दिलेर मुजरिम [Diler Mujrim] by Ibn-e-Safi

दिलेर मुजरिम [Diler Mujrim] Reviews

• 
  W

  Before Ibn e Safi began writing detective thrillers in Urdu,there were just a handful of translations of English crime fiction.Most people were not familiar with the genre.
  
  Ibn e Safi once got into a discussion with some friends who argued that the only Urdu books that would sell in the mass market in Urdu were of the obscene kind.He argued that he could write original,clean detective fiction in Urdu.He invented a whole genre and it remained the most popular one,for decades.
  
  He was up to the challenge,writing two books a month for decades.He began writing in India and then he came to Pakistan.His books continued to sell in both countries.
  
  Reading this book again after so many years was like taking a trip down memory lane.This was the very first detective thriller penned by Ibn e Safi.The iconic characters Faridi and Hameed make their first appearance.
  
  As acknowledged by Ibn e Safi later,the plot of this first book has been taken from English.The story,a murder mystery,is good fun although it was easy to guess how it would unfold.
  
  Inspector Faridi (later honorary Colonel Faridi) and Sergeant Hameed (later honorary Captain Hameed) are both original,unique characters.
  
  Faridi is presented as a formidable character from the outset.He smokes cigars non stop,yet is super fit physically.He knows several languages,he is a scientist with a personal laboratory.He keeps snakes and ferocious dogs as pets.He is the most astute detective there ever was.He has no interest in women,whatsoever.And for this reason,Hameed dubs him,Colonel Hardstone.
  
  On his part,his sidekick Hameed,is very much a ladies' man.He is always chasing after beautiful women and most of his time is spent in night clubs and dance halls.He often gets entangled in comical situations and his misadventures are hilarious.
  
  Most of the stories in the series unfold from Hameed's perspective,while Faridi solves every problem by remaining in the background.
  
  This is the first book in the Jasoosi Dunya Series,which would go on for decades and include 126 books.
  
  Both Faridi and Hameed would both evolve a great deal in their later adventures.
• 
  Madhulika Liddle

  Hindi pulp fiction became vastly popular in India long before indigenous crime writing in English got anywhere close to emerging. People like Surendra Mohan Pathak today churn out one bestseller after another, with print runs that leave most Indian writers in English well behind.
  
  But before them, in the 1950s and 60s, was the Pakistani writer Asrar Ahmad, who wrote under the pseudonym of Ibne Safi. Ibne Safi was a huge hit, churning out a novel a month, in two series, one featuring a detective named Imran, and the other with Inspector Faridi as the protagonist.
  
  Diler Mujrim is not just the first Inspector Faridi novel, but Ibne Safi’s debut novel too. Written in 1952, it introduces its readers to the dashing, cigar-smoking inspector from the Department of Investigation of an unnamed city. Helped by his sidekick, an effeminate and occasionally buffoonish sergeant named Hamid, Faridi enters the story of Diler Mujrim when an old lady, Savita Devi, is found stabbed to death in her sleep. Her foster son, a brilliant young brain surgeon named Shaukat, is Faridi’s friend, and asks for his help.
  
  This isn’t a case that’s easily solved, because while Faridi swiftly realizes that it was Shaukat who was the target, not his foster mother, there are plenty of twists and turns and odd characters in the way for Faridi to contend with before he can get to the root of the mystery.
  
  The best thing about Diler Mujrim is its pace and its language; the narrative is fast-flowing, uncluttered by unnecessary description, and the language is matter-of-fact, to the point, the dialogue crisp and real. The plot has its good points, and its bad. The mystery, for example, is puzzling enough, and Faridi’s very hands-on method, with much exchange of gunfire, disguises and subterfuge and whatnot, is appealing in a filmi way.
  
  Where the story lacks is in its finesse. The denouement left me feeling cheated, because some points were never explained (why did Faridi suspect so-and-so? How did he get to know, for sure, exactly what had happened at so-and-so point?) Some of this hadn’t even been mentioned in the course of the story till then, which is annoying for a reader who’s trying to solve the case even as he or she reads along.
  
