The King Of Urdu Detective Fiction: Ibne Safi

….contd

part: 2

"Don’t worry about what people think of you, always keep an eye on what you are." -Ibne safi-Raai ka parbat

Ibne safi created his protagonists as crime fighter and undercover agent. Imran or X-2 in Imran series and the social elite and Oxford-educated col. Faridi and his blithely or happy-go-lucky most favoured and trusted aide Capt. Hameed in Jasoosi dunia series. These characters were totally his creation. He termed 'Faridi' as his dream hero. He often wished to have a person like Faridi in the system, someone who would live or die defending his country and law. Faridi was a complete personality in himself and Ibne safi developed him in such a way that he got a multitude of inspiring qualities. He is a man of principles, believes in controlled emotions and objectivity which make him lives his life on strict rules. His personality comprises of both swiftness and power which sometimes goes beyond human limits. According to his son Ahmed safi, " Ibne safi was very careful in writing about him. One small mistake and fans would go berserk.....they wouldn't tolerate anything unlike Faridi from Faridi." That's the reason probably why many ghost-writers steals the character of imran but no one adventures with faridi.

The central idea and theme of his first book was taken from Victor Gunn's novel Ironside's Lone Hand. But, the main characters, Faridi and Hameed, were the creation of his own mind. As mentioned by the author in the preface to one of his books, the plots of his four imran series were adopted from various English-language novels. The notorious figure Professor Durrani, and the Chimpanzee and the White Queen from 'Paharon Ki Malikaa' were also borrowed from English literature. The rest of Ibne-Safi's novels were purely his own creations. Ibne safi created something that was fast moving, hilarious and also rich in crimes and thrills. His faridi is not very good as Doyle's Sherlock Holmes but solves the mystery and crimes with his alertness and skills to unfold the crimes. Both the main figures, Imran and Faridi were strangely stems from one of the single person I.e. Ibne safi himself. In the late 50's he become too prolific writer with the output reaching to four novels a month. Strange……isn’t it!

But he also pays for his writing speed. At this point of his life his brain stopped normal functioning. According to his psychiatrist, "In some personalities in the literary and art field, when the creativity peaks to the level, they become vulnerable to many mental disorders. His disorder manifested as schizophrenia", disabling him to work normally for three years.

He gave a comeback after three years in 1963 when he published his great master piece of all times 'Derh matwaale' which was inaugurated by Lal Bahadur Shastri in India..

The theme, plot and story of his novels are so perfect in them that reader is bound to finish it in a single sitting. Ibne safi was admired by many writers also. Mazhar kaleem who snitched his character Imran and make him nothing less than a joker, said that he learns to write detective stories by reading his novels. He was once described as "the only original writer in the subcontinent" by queen of crime- Agatha Christie. Apart from male figures, Ibne safi's pen never fainted creating strong female characters also. Theresia or T3B the notorious figure who ruled the world, Neelam who had a criminal past but now is adopted by faridi, Inspector Rekha a young and ambitious officer who want to achieve excellence in her career and sometimes assist faridi, Juliana Fitzwater undercover agent of X2 and the only female figure in the team, Rooshi Imran's right hand woman and helper, Rasheeda a fearless young woman who is always ready to fight out the criminals and their mucky activities, and many other characters. He created so strong female figures that sometimes they dodge his main characters Imran and Faridi also. He formed the type of female character which most of the men wanted. Sexy, intelligent but with the mind of their own. Their characters are so twisted that reader would lost in their oddities and charismas. Many of the plots of his novels were adopted into Bollywood movies like singham and singham returns but this point is not officially declared true till date. However, I can bet on this fact.

However, the books written by Ibne safi are considered as an extrinsic part of the rich Urdu literature. I think this is an injustice done with the magnificent writer by excluding his work from literature who took detective genre to another extent which is beyond ones imagination. I am ending this article with his words from 'kaali tasveer',

"Why should man ever become serious when he knows full well that one day he'll be buried along with his seriousness!"

Note: The information provided above is copied from ibne safi's son's interviews and articles. The words are quoted as it is and it doesn't mark plagiarism. General readers doesn't know much about his personal life so it's not mentioned here.