MULTAN: Renowned novelist, Mazhar Kaleem M.A., who was famous for writing a series of spy novels passed away here on Friday night after a prolonged illness. He was 75.

His funeral prayers offered at Abdali Mosque were attended by a large number of people from all walks of life. Kaleem provided a new lease of life to the famous ‘Imran Series’ after its creator, the famous Ibn-e-Safi passed away.

The real name of Mazhar Kaleem M.A. was Mazhar Nawaz Khan. He was born on July 22, 1942 in Mohallah Kirri Afghanaan, according to information provided by Shakir Hussain Shakir, a writer and poet. Kaleem was married to Shaista Khanam, the daughter of renowned poet Asad Multani. His wife has already passed away.

He was suffering from prostate illness and had undergone a surgery. He is survived by four daughters and two sons.

A defining image of Kaleem was him holding a pen in one hand while writing and a cigarette in the other. A cup of tea was always at hand as he worked.

Mr Shakir said Kaleem had spent a lot of time at the office of his publisher located at Alang (the outer protective wall of the old city) of Multan between Haram Gate and Pak Gate where he used to sit and write novels.

Although he was an Urdu novelist, he used to converse in Seraiki. His novels were once an integral part of the collections of private libraries, particularly the ‘Aana Library’ and one of the main reasons for their success. The people were fond of reading the kind of books he produced.

Mazhar Kaleem was a handsome man and had a good broadcast voice. He lent his voice to a popular Seraiki programme, ‘Jamhoor Di Awaaz’ from Radio Pakistan Multan.

“He was the best seller writer of Multan who had millions of readers. People used to desperately wait for his ‘Imran Series’ every month,” Shakir Hussain Shakir recalled.

He said Kaleem had done his MA Urdu from the Bahauddin Zakariya University besides doing LLB. He was a member of the Multan Bar Association and was once elected as vice president of the bar.

It was Ibn-i-Safi who created the ‘Imran Series’. Mazhar Kaleem introduced new characters to the series. These characters included Captain Shakeel, Tiger, Juanna, Saliha, Natran and Chief Shagal. Besides ‘Imran Series’ he wrote novels for children. For many years his books were published by ‘Yousaf Brothers.’ Later, he established his own publishing house by the name of ‘Khan Brothers’ through which he was publishing Imran Series and books of other series for children penned by him like Anglo Banglo, Chalosak Malosak and Chan Changlo.

He authored over five hundred books.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2018