  Despite that, though, a swift and light read. And Chowdhury Zia Imam deserves praise for his fine translation (or is it more transliteration?) of the novel. I could spot the very occasional Sanskritized Hindi word here and there, but Imam tends to keep a very Urdu flavour through the text, retaining (I assume, since I haven’t read the original) the atmosphere of the original. This, for instance, is a good example of a sentence which has its Urdu words, but would be comprehensible to most Hindi speakers as well: “तुम इस तरह कह रहे हो जैसे हम लोग उन्हें सेहतयाब देखने के ख़्वाहिशमन्द नहीं हैं!’’ बेगम साहिबा ने मुँह बना कर कहा।“
  
  If you are fond of Hindi cinema’s crime thrillers of the 50s and 60s—films like the ones NA Ansari churned out, for example—you will probably like this. Even as I read this book, I could well imagine this as a black-and-white film from that era. The entire milieu, the mansion and its grounds with its resident mad professor, the critically ill nawab’s family clustered round, the telescope, looking not at the sky but at the nearby house… I wonder how many Hindi films took inspiration from Ibne Safi’s works.
• 
  Syed Ali Hussain Bukhari

  دلیر مجرم (جاسوسی دنیا)
  از: ابن صفی
  
  یہ میرا ابن صفی سے پہلا تعارف تھا۔ اور انہیں ویسا ہی پایا ہے، جیسا سنا تھا۔
  فریدی اور حمید کے کردار نہایت جاندار ہیں۔ اور مجھے فریدی کی جاسوسی کا انداز بھی اچھا لگا ہے۔
  ابھی آگے بڑھتے ہیں اور دیکھتے ہیں کہ ابن صفی صاحب نے ہمارے لئے کیا کیا سنسی خیز اچنبھے تحریر کئے ہیں۔۔۔
• 
  Shabana Mukhtar

  The review was originally posted on my
  blog
  
  Daler Mujrim opens with a conversation between Dr Shaukat and Seeta Devi, a Hindu practicing woman who has raised Shaukat. Dr Shaukat has to go for an operation. Seeta Devi thinks of sleeping in his bed to keep it warm. The next morning, Shaukat arrives in his room to find her dead.
  
  Enters inspector Faridi. He's a 30-32 years old man with sleepy eyes. He is a disciplinarian. Sergeant Hameed is about 24, a bit of show off, and a bit feminine. This is where they begin. You meet the legen, wait for it, dary, lengendary, characters on page 5 of the first story.
  
  Faridi questions a bit, takes on look at the body, the room and the knife and declares that the knife is made in Nepal.
  
  Say what? Yep, the man is observant, well read and remembers every little detail. So, from the make of the knife he can tell it's origin.
  
  The investigation continues, with the initial suspect being a Nepali. But he's killed during investigation.
  
  There is quirky professor who is supposedly interested in astronomy; a family doctor who doesn't allow to operate on the Nawab; a Colonel Tiwari who wouldn't let the doctor operate on Nawab; Nawab's relatives Najma and Saleem who aren't what they seem and doctor Shaukat who himself has lost a dear one.
  
  One twist after the other, the events unfold. While investigating the matter, the newspapers also print obituary of Inspector Faridi. Really? The protagonist died?
  
  Nah, Faridi staged his death and funeral and disappeared to solve the case. This is one trait that was later established as his quirks.
  
  The mystery is solved and the murderer is caught. It was the same old greed for inheriting the money that was the motive behind the murders.
  
  This was just a glimpse of the ultimate detective in the making. He is observant, notices and remembers the tiniest details about every damn thing. However, he doesn't have the extreme control over his feelings. He is still vulnerable and cannot deal with creeps or creepy surroundings.
  
  We also see a glimpse of bromance between him and Hameed.
  
