Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was born on June 7, 1914 in Panipat, Punjab, British India. His maternal great-grandfather was the Urdu poet Maulana Altaf Husain Hali, who is considered the first Urdu feminist poet, and one of the most important reformist thinkers of the 19th century. A student of the legendary poet Mirza Ghalib, Hali's poetry reshaped Urdu literary culture, engaging with issues of society, patriotism, and moral responsibility. Abbas was deeply influenced by Hali's poems, which strongly shaped his worldview. Abbas' father, Ghulam-Us-Sibtain was a well-known businessman who modernised the preparation of Unani medicine. His mother, Masroora Khatoon was the granddaughter of Hali.

Abbas commenced his education at the Hali Muslim High School set up by his great-grandfather, Maulana Altaf Husain Hali. He studied there till the seventh standard. An avid reader, Abbas first started reading Premchand's Urdu works. By the time he joined college to pursue a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, he had read the works of major British and Russian writers. Abbas was inspired by the American writer Upton Sinclair, a political activist who exposed corruption and social injustice in his writing. Sinclair left a deep impression on Abbas.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas joined Aligarh Muslim University around 1931. On 25 March 1931, he read about the execution of the freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and broke down. Later that day, he wrote an article on him. Hereon, at every major turn of his life, writing became a companion for Abbas. Abbas consciously modelled himself after Sinclair, and later, travelled to California to meet him, in 1938. Sinclair's works were the inspiration for Abbas' novel Inquilab (1958).

As a freshman at Aligarh Muslim University, K.A. Abbas became a correspondent for the Hindustan Times, which was newly started and edited by Pothan Joseph; along with Bombay Chronicle. Sending out news from the University, Abbas made his foray into journalism.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas joined Bombay Chronicle as a regular journalist, and later, started a weekly column called The Last Page (in English; the Hindi/ Urdu title was Azad Kalam). He also wrote a short story in Urdu called Ababeel. The story about the latent humanity of a peasant whose circumstances had seemingly transformed him into a sadist, was printed in a notable Urdu magazine and caught the attention of writers Mulk Raj Anand and Sajjad Zaheer. The story was translated to English and published in New Indian Literature. The success of the story and its circulation not only meant recognition for Abbas but that he was counted amongst the progressive writers at the time.

Finding it difficult to make ends meet on the paltry salary of a journalist, Abbas decided to write film publicity for studios as he found the quality of their writing mediocre, “badly written blurb, prepared by some illiterate hack” (96). He met Himansu Rai, who offered him Rs 75 for writing publicity blurbs, a princely sum for Abbas. Abbas wrote, “Fifty rupees a month for twenty-six of back-breaking office work, and seventy-five rupees for just four days that would be a kind of Sunday picnic! I would scribble the stuff in the train, type it in the studio, and be free before lunch. Lunch, which I would get free in the studio cafeteria.” (97)

Became a regular film critic at Bombay Chronicle, and around the same time, also began to work for Filmindia magazine. This year, he watched about 300 Indian and foreign films and continued to do so for the next three years. Abbas also travelled to various parts of the world. He went especially to California to meet his idol, Upton Sinclair, after whom he had modelled his work.

Abbas wrote an impassioned critique of the film Gunga Din (1939) in Filmindia for its inappropriate and racist depiction of Indians. Along with Filmindia's famous editor Baburao Patel, Abbas launched a campaign against films that depicted Indians in such a demeaning fashion. These films, according to them, depicted Indians as 'nothing more than sadistic barbarians'. In this year, his first book, Outside India: The Adventures of a Roving Reporter, was published. A travel-diary whose title was borrowed and reversed from John Gunther's Inside books, it was a success and had good sales. The book was first serialized in Bombay Chronicle and National Herald.

