Jan Nisar Akhtar (18 February 1914 – 19 August 1976) was an Indian poet of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

ghazals The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a p ...

and

nazm ''Nazm'' () is a major part of Urdu and Sindhi poetry that is normally written in rhymed verse and also in modern prose-style poems. is a significant genre of Urdu and Sindhi poetry; the other one is known as ''ghazal'' (). is significantly ...

s, and a part of the

Progressive Writers' Movement The Progressive Writers' Association or the Progressive Writers' Movement of India or ''Anjuman Tarraqi Pasand Mussanafin-e-Hind'' (( ur, ) or ''Akhil Bhartiya Pragatishil Lekhak Sangh'' (Hindi: अखिल भारतीय प्रगति� ...

, who was also a lyricist for

Bollywood 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 ...

. He was son of Muztar Khairabadi and great grandson of

Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi (1796/1797 – 19 August 1861) was a Hanafi jurist, rationalist scholar, Maturidi theologian, philosopher and poet. He was an activist of the Indian independence movement and campaigned against British occupation. He issue ...

his career spanned four decades during which he worked with music composers including C. Ramchandra, O.P. Nayyar,

Datta Naik Datta Naik (12 December 1927 – 30 December 1987), also credited as N. Datta, was an Indian film music director in Hindi films. Born in the then Portuguese colony of Goa, Naik, started his career as an assistant to the legendary music dir ...

also credited as N. Datta and

Khayyam Ghiyāth al-Dīn Abū al-Fatḥ ʿUmar ibn Ibrāhīm Nīsābūrī (18 May 1048 – 4 December 1131), commonly known as Omar Khayyam ( fa, عمر خیّام), was a polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, ...

and wrote 151 songs. Notable among them were songs from his breakthrough film, AR Kardar's ''Yasmin'' (1955), ''Aankhon hi Aankhon Mein'' in

Guru Dutt Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone (9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964), better known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998''Encyclopedia of Indian ...

's ''

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

'' (1956), ''Yeh dil aur unki nigahon ke saaye'' in

Prem Parbat ''Prem Parbat'' () is a 1973 Hindi-language film directed by Ved Rahi. The film stars Rehana Sultan, Satish Kaul, Nana Palsikar, Agha and Hema Malini in a special appearance. The film has music by Jaidev with lyrics by Jan Nisar Akhtar and Padm ...

(1974) and ''Aaja re'' in ''

Noorie ''Noorie'' is a 1979 Indian romance film produced by Yash Chopra, and directed by Manmohan Krishna; this is his only film as director. The film stars Farooq Shaikh, Poonam Dhillon, Madan Puri and Iftekhar. The film's music is by Khayyam and the ...

'' (1979) and his last song, ''Ae Dil-e-naadaan'', in

Kamal Amrohi Syed Amir Haider Kamal Naqvi (17 January 1918 – 11 February 1993), popularly known as Kamal Amrohi, was an Indian film director and screenwriter. He was also an Urdu and Hindi poet. His Hindi films include '' Mahal'' (1949), ''Pakeezah'' (19 ...

's '' Razia Sultan'' (1983). His poetry works include ''Nazr-e-Butaan'', ''Salaasil'', ''Javidaan'', ''Pichali Pehar'', ''Ghar Angan'' and ''Khaak-e-dil''. The latter ("The Ashes of Heart") was a poetry collection for which he was awarded the 1976

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

, India's National Academy of Letters.

Early life

Jan Nisar passed his matriculation from Victoria Collegiate High School, Gwalior, and in 1930 joined

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 ...

, from where he gained his B.A. Honours and M.A. degrees. He started his doctoral work, but had to return to Gwalior due to family conditions.Jan Nisar Akhtar Biography
''The Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (D -J)''. by Amaresh Datta.

, 2006. . ''p. 1796-97''.

Career

In 1949, he resigned from his job, moved to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

to write lyrics for

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

movies besides

ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s and

s for general publication. Once in Bombay, he came in touch with other progressive writers, like

Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, togethe ...

Krishan Chander Krishan Chander (23 November 1914 – 8 March 1977) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi writer of short stories and novels. Some of his works have also been translated in English. He was a prolific writer, penning over 20 novels, 30 collections o ...