  Hameed had very little to do with the investigations. Those who have read other novels by the legend, will know that his writing had evolved much more. In that comparison, this seems one of his weak works but it entertains nonetheless.
  
  That was my review of the first story of Jasoosi Duniya's first issue. What do others feel about this story? Please comment.
  
  Shabana Mukhtar
  
• 
  Harshit Gupta

  This was probably the best book by Ibne Safi that I have read yet. A serious detective novel, that was nice to read.
  
• 
  Syed Muhammad Hamza

  جاسوسی دنیا کا پہلا ناول اور ابن صفی صاحب کا بھی تقریباً پہلا ناول ہے ، عمران سیریز اور جاسوسی دنیا میں کافی تضاد محسوس کیا ہے میں نے
• 
  Mehwish

  Always a pleasure reading Inspector Fareedi's adventures
• 
  Guru

  This was an interesting read and I haven't read anything in Hindi for over 20 years now! Ibne Safi was a prolific crime fiction writer from the 1950s and Amazon has a collection of his books now. "Diler Mujrim" was published as a serial novel in one of the publications back in the day and was first in the Detective Faridi series.
  Faridi is a cigar smoking, no-nonsense sleuth who stumbles upon a rather gruesome murder of an old lady. The lady's adopted son is Dr. Shauqat, a young but renowned doctor in town. Faridi manages to track down the killer but it turns out he was a hired gun. Slowly, Faridi uncovers a complicated plot that involves the local royalty, an ailing nawab, a crazed scientist and many other interesting characters.
  Although the book was a Hindi translation from the original Urdu, it is an easy read. Safi seems to be very inspired by the Agatha Christie school of thrillers but the story has a tone of hard-boiled detective stories of the 1930s. There are some high points in the story and there are points where it becomes predictable. In any case, Faridi and the rest of the characters have a timeless, universal appeal that makes the book a decent read.
• 
  विकास 'अंजान'

  कहानी की गति तेज है और जैसे जैसे कहानी आगे बढ़ती रहती है वैसे वैसे उपन्यास का कथानक रोचक होता जाता है। कहानी में काफी घुमाव है जो कि पाठक को अंत तक अपने बाँधे रखती हैं।अगर आप थ्रिलर्स के शौक़ीन है तो आपको ये उपन्यास ज़रूर पसंद आएगा।उपन्यास के विषय में आप मेरे ब्लॉग में निम्न लिंक पर भी जाकर पढ़ सकते हैं :
  
  दिलेर मुजरिम
  
• 
  Rahul Sharma

  Ibne safi saahab ke liye kuch kahna moorkhta hai.. seventy eighty ke sabhi lekhak ibne safi se prabhavit the aur jyadatar logon ne na sirf unke charecters nakal kiye hain balke unki kahaniyan bhi nakal ki hain.
• 
  Gaurav Chaudhary

  great!!!!
• 
  Manish Raj

  Nicely written and a quick read.
• 
  Kishlay Pathak

  I want to read this book
• 
  sohail bhatti

  My friend had a whole collection of jasoosi dunya. I never had a chance to read much of Ibne Safi's works but whatever I read I loved it back then. This is the first in the series and now I have almost all and would definitely read them all.
  When I was in school I fell in love with mystery books and at that time like many others my favorite writer was "Ishtiaq Ahmad", may his soul rest in piece. I would save my pocket many to buy his books. He would write four books a month. And then there was "khaas number", meaning special edition in which all his characters join in to fight against the evil.
• 
  Aleem Majumdar

  ग़ज़ब की किताब है..
• 
  Mujeeb ur Rehman

  Location: Nishat Nagar and Raj Roop Nagar.
  
  Characters: Inspector A. K. Faridi, Sergeant S. Hameed, Nawab Wajahat Mirza, Nawab Wajahat Mirza's sister, Dr. Shaukat, Kanwar Saleem, Najma, Dr. Tauseef, Col. Tiwari, Sabita Devi, Prof. Imran and Nepali.
  
  Villains: Kanwar Saleem and Nepali.