Working as a film critic, K.A. Abbas was constantly taunted that it was easy to criticise the work of other screenplay writers, “Try your hand at writing a scenario and then we shall see (138),” he was told. He thought of a story about a young reporter who needed to make a choice between his ideals, and the financial realities of running a paper that beleaguer the paper's editor. The battle between the old world and the new was the foundation of the story. Encouraged by Sasadhar Mukherjee of Bombay Talkies, Abbas wrote the screenplay for Naya Sansar within a week and sold it to Bombay Talkies. Starring Ashok Kumar and Renuka Devi, the shooting of the film introduced Abbas to actor David Abraham, who went on to become a close friend and acted in many of Abbas' films. Abbas won the BFJA (Bengal Film Journalists Association) Award for Best Screenplay for the film.

K.A. Abbas got married to Mujji, who was his companion in every sense. Abbas was upfront with Mujji, citing his modest salary and danger of being imprisoned anytime due to his involvement in the freedom movement, as reasons for her to not marry him. Taking stock of his letter she nonetheless replied, “That is the life I would like to lead—but I would claim equal rights to stand on my own feet (160).”

Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) was founded in May 1925, and K.A. Abbas was one of the founding members. He was one of the first members of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA), and the idea of IPTA had its genesis in being the People's Theatre. Abbas writes, “The People's Theatre was born with a couple of Bengali one act plays and songs brought over to rouse the people about the Bengal famine. It was sent by the Communist Party of Bengal and called a “cultural squad” (145)” IPTA was launched on May Day with a Marathi play Dada by TK Sarmalkar, and Abbas subsequently wrote a one-act fantasy play for the organisation, Yeh Amrit Hai. Thereafter, he was persuaded to write a full-length play, Zubaida, about a Muslim girl who discards the purdah in order to pursue social work.

The IPTA plays Nav-Anna, Antim Abhilasha, along with Krishan Chander's story Anna-Data, were the inspiration for Dharti Ke Lal (1946), a film about the Bengal famine. Produced in Bombay alongside Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar (1946), both films had several artists in common. Although Abbas directed Dharti Ke Lal, his associate directors were Balraj Sahni, Shombhu Mitra, and PK Gupte. Dharti Ke Lal (1946) marked the debut of KA Abbas as a director. It was the first film to be produced by IPTA (Indian People's Theatre Association) and remains a landmark in film history. The film was noted for its use of non-professional actors alongside IPTA regulars like Balraj Sahni, Shombhu Mitra, Tripti Mitra and Zohra Sehgal. The music was by Ravi Shankar, and lyrics by Ali Sardar Jafri and Prem Dhawan. Dharti Ke Lal became the first Indian film to be widely distributed in the erstwhile Soviet Union (USSR) and developed the overseas market for Indian films.

Directed by Chetan Anand, Neecha Nagar (1946, Lowly Depths), was a pioneering effort in the field of expressionist social realism in Indian cinema. Inspired from Maxim Gorky's Lower Depths, the film was prophetic in the story of carefully plotted demolition of a rural space to make way for a sprawling city, describing the land grabbing real estate agents preying on the less fortunate whose homes are erased in the service of profit. Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, it was the first Indian film to win international recognition, and it won the Grand Prix du Festival for the Best film at the Cannes Film Festival, 1946. It also marked the debut of actress Kamini Kaushal and of Pandit Ravi Shankar as a music director.

Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was based on the story, And One Did Not Come Back,about the life of Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, an Indian doctor who worked in China during the Japanese invasion in World War II to provide medical assistance to the troops fighting against the Japanese invasion in Yenan province. While in China Dr. Kotnis met and courted a Chinese girl Ching Lan, played by Jayashree. His main triumph was curing a virulent plague, but later he was captured and released by a Japanese platoon. Eventually he succumbed to the plague himself. The film was made in Hindi and in English as The Journey of Dr. Kotnis. Both versions starred V. Shantaram in the title role.

