Anwar Maqsood Hameedi - Biography, Family, Writings & Awards

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Anwar Maqsood Hameedi is a 'Hub of Talent'. He is a multi-talented personality and an institution himself. Whether he wrote a play or poetical verses or paints his thoughts on canvas. Click here to read about Anwar Maqsood biography, family, education, career, writings, and awards.

Anwar Maqsood belongs to a family, who is known as ' Hub of Talent'. He is a multi-talented personality and an institution himself. Whether he wrote a play or poetical verses or paints his thoughts on canvas, he has done each task with such perfection that the viewer can not resist without admiring his masterpieces.

TitleDescription
Name:Anwar Maqsood Hameedi
In Urdu:انور مقصود حمیدی
Famous As:Writer, Poet, Painter
Nationality:Pakistani
Residence:Karachi
Education:Bachelors in English Literature
Religion:Islam
Profession:Playwright, lyricist, satirist, painter, poet, sculpturist and host
Height:5'5
Awards :Hilal-e Imtiaz, Life time achievement award
Born Date:7 September 1935
Zodiac:Virgo
Place:Hyderabad State, British India
Spouse:Imrana Maqsood
Children:1 son (Bilal Maqsood) and 1 daughter
Siblings :Zehra Nigah, Fatima Suraeya Bajia, Zubaida Tariq, Sara Nqavi, Sughra Kazmi
Relatives:Banto Kazim, Mikael Maqsood
Occupation(s):Playwright, lyricist, satirist, painter, poet, sculpturist and host
Genres:Comedy, Social, Humor,
Famous Plays:50/50, Aangan terha, Qissa Nisf sadi ka, Half Plate, Nadan Nadia,
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Anwar Maqsood and his wife of their wedding.jpg

Anwar Maqsood and his wife of their wedding

Profile

Brother of famous Pakistani drama writer Fatima Surraiya Bajia and famous cooking expert Zubaida Tariq, father of famous Pakistani pop-singer Bilal Maqsood, he is none other then Anwar Maqsood. Anwar Maqsood was born in 1935 in Hyderabad Deccan, British India as Anwar Maqsood Hameedi. He is a writer and actor, known for Zinda (2006), Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007) and Ramchand Pakistani (2008).

Family Background

The motherland of Pakistan has given birth to many talented and endowed families such as that of Javed Sheikh and Samina Peerzada. But a family as gifted as of Anwar Maqsood is rarely seen. Perhaps it is the most multi-talented family of our country. The family has been one of its own kind of a non-conventional one. All the siblings were more of friends to each other. They have been very supportive to each other in their various fields. They have been critic to each other’s work, pointing out areas for improvement and appreciating noteworthy works too at the same time. This legacy of giving strong support of family continued and Anwar Maqsood shares the same kind of chemistry with his son, Bilal Maqsood. They are more of friends than father and son. They play cricket together. They joke around together. This kind of friendly relationship is also shared by his daughter

Sisters

Fatima Suraiyya Bajia
To begin with, Fatima Suraiyya Bajia was the eldest of the siblings of Anwar Maqsood who gave immense contributions to the Pakistani media industry. Popularly known as Bajia, she was one of the pioneers of the PTV Network and has created many memorable drama serials for our country. Her services have been recognized by highest ranking awards such as the Pride of Performance, Hilal-e-Imtiaz and many others.

Zehra Nigah
Another sister of Anwar Maqsood, Zehra Nigah is a well known poetess. Like her other siblings, she also started writing at a very young age. She was also among those talented women who broke the stereotypes and came to the front of a male dominated society to display her immense talent. She also won the award of Pride of performance.

Sughra Kazmi
Popularly known as Mrs. Kazmi she is the owner of the famous bridal wear brand, “Kazmi”. She built her career from scratch initially working out of necessity. She used to sell worn out dolls wearing bridal dress. But later as it turned out, her customers started demanding for actual bridal wear. As Anwar Maqsood remarked, “Bajia, Zubeda and I received these awards but I feel they should have gone to Sara Naqvi and Sughra Kazmi…both of them started their careers from scratch and worked very hard to establish themselves”.

