Mazhar Kaleem

Mazhar Kaleem (Urdu: مظہر کلیم) is a Pakistani novelist chiefly famous for his Imran Series novels, Urdu spy fiction written within Imran Series mythos created by the late Ibn-e-Safi. He is known for writing the Imran Series and has written short stories for children as well. He is the anchorperson of a famous saraiki radio talk show from Radio Multan, "Jamhoor-de-Awaz". He is a successful lawyer who was elected as Senior Vice President of Multan Bar Council and he heads a chamber in District Courts Multan. He was born on 22 July 1942 in Multan. His father Hamid Yar Khan was a retired police Inspector. He belongs to a Pathan family,"Muhammad Zai" in Multan, who settled in Multan after migrating from Afghanistan in the late 19th century. His original name is Mazhar Nawaz Khan; however he is now only known as his literary pen name, Mazhar Kaleem Khan. He studied in Islamia high school Multan and graduated from Emerson College (Current Government College) . He was a color holder inbasketball and bodybuilding from Emerson College. After graduating he taught as a master in a government high school, Daulat Gate, but he left it to pursue more studies at the University of Multan (currently Bahauddin Zakariya University) to do his M.A. in Urdu Literature and LL.B. He is a senior lawyer in Multan Bench of Lahore High Court. Professionally he is a lawyer and not a novelist which is his part time hobby. He is also anchor person of a radio talk show from Radio Multan. His original name is Mazhar Nawaz Khan while Kaleem is his literary adoption. He had two sons and four daughters but his eldest son Faisal Jan died at the age of 31. The second son Fahad Usman Khan is working in a Multinational Bank.

Mazhar Kaleem is a contemporary of Ibn-e-Safi in writing Imran series and he just copied the few principal characters but always had a different style. While many writers notably Safdar Shaheen & Ibne-Rahat tried to cash in on the popularity of Imran he is unparalleled now as undisputed master of writing Imran Series. He has written over four hundred novels and has introduced new style of spy novels writing. Almost every grown up person in Pakistan who had been fond of reading has read one or more of his novels. He is based in Multan.

His first novel was Makazounka in which Kaleem first introduced the character of Captain Shakeel, who was transferred from Military Intelligence. It was published in the late 1960s. Each book in the series was a complete novel but some stories spanned over two or more books (for instance, Kaghzi Qayamat, Imran Ka Aghwa and others).

The character of Ali Imran is a playful yet deceiving personality. He is a bright young Oxford graduate with M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry. His comical and apparently incompetent persona hides his identity as head of a secret service. The Imran Series explains the workings of a country's Secret Service that operates from the capital of an imaginary country called Pakasia. The Secret Service is administered by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Sir Sultan, who offers Imran the position as the Secret Service's head after getting personal help from him.