After the Partition of India in 1947, several artists from the film industry decided to migrate to the newly formed Pakistan. One of them was Sahir Ludhianvi. In 1948, K.A. Abbas wrote an “Open Letter to Sahir Ludhianvi” in India Weekly, making an appeal to him to return to India. “I reminded him that as long as he did not change his name, he would for ever be regarded as an Indian poet, unless Pakistan invaded and conquered Ludhiana” (203). Ludhianvi read the letter and to Abbas' immense surprise and joy, returned to India, along with his mother.

K.A. Abbas wrote Awara in 1949. Impressed with Raj Kapoor's performance in Mehboob Khan's Andaz (1949), he thought that Khan was the right man to produce the film, with Prithviraj Kapoor playing the father and Raj Kapoor, the son. Khan liked the story but insisted on Dilip Kumar playing the son instead of Raj Kapoor, with Ashok Kumar playing the role of the father. Abbas disagreed and withdrew the film from Mehboob Studios and Raj Kapoor decided to direct it instead. This was the first collaboration between K.A. Abbas and Raj Kapoor. Awara released in December 1951and became an overnight sensation in South Asia, and found success in the erstwhile Soviet Union, East Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. “Awara Hoon” sung by Mukesh with lyrics by Shailendra, became a sort of Soviet anthem, paving the way for the massive adoration that Raj Kapoor enjoyed in the Soviet Union. The song “Mera Joota Hai Japani” was especially beloved with Russian audiences cheering on the line, “Sar Pe Laal Topi Rusi, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani!” Reminiscing about the popularity of the film, Abbas wrote, “From Moscow to Vladivostok, from the frozen icecap in the Arctic where a steel box containing the film was airdropped, along with oranges from the south, as a seventh of November surprise gift to the marooned group of scientists on a Polar expedition; to the ancient, dusty lanes of Bokhara in the hot south, where Uzbek boys went about singing the original Hindustani songs, the film Awara (or Brodagya, as the Russian- dubbed version was called) swept the land like a prairie fire. (372)”

Raj Kapoor's landmark film Shree 420 (1955), regarded as one of the greatest classics of Indian cinema, was written by K.A. Abbas. The film follows Raj, an innocent young man who reaches Bombay dreaming of success. However, he is seduced by wealth and becomes a trickster. The “420" refers to Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code for cheating. Torn between a virtuous poor teacher, whom he is in love with, Vidya (Nargis), and a sultry temptress Maya (Nadira), the film sets up the choice between integrity and wealth. Featuring iconic songs like "Mera Joota Hai Japani" and "Pyar Hua Ikraar Hua Hai" by Shankar-Jaikishan, Shree 420 became a massive international hit.

Jagte Raho (1956), a social realist film directed by Sombhu Mitra and Amit Maitra, and written by K.A. Abbas, starred Raj Kapoor in the lead role. Reflecting Abbas' progressive ideology, the film featured a poor peasant from the village who comes to the city, seeking water and work, only to be mistaken for a thief and chased through a housing complex where he witnesses the hypocrisy and moral corruption of 'respectable' middle-class citizens. Produced by Raj Kapoor and shot by cinematographer Radhu Karmakar; the film featured a memorable musical score by Salil Choudhury. A searing critique of urban India's elite, it won the prestigious Crystal Globe Grand Prix at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 1957.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas's first multi-starrer film, Char Dil Char Rahein (1959), made under the banner of Naya Sansar once again framed the social issues of caste and class. Starring Raj Kapoor, Meena Kumari, Shammi Kapoor, Nimmi, and Ajit, the film features four stories, which intersect at a 'chauraha' (four-way crossing). Meena Kumari chose to play the role of the Harijan girl and was cast opposite Raj Kapoor. Although Abbas was reluctant to have any stars in the film barring Kumari, he did so at her insistence as she felt that it would encourage competition in performances. However, there were several hassles with stars, leading up to Shammi Kapoor receiving a legal notice from Abbas when he refused to act for one of the songs in the film. Abbas vowed never to work with stars after this film!