Rajinder Singh Bedi Rajinder Singh Bedi (1 September 1915 – 1984) was an Indian Urdu writer of the progressive writers' movement and a playwright, who later worked in Hindi cinema as a film director, screenwriter and dialogue writer and he is grandfather Rajat Be ...

and

Ismat Chugtai Ismat Chughtai (21 August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an Indian Urdu novelist, short story writer, liberal humanist and filmmaker. Beginning in the 1930s, she wrote extensively on themes including female sexuality and femininity, middle-class ...

, who often met at Bombay's Silver Fish Restaurant, and subsequently came to be known as 'Bombay Group of Writers'. Success came his way quite late as a film lyricist, till then he was supported by his wife who had stayed back in Bhopal, though she died prematurely of cancer in 1953. Finally he had a career breakthrough, with ''Yasmeen'' (1955), with music by C. Ramchandra. His association with

Madan Mohan Madan Mohan is a form of the Hindu god, Krishna. Krishna is celebrated as ''Madan Mohan'', who mesmerizes everyone. His consort, Radha is glorified as Madan Mohan's ''Mohini'', who can even mesmerise Madan Mohan (her Kahn). Radha is known as th ...

, the music director resulted in many memorable movie songs. Some of his notable lyrics were, '' Meri Neendon Mein Tum'' in ''Naya Andaz'' (1956) by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born as Abhas Kumar Ganguly (); 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of Indian music. He ...

Shamshad Begum Shamshad Begum (Hindi: शमशाद बेगम, IAST: ''Śamśād Bēgam''; 14 April 1919 – 23 April 2013) was an Indian singer who was one of the first playback singers in the Hindi film industry. Notable for her distinctive voice and ...

, ''Garib Jan Key Hamko Naa Tum Daga Dena'' sung by

Mohd. Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer and musician. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and ...

in ''Chhoo Mantar'', the hit ''Piya piya piya...'' in ''Baap Re Baap'' (1955) music by O.P. Nayyar, '' Aap Yun Faaslon Se'' by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

in ''

Shankar Hussain ''Shankar Hussain'' is a 1977 Bollywood film directed by Yusuf Naqvi. It has memorable songs; ''Kahin ek Masoom nazuk si ladki'' sung by Mohammed Rafi and ''Aap yoon faaslon se'' and 'Apne aap raaton mein', sung by Lata, classics of Khayyam's re ...

'' (1977). His poetry was secular and like many of progressive writers of his generation talked of freedom, dignity, economic exploitation and other issues gleaming of the leftist leanings. Even his romanticism which was amply displayed in his

s, was replete with references to household and family life. His notable books include ''Nazr-e-Butaan'', ''Salaasil'', ''Javidaan'', ''Ghar Angan'' and ''Khaak-e-Dil'' (all Urdu titles). One of his many famous

couplets A couplet is a pair of successive lines of metre in poetry. A couplet usually consists of two successive lines that rhyme and have the same metre. A couplet may be formal (closed) or run-on (open). In a formal (or closed) couplet, each of the ...

is : ''Ashaar mere yuu.N to zamaane ke liye hai.n'',
''kuchh sher faqat unako sunaane ke liye hai.n'' ''Although my poems are meant for the whole world'',
''There are some couplets meant just for the beloved'' He wrote and produced a film, '' Bahu Begum'' (1967), starring

Pradeep Kumar Pradeep Kumar (born Sital Batabyal; 4 January 1925 – 3 November 2001) was an Indian actor who is recognized for his work in Hindi, Bengali and English-language films. Career When Kumar was 17 years old, he decided to take up acting. He sta ...

and

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Popularly known as ''The Tragedy Queen'', she was active between 1939 and 1972. Kumari is widely considered one of ...

