Imran Series

by Mazhar Kaleem

Mazhar Kaleem's Imran Series is a series of Urdu spy novels written by Pakistani author Mazhar Kaleem within the classic Imran Series mythos created by famous Pakistani writer Ibn-e-Safi.

According to available record Kaleem first "Imran Series" novel was Maka Zonga which was published by the name of "N Safi" in which he first introduced the character of Captain Shakeel, who was transferred from Military Intelligence. It was published in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Later on (approx. during 1973 to 1975) "Jamal Publisher Bohar Gate Multan" published his first novel on his Pen name "Mazhar Kaleem". 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. Some other writers of Imran Series used the name of "Pakasia" in that era (1974-1975) like Shaheen Choudhary novel published 1974 or 1975 approximately, one of his novel name was "Pakasia ki Tabahi" later on Mazhar Kaleem also used "Pakasia" in his novels. 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.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Mazhar Kaleem (Urdu: مظہر کلیم) is a Pakistani novelist chiefly famous for his Imran Series novels, Urdu spy fiction[1] written within Imran Series mythos created by 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.

Reviews

[W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ibn e Safi was the creator of the character Ali Imran and the bestselling Imran Series.However,all that writing took its toll and he became a sick man,unable to write for several years.

At that point,a number of writers took advantage of the situation and tried to cash in on the popularity of Imran Series by using the characters in their own books.

Commercially,Mazhar Kaleem was the most successful of these innumerable writers.Infact,many of his readers don't even know that Ibn e Safi was the creator of the Imran Series.They identify Mazhar Kaleem with Imran.

As a kid,I used to read his books.There were so many of them,and they were everywhere.In each one of those,Imran and the Secret Service would battle criminal organizations with evil designs.

The series took absurdity to a whole new level.Imran was the superman,he could jump from buildings and remain unhurt,he could take on any number of baddies without getting a scratch.And the most improbable things happened.

I tried to read one of his books recently,plenty can be found online.It was pretty horrible,I couldn't finish it.But that remained the staple reading for teenagers and adults in Pakistan for a long time.

Mazhar Kaleem died last year.I was still saddened,as I had read him as a kid.And whatever his flaws,he was still a very prolific writer.He wrote lots and lots of books,and he was popular with the public.

The formula was basic,bring in an evil organization and then get Ali Imran and the Secret Service to decimate it through superhuman feats of derring do.It may not have been very sophisticated but it was enough to sell a lot of books.

[Aiza Chaudry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely fuckin LOVE this series!!!!!
It's FLAWLESS, SAVVY, VERSATILE, DEXTEROUS!! hell i cant find words to explain it's AWESOMENESS!!
I love each and every-book! It's worth your time, there's humor, there's action, there's suspense and then THERE's IMRAN and his team-mates. The humor actually gives you stomach aches, yeah you laugh like crazy..... And everyone else gives you weird stares.. :p
*sighs*
The book invokes patriotism!!

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imran series was originally created by author Ibn e Safi. I love his works too. But I liked Mazhar Kaleem's Imran Series best. His writing was fast paced, full of action and thrills and so witty humor especially the exchanges between Imran and his cook/servant Suleman.

Back in the days read the whole collection at a local small library which gave books on daily rent. But the library didn't have them all. So searched and found another library a bit away from home and devoured its collection too.
I remember in summer vacations in matric, I would rent 2 to 4 novels of it at a time and read them all in 1 day. Was so proud of my reading speed those days :D

[Mohammad Afaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

fhavshsbsbshsbsbhs

[Hina Javed · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was GOOOOOOD

[Hamna Mahboob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, childhood! <3

[Aiza Chaudry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely fuckin LOVE this series!!!!!
It's FLAWLESS, SAVVY, VERSATILE, DEXTEROUS!! hell i cant find words to explain it's AWESOMENESS!!
I love each and every-book! It's worth your time, there's humor, there's action, there's suspense and then THERE's IMRAN and his team-mates. The humor actually gives you stomach aches, yeah you laugh like crazy..... And everyone else gives you weird stares.. :p
*sighs*
The book invokes patriotism!!

[Ayesha · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my most favourite childhood book series. Reading old, ragged, dusty library books with hard covers and yellow pages felt so good back then. Suspense, Action and most importantly Humour. Imran’s character is immortal and His Amma’s even more 😁

[Imran · Rating 5 out of 5]

ap itni achi khaniya likhty hain meri taraf say ap ko mubaraq hoo main 7 years ka tha jab ap ki khaniya parhta tha ab main 22 ka hon ap mery shoq ka andaza meri umar say laga sakty hain