There was a break in the writer-director collaboration between Raj Kapoor and K.A. Abbas, though they continued to work in films together. Abbas wrote the Raj Kapoor starrer Jagte Raho (1956) and he acted in the Abbas directed film Char Dil Char Rahein (1959). But when a film had to be made on his own life, Raj Kapoor turned to Abbas to write Mera Naam Joker (1970). The film flopped miserably at the box office and Raj Kapoor lost a lot of money.

The story of young romance, Bobby (1973), was produced and directed by Raj Kapoor, and written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. He wrote the script at Kapoor's behest, who reportedly came to his home in the middle of the night, and insisted on seeing him, saying, “Logon ke Khwaja Ajmer mein hain, par mere Khwaja yahan hai” (People flock to Ajmer in search of the Lord but for me the Lord sits here). Kapoor asked him to write a story to make up for the colossal losses incurred by Mera Naam Joker (1970). Abbas reportedly wrote the story of Bobby in three days and gave it to him. The film released on 28 September 1973 and became the top-grossing Hindi film of the year. Kapoor gifted Abbas a car to thank him for the record success of the film. Starring the debutant leading pair Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia, Bobby introduced the story of teenage love to the Indian screen. Raj (Rishi Kapoor) is the son of strict, wealthy parents, who falls in love with Bobby (Kapadia), the daughter of a poor Christian fisherman. The question of whether this teenage love should be allowed was the subject of all kinds of controversy in the newspapers.

Bobby is usually considered to be the last formal collaboration between K.A. Abbas and Raj Kapoor but the two continued to collaborate both formally and informally. In fact, when Kapoor was having trouble with the opening and climax sequences of Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985), he requested Abbas to take a look and consequently, the opening and climax were written by Abbas, and his longtime collaborator, V.P. Sathe.

The script of Henna (1991) was given by K.A. Abbas to Raj Kapoor and marked the grand finale of the long partnership between the two. The script was a birthday gift to Kapoor and was presented to him in a basket decorated with Henna leaves. While Abbas died in 1987 and Raj Kapoor in the following year, VP Sathe and Abbas are credited for the story of the film. Kapoor was looking for the right person to play the lead role of Henna but was unble to find her, leading to delays. He had left behind the script and two songs, "Chitthiye Ni Dard Firaaq Valiye" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and “Mai der karta nahin, der ho jati hai”, which were included by the Kapoor sons, who completed the film. Henna is the first Hindi film to approach the theme of love across the borders of the two nations and in keeping with Abbas' ethos and political ideology, advocated for Hindu/ Muslim amity, which is the larger theme of the film.

Released in July 1952, Anhonee marked Abbas's beginning as a producer-director, under his production banner, Naya Sansar. The film explored the anomaly between heredity and upbringing and was written especially for Nargis who had complained to Abbas that he did not project her in Awara (1951). The two films were shot simultaneously and was a moderate success.

Abbas directed and produced Rahi, starring Dev Anand, Balraj Sahni and Nalini Jaywant. Based on Mulk Raj Anand's Two Leaves and a Bud, the film was set in colonial India and centered around a tea plantation manager who mistreated the Indian workers. He eventually falls in love with a worker himself. The film was a conscious effort by Abbas to respond to Ganga Din, where American actors played the role of Indians. In Rahi, Balraj Sahni played an English doctor, while Kate Sethi, played the role of his beloved. Made in Hindustani and English, the film could not be screened in England as the British planters protested and asked for a ban on it in India as well. However, they were unsuccessful in their attempts.