Zubeida Tariq
Unlike her siblings, Zubeida Tariq started off her career at a bit later stage of life. She is a famous cooking expert. Her recipes are followed in almost every household. Not only that, she is also famous for her unique home remedies.

Sara Naqvi
Sara Naqvi was a well known journalist who has also worked with BBC. She was a scientist as well. She has also been in assistance of the famous scientist Abdus Salam for some time period.

Education

His schooling had been from Gulberg Trust School located in Aurangabad. After the partition of United India in 1947, the family of Anwar Maqsood migrated to Karachi. With ten children to raise, the parents of Anwar Maqsood faced quite hard times right after migration. They settled in the area of PIB colony in Karachi. Due to extreme poverty, Anwar Maqsood sacrificed quite a few of early schooling years. Not only him but his siblings as well did not attend school after they migrated to Pakistan. But this meant that there was plenty of time for these talented children to explore their and exploit their boundaries. Though Anwar Maqsood did not attend formal classes at school but he clearly had a passion for in depth reading and had a sharp instinct of observation which helped him master over his god gifted skill of writing and playing with words in the most eloquent manner. Later he did Bachelors in English Literature.

Married Life
Anwar Maqsood wedded with Imrana. His wife Imrana Maqsood is a well known novelist. He has two children, a son and a daughter. His son, Bilal Maqsood is a popular rock artist and guitarist and the world famous band, “Strings”. The legacy of giving strong support of family continued and Anwar Maqsood shares the same kind of chemistry with his son, Bilal Maqsood.

Professional career
He is a play writer, novelist, painter, sculpturist and host by profession. Here we'll discuss his professional life.

Painter
Before joining the television, Anwar Maqsood had been a painter by profession. He used to make his living by selling his paintings. A vast ocean of knowledge and keen observation of surroundings, Anwar Maqsood made the most effective use of canvas and colorful palette to express himself. He had his first showcase of his paintings in 1958. Within half an hour all of his paintings were sold. To be more precise, 40 of 50 paintings were purchased by Jamshed Marker. His paintings add to the glory of many art galleries, just to name one such gallery, the National Art Gallery situated in Islamabad. Just as his words are lively and catchy, his canvases are decorated by vivid colors and in strong shades. To add to the flamboyance of his paintings lyrical lines complete the paintings which comprise of usually cut down shapes and large faces. Just as bold, colorful and with a slight tinge of subliminal meanings his words are, Anwar Maqsood’s paintings are equally interesting and captivating.

Career in TV
Anwar Maqsood started his career on television in the year of 1970. At that time there was only one state channel, Pakistan Television Network (PTV) which was viewed across the country. Anwar Maqsood hosted and scripted many shows over decades. As presenter, he has many shows to his name such as Studio Dhai, Studio Ponay Teen, Show Sha and PTV’s Silver Jubilee Show among many others. Apart from this he scripted many shows such as Fifty Fifty, Show Time, Half Plate, Loose Talk, etc. Anwar Maqsood remarks Loose Talk as his best work to date. The show aired 394 different and inimitable episodes on a private channel. As per Anwar Maqsood, had it been national tv channel, Loose Talk could not have been so successful as it would not have cleared the censorship board’s approval. He also wrote many drama serials and short mini series such as the very famous Aangan Terha, Sitara Aur Mehrunnisa, Nadan Nadia, Talaash and Colony 52. The beauty of his writings lies in his ability to pen down even the most complex issues and societal taboos in very light and humorous manner. He knows how to effectively communicate with the masses. It is because he has a deep understanding of the masses. And knows how to get his message across his audience. His unmatchable humor and satirical manner was not well received during the dictator rule of General Zia-ul-Haq. Those were the years of strict media censorship. Jokingly Anwar Maqsood recalls those years as his career best as there was very less for him to write about!.

