Hamza Ali Abbasi

Hamza Ali Abbasi born 23 June 1984) is a Pakistani film and television actor and director.

He is best known for his roles as Afzal in the drama serial Pyarey Afzal (2013) and as Salahuddin in the drama serial Mann Mayal (2016).

In 2013, he appeared in two feature films, Main Hoon Shahid Afridi and Waar, for which he received the Best Star Debut Male and Best Supporting Actor awards at the 1st ARY Film Awards.

In 2022, he played the antagonist in The Legend of Maula Jatt, the highest-grossing Pakistani film of all time as well as the highest-grossing Punjabi-language film of all time.

Early life and education
Abbasi was born into a Punjabi Muslim family of civil servants to Major (Retd) Mazhar Ali Abbasi, an army officer, and Begum Nasim Akhtar Chaudhry, a former judge and politician affiliated with the Pakistan Peoples Party. His sister Dr. Fazeela Abbasi is a dermatologist.

He was born a Muslim, then for a while became an atheist but now identifies as Muslim again.

He gained his Bachelor's in International Relations from the United States and his Master's in the same subject from the Quaid-e-Azam University.

He also passed the CSS exams and was working as a civil service officer in the police group before abandoning the job to concentrate on his passions, film-making and acting.

Career
He started his career in 2006 as a theatre actor and appeared in several plays such as Bombay Dreams, Phantom of the Opera, and Home is Where Your Clothes Are. He made his directorial debut with the feature film Mud House and the Golden Doll, which he describes as a simple story about simple people.

His breakthrough was the movie Waar (2013). He was initially an assistant director to Bilal Lashari, before the later offered him a role in the movie, that he considers important for his future career.

He voiced Baba Bandook, the main antagonist, and Vadero Pajero in the Unicorn Black produced animated series, Burka Avenger.

Politics
Hamza Ali Abbasi is a supporter of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and he was elected as the cultural secretary of the party in January 2018. However, he resigned from this role in April of the same year because he felt that his movies did not represent Pakistan's culture well.

In 2018, Hamza Ali Abbasi exposed journalist and former wife of Imran Khan, Reham Khan, by revealing the manuscript of her book beforehand. Reham Khan claimed to have been threatened directly by Abbasi via emails, but he denied these allegations. He believed that Reham Khan's claims were an attempt to tarnish his reputation due to his close relationship with Imran Khan.

Awards and nominations
! style="background:#bfd7ff;" colspan="5" |ARY Film Awards ! style="background:#bfd7ff;" colspan="5" |Lux Style Awards ! style="background:#bfd7ff;" colspan="5" |Hum TV Awards ! style="background:#bfd7ff;" colspan="5" |International Pakistan Prestige Awards
 * rowspan="2"|2014
 * Waar
 * ARY Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
 * Won
 * Main Hoon Shahid Afridi
 * ARY Film Award for Best Star Debut Male
 * Won
 * 2016
 * Jawani Phir Nahi Ani
 * Best Supporting Actor
 * Won
 * Jawani Phir Nahi Ani
 * Best Supporting Actor
 * Won
 * 2015
 * Pyarey Afzal
 * Best TV Actor
 * Won
 * rowspan="2"|2021
 * rowspan="2"|Alif
 * Best TV Actor (Viewers' Choice)
 * rowspan="2" Nominated
 * Best TV Actor (Critics' Choice)
 * rowspan="2" Nominated
 * Best TV Actor (Critics' Choice)
 * Best TV Actor (Critics' Choice)
 * 2017
 * Mann Mayal
 * Best Actor Popular
 * Won
 * 2017
 * Mann Mayal
 * Best Onscreen Couple
 * Won
 * Best Onscreen Couple
 * Won
 * 2017
 * colspan="2"|Style Icon of the Year Male
 * Won
 * }
 * }