Abdul Jabbar Khan (1916-1993)

A film actor, screenplay writer and filmmaker. He was born in the Masadgaon village of lohajang upazila of munshiganj district. Abdul Jabbar was active in the theatre since his school days. He acted in plays like Behula, Vishwamangal, Satirtha, Samajpati, Matir Ghar, and Sohrab Rustam. He got a diploma from Ahsanullah Engineering School in 1941. He formed the Kamlapur Dramatic Association and devoted himself to writing plays and staging them. Some plays staged by him were Tipu Sultan, Bange Bargi, Isa Khan, Jaglo Desh, Protiggya, Meye, and Dakat. Based on his own screenplay for Dakat he made the feature film Mukh O Mukhosh in 1956. This was the first feature film made in East Pakistan. Abdul Jabbar himself was the lead actor of the film. Other feature films made by Abdul Jabbar Khan are Joar Elo (1962), Nachghar (in Urdu, 1963), Banshari (1968), Kanch Kata Hira (1970) and Khelaram (1973).

In 1971, Jabbar worked as the chief executive of the films department of the government in exile. He established the Popular Studio for filmmaking and was associated with many film-related organisations and institutions. For outstanding contribution to the film industry he was honoured with the Bangladesh Film Journalists Association Award, the FDC Silver Jubilee Medal, Uttaran Medal, Hiralala Sen Memorial Medal and the Gold Medal of the Bikrampur Foundation. He was also honoured by the National Film Archive and the Rainbow Film Society. Abdul Jabbar was a pioneering figure in the film industry of Bangladesh. He died on 29 December 1993. The library of the Film Development Corporation of Bangladesh was named Abdul Jabbar Khan Library in his honour.

 

:: Added 18082005 @ 1425 GMT