Theater
He wrote many theatre plays as well such as Pawney 14 August, Sawa 14 august, Siachen etc. His passion for art and theatre plays kept this dying form of art alive in today’s age where very few of the younger generation take interest in field of theatre. His theatre plays gave a chance for many of today’s young talent to showcase their skills in acting, editing and other areas. For instance the famous actress Hareem Farooq made her debut in showbiz by acting in one of Anwar Maqsood’s theatre plays. He is very supportive and encouraging towards the younger generation to take interest in theatre and pursue it as a full fledge career.

Uljhay Suljhay Anwar
It is a book on the life and work of eminent writer Anwar Maqsood titled Uljhey Suljhey Anwar written by his wife, Imrana Maqsood. Writing a book can be a difficult task, especially when the book in question is a biography of a famous husband, penned by a famous wife. And yet, Imrana Maqsood manages to do justice with her biography of noted playwright, satirist and world-renowned host Anwar Maqsood. In her book Uljhay Suljhay Anwar, she not only pays tribute to the hard-working writer but also unveils another side of him, one that loves to stay at home, wreak havoc in the kitchen and play pranks. The cover of Uljhey Suljhey Anwar was designed by their son, Bilal. Imrana Maqsood said it was not easy to bring up artists; she brought up 1 father and 2 children, negating her own life. In this book, Imrana Maqsood discusses her husband in casual tones, which is something new for readers. Thankfully, she begins chronologically and tells the reader that it was Anwar who was pushing for marriage – a fact she realized when he told her not to inform her elders that he gave her a lift from university. She also told why Anwar Maqsood chose to limit Aangan Terha to just 13 episodes, what were the reasons behind his exit from Fifty Fifty and who was the one person who understood each and every line he wrote. When asked, Imrana Maqsood casually says that the book has been penned with several aims. Chief among them was the aim to disclose the interesting and lesser known side of Maqsood.

Awards and recognition
Anwar Maqsood has given innumerable services to this country. He in himself is a hub of art and unmatchable talent. It is impossible not to recognize the contributions of someone as endowed as Anwar Maqsood. He has been awarded Hilal-e-Imtiaz which is Pakistan’s second highest civilian award. It is an award that is given to civilians and military officers of our country by the Government of Pakistan. Apart from this he has also been awarded lifetime achievement awards at, any award functions including the most prestigious and acclaimed Pakistan Media Awards. Anwar Maqsood was given the award in 2013 at the function of the 4th Pakistan Media Awards to recognize his exceptional contribution to Theatre. His theatre play Pawney 14 August also received the best theatre award during the same year.

Writings
He wrote various successful plays for television industry in Pakistan which as follows.
  • Fifty Fifty (PTV Sketch Comedy)
  • Show Time (PTV Comedy Show)
  • Aangan Terha (PTV Comedy Drama)
  • Half Plate (PTV Comedy Drama)
  • Fanooni Latifey (PTV Comedy Teleplay)
  • Show Sha (PTV Comedy Show)
  • Silver Jubilee (PTV Show)
  • Studio Dhaai (PTV Comedy Show)
  • Studio Poney Teen (PTV Comedy Show)
  • Studio Chaar Bees (NTM Comedy Show)
  • Talaash (PTV Miniseries)
  • Is Tarah To Hota Hai (PTV Comedy Drama 1999)
  • Colony 52
  • Sitara Aur Mehrunnisa (NTM Romantic Drama)
  • Nadan Nadia (NTM Comedy Drama)
  • Loose talk (ARY Comedy Show)
  • Majoo Mian
  • Koi Aur Hai
  • Hum Pe Jo Guzarti Hai
  • Pawney 14 August
  • Sawa 14 August
  • Anwar Maqsood ka Dharna (satire)
  • Nestlé Nido Young Stars (lyricists)
  • Siachen
 

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