A social drama, Munna (1954), is the story of a child who runs away from an orphanage. Told through the eyes of a child, the social commentary inspired Chetan Anand's Aakhri Khat (1966). Featuring no songs, the film's release at Krishna Cinema, Bombay, was accompanied by a declaration, “This picture has no songs. If you see it to the end and do not think you have got your money's worth, you can get your ticket money refunded (366)" K.A. Abbas stood outside the cinema hall, waiting for someone to a claim a refund, but no one came. The film was also screened for Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

In a bid to promote Indian culture, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited Soviet delegations to India and arranged for Indian films to be shown in the Soviet Union. This introduced Indian cinema to Soviet audiences and laid the foundation for its eventual popularity in the country. The first Indian film delegation went to the USSR in 1954, with the first festival of Indian films. The leader of the delegation was K.A. Abbas. Bimal Roy, Raj Kapoor, Chetan Anand and Vijay Bhatt, were the other producers-directors in the delegation, along with actors Nargis, Dev Anand, Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy; music directors Anil Biswas and Salil Choudhury; alongside Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Radhu Karmakar, and Rajbans Khanna. Five films were showcased at the time —Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zamin (1953), Raj Kapoor's Awara (1951), Abbas' Rahi (1954), Chetan Anand's Aandhiyan (1952) and Vijay Bhatt's Baiju Bawra (1952).

Celebrating the love and bond between India and the Soviet Union, the first Indo-Soviet co-production, Pardesi/ Journey Beyond Three Seas (1957) was jointly directed by K.A. Abbas and Vasili Pronin. Based on the first Russian traveller, Afanasy Nikitin's journey to India, the bilingual film starred Oleg Strizhenov and Nargis in the lead roles. The song “Dusvidaniya” (Goodbye) became an all-time hit, and the film was nominated for the Palme D'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.

Gyara Hazar Ladkian (1962) directed by K.A. Abbas and co-produced and co-written with poet, Ali Sardar Jafri, starred Bharat Bhushan and Mala Sinha in the leading roles. At the time, the number of working women in Bombay offices was known to be 11,000. Thus, the title of the film. The title song, “Kaam ki dhun mein hain ravaan/gyaarah hazaar ladikyan” was penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and pays tribute to a woman's role in the workplace. Its idiom is remarkably modern and deeply cognizant of the dignity of women who haul the dual burden of home and of work.

Based on his own story, One Thousand Nights on a Bed of Stones, K.A. Abbas made Shehar Aur Sapna (1963), depicting the struggles, hopes and dreams of pavement dwellers. Starring Dilip Raj, Surekha, and Nana Palsikar, the film is remembered as one of Abbas's socially conscious films, dealing with the contrast between the city and the dreams people carry into it. It won the National Award for Best Feature Film at the 11th National Film Awards in 1964.

As a young student and later a journalist, Abbas had a deep admiration for Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He met the statesman several times and recorded his meetings in his autobiography, I am not an Island, where he titled his encounters with Nehru as 'My long love affair'. In his last meeting with Nehru, Abbas had been awarded the National Award for Best Film for Shaher aur Sapna in 1963 or 1964??? and requested the statesman to meet him along with his film unit. Nehru met the members of the unit with great affection. Abbas' deep sense of loss is palpable when he sees Nehru receding in the distance. Nehru passed away on 27 May 1964 and Abbas' affection and appreciation for him and his legacy is expressed in the famous obituary, 'Nehru Lives'.

Hamara Ghar (1964), produced by Abbas, is the story of 13 children marooned on an island. He made the film when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru suggested that he should make a film for children. The film is inspired by William Golding's Lord of the Flies but it unfolds the predicament of the children and takes it along an altogether different path.

