Zulfiqar Gilani (Zulfiqar Arshad Gilani) is a Pakistani media journalist, author, researcher and screenwriter. He was born as Syed Zulfiqar Arshad Gilani at
Chawinda
Chawinda ( ur, ) is a city located in Pasrur Tehsil, Sialkot District, Punjab, Pakistan. The town sits at an altitude of , close to the border with Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
Chawinda was the site of a key tank battle during th ...
,
Sialkot
Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...
District in the 1960s.
He is the author of eight historical
novels
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...
, seven history books and hundreds of long and short stories and research articles, and more than three dozen
teleplays
A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or an ...
, documentaries and special
transmission
Transmission may refer to:
Medicine, science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual transmission
*** ...
Creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
* Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
* Creationism, the belief tha ...
to Christ. He produced the most significant work on
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
in Urdu with more than 1500 pages and 500 historical references.
Career
Print journalism
Zulfiqar Gilani started his career as journalist from Daily Kaleem,
Sukkur
Sukkur (; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and Hyderabad, and 14th largest ci ...
and then worked as Editor, Daily Hurriyat,
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
, Islamabad and Managing Editor, Daily Hamdard, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar.
He worked as reporter, interviewing notable figures from different walks of life. He wrote a weekly political diary for Daily Nawa-e-Waqt in the 1980s, political columns for Daily Qoumi Akhbar & Daily Juraat, Karachi and essays for
Daily Jang
The ''Daily Jang'' ( ur, ) is an Urdu newspaper headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the oldest newspaper of Pakistan in continuous publication since its foundation in 1939, first published during World War II, hence the name (Jang) translat ...
Gilani wrote fiction stories, Serials & Essays for Akhbar-e-Jahan, Karachi. He contributed more than 500 long & short stories for Sarguzisht from 1999 to 2011 Naey Ufaq, Naya Rukh, Action, Aanchal, Ibn-e-Safi Magazine from 1984 to 1996 translated at least 150 English novels wrote seven fictional series from 1984 to 1996.
His most famous fictional characters were:
* Captain Raheela Adnan—Field Agent and Group Leader of Islamic Secret Service who adopts the cover name of Desert Fox. More than 25 stories of her adventures published in Monthly Naya Rukh, Action and Naey Ufaq Digests.
*Babar—A Mafia hit man becomes a Pakistani Intelligence agent. He published more than 20 adventures of Babar.
Broadcasting
He worked as a news reader and anchor at Radio Pakistan, Khairpur and Karachi.
He then worked as
script editor
A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television and radio programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas wi ...
,
producer
Producer or producers may refer to:
Occupations
*Producer (agriculture), a farm operator
*A stakeholder of economic production
*Film producer, supervises the making of films
**Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
and writer with
ARY Digital Network
ARY Digital Network ( ur, ) is a subsidiary of the ARY Group. The ARY group of companies is a Dubai-based holding company founded by a Pakistani businessman, Haji Abdul Razzak Yaqoob (ARY). The network has a video on demand streaming service call ...
, Karachi. He was news editor for the launch team of Waqt Television, Lahore. Gilani also worked as assignment editor and senior producer at City42, Lahore and as senior assignment editor and bureau chief, Karachi with SAMAA TV.
Zulfiqar Gilani was regular script writer for Radio Pakistan, Khairpur for one year. He scripted ARY Digital's Children's program ''Super Kids Funda'' from Jun 2006 to Feb 2007. He drafted promos, Ramadan broadcasts, concerts, magazine shows, and live transmissions such as 8 October (Earthquake day) and anniversary programs. He wrote documentaries such as River Indus, Aashura e Muharram, Sindh Assembly Building, Khaddi, Victoria, Rangsaaz, Bargad, Bahishti, Chilman and many others for SAMAA TV.
Credits
Teleplays
He wrote more than three dozen teleplays, documentaries and other scripts. Partial list:
Novels
* ''Khuda Aur Mohabbat'' . Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2011.
* ''Bey Zuban Khuda'' . Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2011
* ''Naag Rani'' (Parts I & II). Published by Maktaba Al-Quraish, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 1999
* ''Awaraa''. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2007
Historical/semi-historical
* ''Babul Ka Musafir'' (Part I & II)…. Biggest research on
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
in Urdu. More than 1500 pages with 500 detailed historical references. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2010.
* '' Taj Mahal'' …. Based on love legend of Mughal Emperor
Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
and his beloved Queen Arjumand Bano ( Mumtaz Mahal ). Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2008, 2009 & 2011 .
''Rani Jhansi'' …. A complete portrait of Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, The Heroine of First Independence War of India. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2005.
* ''Raj'' …. Story of a princely state heiress who fell in love with a British Army Officer and her people were fighting against Britain. Published by Maktaba Al-Quraish, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2000.
History
* ''Tareekh-ul-
Anbiya
Al-Anbiyaʼ ( ar, الأنبياء, ; "The Prophets") is the 21st chapter ( sūrah) of the Quran with 112 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the believed revelation ('' asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earlier ...
'' …. Some important events from the lives of the Islamic Prophets (
Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
to Muhammad ). Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2005.
* ''Qasas-ul-Anbiya'' …. Brief but important happenings in the lives of Holy Prophets. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2005.
* ''Tareekhi Rooman'' (Part I & II) …. Research articles on romantic figures who dominated the history. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2009 & 2011.
* ''Tareekh ka Safar'' (Part I & II) …. Story of time …. A Mini Encyclopedia …. Detailed Articles …. Invaluable information. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2003, 2006, 2008 & 2011.
* ''Lazwaal Mohabbatain'' …. Research on sub continent's historical/ semi historical love tales. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2006.
* ''Karwan-e-Tehzeeb'' …. First ever Urdu timeline from the creation of Universe to the birth of Christ. Published by Ilm Dost Publications, Urdu Bazar, Lahore in 2005.
Research articles
Gilani is a contributor and writer for Sarguzisht, Karachi, including more than 100 Urdu articles about love legends and other topics.
He also publishes Urdu research articles on Pakistan heritage under the name of Zulfi Shah for Sarguzisht.
He produced the English website covering the history of Gilani Syeds.