. During the period of four-year to his death he published three collections of his works most important of them being, ''Khak-e-Dil'' (The Ashes of Heart"), which has his representative poems from 1935 to 1970, and which won him the

(Urdu) in 1976. Jan Nisar was commissioned by the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru to collate the best Hindustani poetry of last 300 years, and later the first edition of the book titled ''Hindustan Hamara'' (Our Hindustan) in two volumes was released by Indira Gandhi. It contained Urdu verses on a topics, ranging from love and praise for India and its history, to festivals like Holi and Diwali, on Indian rivers like the Ganges, Yamuna and the Himalayas. He died in Bombay on 19 August 1976, while he was still working on

's film, '' Razia Sultan'' (1983). He was nominated posthumously for 1980

Filmfare Best Lyricist Award The Filmfare Lyricist Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. The awards were first given in 1954; however, the Award for the best lyricist was first given in 1959. List of winners 1 ...

for "Aaja Re Mere Dilbar" from the film, ''

''. His anthology, ''Hindustan Hamara'' was re-released in Hindi in 2006

Family

In 1943, he married Safia, sister of the poet

Majaz Asrar-ul-Haq (19 October 1911 – 5 December 1955), better known as Majaz Lakhnawi, was an Indian Urdu poet. He is known for his romantic and revolutionary poetry. He composed '' ghazals'' and ''nazms'' in Urdu. He was the maternal uncle of p ...

. Safia worked as a school teacher at an Urdu-medium ''madarsa'' (Muslim school). She was meeting a practical necessity, to work outside her home, because Jan Nisar's income was at best sporadic, and it was necessary for her to work to support her children. Thus, when Jan Nisar moved to Mumbai to try his luck at earning a living as a film lyricist, Safia stayed back in Gwalior with their children, and wrote her absent husband a series of letters in Urdu. A collection of these letters, written between 1 October 1943 to 29 December 1953 penned, were first published in 1955 in two volumes under the title, "Harf-e-Aashna" and "Zer-e-Lab." Professor Asghar Wajahat, former Head of the Hindi Department,

Jamia Millia Islamia Jamia Millia Islamia () is a central university located in New Delhi, India. Originally established at Aligarh, United Provinces (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) during the British Raj in 1920, it moved to its current location in Okhla in ...

, translated these letters into Hindi and this was published under the title "Tumhare Naam" in 2004. Safia Akhtar died of cancer on 17 January 1953, less than ten years after her wedding, and left behind two very small sons. Jan Nisar left the children in the care of relatives while he pursued his hobbies of writing poetry and hobnobbing with various luminaries and socialites in Mumbai. Three years after Safia's death, Jan Nisar got married again on 17 September 1956, to Khadija Talat. His children by Safia did not have a good relationship with their step-mother, and his relations with them was likewise dysfunctional.

Filmography

Lyricist

* '' Baap Re Baap'' (1955) * '' Yasmin'' (1955) * ''

'' (1956) * ''

Naya_Andaz ''Naya Andaz'' () is a 1956 Indian Hindi-language film starring Kishore Kumar and Meena Kumari in lead roles. The music was composed by O. P. Nayyar. Plot Sukhan and Chand (Kishore Kumar) are the father and son, who hold diametrically opposi ...

'' (1956) * ''Black Cat'' (1956) * ''Rustom Sohrab'' (1963)Jan Nisar Akhtar film songs
/ref> * '' Prem Parvat'' (1974) * ''

'' (1977) * ''

'' (1979) * '' Razia Sultan'' (1983)

Producer

*'' Bahu Begum'' (1967)

Works

* ''Khamosh Awaz'' * ''Khak-e-dil'', Publisher: Nagara Tabaat, 1973. * ''Hindustan Hamara'', Volume 1 & 2. 1965, 1974. * ''Pichhle Peher''. * ''GHAR AANGAN''. * ''Harf-e-ashna: Khatut'' (Letters) * ''Ja-Nisar Akhxtar ki Shai'iri: Urdu Hindi me yakja'', tr. by Amar Dihlavi. Publisher Star, 1983. * ''Kuliyat-e-Jan Nisar Akhtar''. Publisher: Al-Muslim, 1992. * ''Hamara Hindustan'' (anthology), Rajkamal Publications, 2006. * ''Nigahon Ke Saaye'', ed. Vijay Akela, Rajkamal Publications, 2006. .

References

External links

Exclusive innings, Biography
at

Screen Screen or Screens may refer to: Arts * Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing * Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry * Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...

*
Jan Nissar Akhtar Biography and works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akhtar, Jan Nisar 1914 births 1976 deaths Indian male poets Urdu-language poets from India Indian lyricists Aligarh Muslim University alumni People from Gwalior Writers from Bhopal Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu 20th-century Indian poets Poets from Madhya Pradesh 20th-century Indian male writers

Early life

Career

Family

Filmography

Lyricist

Producer

Works

Further reading

References

External links