Aasman Mahal (1965), is the story of feudalism that is helpless against the advancing forces of capitalism. Symbolised through the character of the feudal lord, played by Prithviraj Kapoor, the film also starred Dilip Raj and Surekha. Written by Inder Raj Anand, the film's themes echo those in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, Premchand's Shatranj Ke Khilari and Satyajit Ray's Jalshaghar. Aasman Mahal was critically praised but was a commercial failure. However, for his magnificent performance in the film, Prithviraj Kapoor was presented the award for Best Actor at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

Directed, written, and produced by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Bambai Raat Ki Bahon Mein (1968) was a suspense crime-thriller starring Surekha, Vimal Ahuja, David, and A.K. Hangal. It marked the debut of Jalal Agha and Persis Khambatta in central roles. The film depicted the decadence and the underbelly of modern urban life, revealed by incidents that unfold over one night. Abbas wrote about the film, saying, “In India, it was the era of crime films. So I tried to write a script which should look like a crime film and yet be a sociological document like my other scripts (346).” The thrilling car chase towards the end is one of the highlights of the film. Bambai Raat Ki Baahon Mein won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for Ramachandra. Year??

Abbas's best known political documentary, Char Shaher Ek Kahani (1968), was shot in the four cities of Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras. The film included a dramatised sequence enacted by a real-life sex-worker. Abbas was a member of the G.D. Khosla Committee on Film Censorship at the time, and he made the film during the committee's investigations especially, to put its proclaimed political liberalism to the test. The scenes with the sex-worker were deemed by the Censor Board to be pornographic and Abbas refused to cut out the scenes, even rejecting an Adult certificate for the film. In K.A. Abbas v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutionality of pre-censorship, while conceding the need for clear and unambiguous guidelines in such matters.

Set against the backdrop of Goa's liberation from Portuguese rule, Saat Hindustani featured seven young people from all over India who came together to launch 'Mission Goa'. Made in 1969, the film featured Utpal Dutt, AK Hangal, Jalal Agha, Madhu, Anwar Ali and gave Amitabh Bachchan his entry into cinema. Abbas wanted to prove through his film that there was no ethnic type and only Indians, and so he turned the sophisticated Jalal Agha into a Maharashtrian rural folk singer, Utpal Dutt played a tractor-driving Punjabi farmer, Anwar Ali played a Swayamsevak who hates Urdu and speaks chaste Hindi, and for the role of the Muslim Urdu fanatic, he was on the lookout for a tall, thin man. This role eventually went to Amitabh Bachchan, who made his debut in the film. Saat Hindustani won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration as well as the National Film Award for Best Lyrics, for Kaifi Azmi. Year???

Do Boond Pani (1971), was set in Rajasthan, where the lack of water leads to collective misery and finally, a villagers' collective builds the Nehruvian dream of a dam. The film starred Simi Garewal and Jalal Agha. The role of the engineer was originally written for Amitabh Bachchan, but when he declined the role, it went to Kiran Kumar. The memorable song “Apne watan mein aaj do boond pani nahin” was penned by Kaifi Azmi and the film won the award for Best Feature Film on National Integration.Year???

Gulzar's Achanak (1973) was based on Khwaja Ahmad Abbas's short story, The Thirteenth Victim, which explores a soldier's act of killing his wife and her lover, the futility of violence, and the complex nature of justice. Loosely based on the sensational 1958 K.M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra murder case, the film starred Vinod Khanna as Major Ranjit Khanna, and Lily Chakravarty played his wife. There were no songs in the film and the musical score was by Vasantrao. Gulzar received a Filmfare nomination for Best Director and Abbas was nominated for Best Story. Year??

Directed by K.A. Abbas, Faslah (1974) marked Shabana Azmi's debut in Hindi cinema. Although this was signed and shot by her first, ?? Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1974) was released earlier. Starring Raman Khanna, Nadira, and David, the film is the story of a wealthy man who wants to make amends to an accident victim and his sister but he ends up in a mental hospital instead.

