Gauhar Raza (born 17 August 1956) is an Indian scientist by profession, and a leading Urdu poet, social activist and documentary filmmaker working to popularize the understanding of science among general public, known for his films like ''Jung-e-Azadi'', on the India's First War of Independence, and ''

Inqilab ''Inqilab'' is a 2008 Indian documentary film directed by Gauhar Raza, about Indian freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh, co-produced by Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) and Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) in connection with birth c ...

'' (2008) on Bhagat Singh. He was also the honorary director of Jahangirabad Media Institute.

Early life and education

Born in

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

, Uttar Pradesh, India on 17 August 1956. His family shifted to Aligarh in 1958. His father Wizarat Husain (1919 = 2007) was a freedom fighter, a communist party member and a renowned educationist and science teacher in

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

, Aligarh. His mother, a social worker, was also intensely involved in freedom struggle and had worked with

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

in Allahabad. He completed a BSc in Engineering from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), in 1977 and MTech in Power Apparatus and Systems from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1979. He was a member of

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (abbreviated as SFI) is an Indian left-wing student organisation politically aligned to the ideologies of Independence, Democracy and Socialism. Currently, V. P. Sanu and Mayukh Biswas are elected as the All ...

when he studied in AMU. During the Emergency, he was the SFI Secretary of Western Uttar Pradesh.

Career

In 1979 he joined Eicher Goodearth Ltd., a multinational company as an electrical engineer and worked there for 3 years. Solved a few major design problems that the company was facing and within a short span of time he rose to Executive-Engineer level. In 1982 he joined the

National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) was a unit of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in India. It was involved in the studies of various aspects of interaction among science, society and stat ...

as a scientist and still to work continues there.

Poetry

Gauhar Raza's poetry collection '' Jazbon Ki Lau Tez Karon'' has been noticed for the frankness of tone and for the social concerns that they take up and treat sensitively. In his most famous poem "Main Chahta hoon"(I like to), he express his helplessness to write a romantic poem in the days of darkness. He also wrote lyrics for a

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

'' Say Salaam India'' released in 2007.

Personal life

He is married to activist Shabnam Hashmi, sister of the slain theatre activist Safdar Hashmi. The couple have a son, Sahir Raza, and a daughter, Seher.

Works

* Plague, Media and People, NITADS, 1996 (co-writers: Bharvi Dutt and Surjit Singh) * Confluence of Science and Peoples' Knowledge at the Sangam, NISTADS, 1996 (co-writers: Surjit Singh, Bharvi Dutt and Jagdish Chander) * A Delicate Space Ship, Youth for Disarmament, Delhi, 1998 * Jazbon Ki Lau Tez Karo, Raj Kamal, Delhi, 1999 * Walk the Sky, A play on violence against women, V-Day, Delhi, 2001 * Science Crafts and Knowledge: Understanding of Science Among Artisans in India and South Africa: a Cross-cultural Endeavour, Protea Book House, Pretoria, 2002 edited along with Hester du Plessis * HIV/AIDS Public Understanding and Attitude, NYKS, 2007 (co-writers: Surjit Singh and Chader Shekhar Pran)

Awards

* Best subject expert for educational film in 1999 by the University Grants Commission. * Creative Literature Award, Hindi Academy, 2001, for the collection of poems 'Jazbon Ki Lau Tez Karo'. * For contribution to Science writings and propagation of Science, Urdu Academy, Delhi, 2002

References

External links

Jahangirabad Media Institute, Lucknow, India
Jahangirabad Media Institute

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raza, Gauhar Indian documentary filmmakers 1956 births Living people People from Aligarh Aligarh Muslim University alumni IIT Delhi alumni Urdu-language poets from India Activists from Uttar Pradesh Scientists from Uttar Pradesh