cruelly separated from his beloved girlfriend, Chalvi, who was expelled from the village. Johnny Braganza, a waiter who has just been released from prison after being unjustly accused of falsifying the accounts of the hotel owner, Ferrara, who successfully seduces Johnny's girlfriend, Stella. Now he is setting up a car garage at the same intersection.

Char Dil Char Rahen

1959

Dr Mohammad Iqbal poster
7.0

A film is about the great Urdu poet, Mohammad Iqbal. He is reminisced by his son Justice Javed Iqbal, who says, "The centenary of AllamaIqbal, my father, which is being celebrated in India and Pakistan shows how his memory is still held in the two countries." Iqbal's Tarana-E-Hind or the Song of India became the battle song of freedom. The poet sang, "Religion does not teach us to hate each other. We are all Indians, and our homeland is this Hindustan of ours."Gandhiji in one of his Urdu letters wrote, "I have sung this song of Iqbal hundreds of times in jail." Iqbal was a poet of the revolution, who penned innumerable impassioned poems during his life time, which ended on April 21, 1938 when the sun of his glory was at its zenith.

Dr Mohammad Iqbal

1978

Zindagi Ya Toofan poster
9.0

Zindagi Ya Toofan is a movie directed by J. Nakhshab featuring Nutan, Pradeep Kumar. Loosely based on Umrao Jaan Ada.

Zindagi Ya Toofan

1958

Munna poster
10.0

On a dark, stormy night, a young woman appeared near the orphanage. Holding her child close to her chest one last time, she left him at the door and disappeared as quietly as she had come. Only the moon and stars were silent witnesses to her deed, the cry of a desperate soul. "Munna" means "baby" in Hindi. That is what the owner of the orphanage named the foundling. Years passed. One day, a wealthy childless couple came to the orphanage, wishing to adopt one of the boys. Their choice fell on Munna. However, upon learning that the child's mother was alive, they changed their minds and left, leaving a gold amulet around the boy's neck. That night, Munna could not sleep: pain and longing weighed heavily on his little heart. The boy ran away from the orphanage and set off for Bombay in search of his mother. He was determined to find her.

Munna

1954