Papa Miya of Aligarh, a documentary was made on Sheikh Abdullah, fondly known as Papa Mian, a visionary reformer who was a pioneer of women's education. One of the most progressive voices of the Aligarh Movement, he worked all his life for the education of Muslim women. While making the documentary, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas faced opposition from the Jamat-e-Islami members who threatened to smash the cameras of the film unit as they were photographing “our” girls! (401)

I am not an Island: An Experiment in Autobiography was published in 1977. As the title suggests, the memoir melded memory with political reflection, literary self-portraiture, with insights on cinema and public life.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas's political drama about the Naxalite peasant uprising and student movement starred Mithun Chakraborty and Smita Patil in the leading roles. Chakraborty had made his debut with Mrinal Sen's Mrigyaa (1976), and although he was initially uneasy about doing the film due to his involvement with Charu Majumdar, the founder and General Secretary of the Communist Party of India. The film drew on several real-life characters and the film faced censorship trouble, mainly because of Abbas' own political ideology and leanings. The Naxalites has been regarded as a spiritual successor to Dharti Ke Lal in some ways, as both films are concerned with peasant oppression, class conflict, and revolutionary politics.

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas passed away at the age of 72. By this time, he had written more than 70 books, countless articles and several popular columns, short stories and novels, directed 17 films and written at least 25 screenplays. His swansong, Ek Aadmi starring Anupam Kher in the lead, released a year later. During his life, he used every medium at his command- from newspaper columns, books, and films; to transmit his message. Along with his concerns for the man on the street, he was, like the thinkers of his time, immersed in the vision for a newly independent India. Abbas' work flows in three languages- Urdu, Hindi, and English. Some of his well-known works are A Report to Gandhiji: A Survey of Indian and World Events during the 21 Months of Gandhiji's Incarceration (1944), In the Image of Mao Tse-Tung (1953), Face to Face with Khrushchev (1960), Till We Reach the Stars: The Story of Yuri Gagarin (1961), Jawaharlal Nehru: Portrait of an Integrated Indian (1974) with R K Karanjia; and Mad, Mad, Mad World of Indian Films (1977).

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Memorial Trust (KAAMT) is a non-Profit Trust which works for the documentation, preservation and propagation of the legacy of Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. Started in 2013, the Trust has been instrumental in creating spaces for various art and culture programs and publications, enabling research into the works of Abbas, and taking forth his legacy to the new generation with his works, while reiterating its contemporary relevance.

Considered to be Khwaja Ahmad Abbas' last word on cinema, the book Sone Chandi ke Buth was originally published in Urdu. An insider's view of the glamorous world of cinema, the book features stories about the stars, as well as the technicians and countless people who come together on a film set. The overarching outlook of the book has been described in the words of the poet Allama Iqbal: Tere bhi sanam khaney mere bhi sanam khaney Dono ke sanam khaaki dono ke sanam faani Thou has thy pantheon and I have mine O Lord Both are idols of dust…both are idols that die In 2022, the book was translated in English and edited by Syeda Hameed and Sukhpreet Kahlon. A collection of short stories, essays and articles on famous film personalities and varied aspects of the film industry, the book is a collection of writings on cinema that includes the observations, thoughts and reflections of Khwaja Ahmad Abbas. Amitabh Bachchan wrote about the book, “K.A. Abbas gave me my first film, Saat Hindustani. I called him Mamujaan. The book is a deep, incisive look at the gold and silver world of cinema. The sheen wears off but the spirit lives on. K.A. Abbas Trust keeps Abbas Saheb's unrelenting spirit effervescent.”

The Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Memorial Trust (KAAMT) in collaboration with the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (TRIS) organised a host of events to celebrate the legacy of Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. The events were part of the 6th Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Festival organised by TRIS in New Delhi in February, 2026. The events began with the Khwaja Ahmed Abbas Memorial Lecture, delivered by acclaimed filmmaker, screenwriter, and author Saeed Akhtar Mirza. The Khwaja Ahmed Abbas Memorial Lecture was conceived in the year 2018 with an aim to carry forward the ethos of K.A. Abbas. The first lecture was inaugurated by celebrated lyricist and poet Gulzar, followed by the veteran journalist, P. Sainath. A panel discussion, 'The Life & Times of Saeed Akhtar Mirza' was also organised, followed by a screening of Mirza's National Award-winning film, Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989).