Abrar Alvi (1 July 1927 – 18 November 2009) was an Indian film writer, director and actor. Most of his notable work was done in the 1950s and 1960s with

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 ...

. He wrote some of the most respected works of Indian cinema, including ''

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam ''Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam'' () is a 1962 Indian Hindi-language Drama (film and television), drama film that was directed by Abrar Alvi and produced by Guru Dutt, who also co-stars in it alongside Meena Kumari, Rehman (actor), Rehman, and Waheeda ...

'', ''

Kaagaz Ke Phool ''Kaagaz Ke Phool'' () is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film produced and directed by Guru Dutt, who also played the lead role in the film along with Waheeda Rehman. It is the first Indian film in CinemaScope and the last film off ...

'' and ''

Pyaasa ''Pyaasa'' (; ) is a 1957 Indian Hindi drama film directed and produced by Guru Dutt, who stars alongside Mala Sinha, Waheeda Rehman, Rehman, and Johnny Walker. Set in Calcutta, it focuses on the disillusioned Urdu poet Vijay (Dutt), whose ...

'', which have an avid following the world over. ''Pyaasa'' is included in the All-Time 100 Movies by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine, as chosen by critics

Richard Corliss Richard Nelson Corliss (March 6, 1944 – April 23, 2015) was an American film critic and magazine editor for ''Time''. He focused on movies, with occasional articles on other subjects. He was the former editor-in-chief of ''Film Comment' ...

and

Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' magazine from 1965–2010, and also wro ...

Works

An integral part of the Guru Dutt team, he is noted for writing such films as ''

Aar-Paar ''Aar Paar'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language noir comedy film. Directed by Guru Dutt, it has music by O.P. Nayyar and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. ''Aar-Paar'' stars Johnny Walker, Shyama, Shakila, Jagdeep, Jagdish Sethi. Raj Khosla and At ...

'', ''

'' and '' Mr. & Mrs. '55''. In a chance meeting with Guru Dutt on sets of '' Baaz'' in 1953, Guru Dutt was having problems with a scene in the movie and Abrar suggested his opinion. Guru Dutt was so impressed that he invited Abrar to write ''

'', after which Abrar became an integral part of the Guru Dutt team. Many of the movies he worked on for Guru Dutt have since become classics, not only in India, but the world over. He also directed the box office hit ''

''. He last appeared on a poignant three-part documentary on

, reminiscing on his work and days with the Guru Dutt team. The documentary was produced by Channel 4 and is included in the extra features section of ''

'' and ''

Chaudhvin ka Chand ''Chaudhvin Ka Chand'' () is a 1960 Indian Hindi-language Muslim social film directed by Mohammed Sadiq. This film was a super-hit at box-office, and became one of the top-grossing films of 1960. A production of Guru Dutt, the film centers on a ...

'' DVDs as well. After his association with

and due to controversy regarding who actually directed ''

'', he was unable to give any notable directorial work. Abrar, however, continued to pen screenplay and dialogue for several movies, some of these were hits, such as ''Professor'', ''Prince'' etc.

''Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam'' controversy

'' was important for

. Following the box-office disaster of

, he lost almost 1.7 million on the movie. Guru Dutt needed a success to put him back on the map. The film went on to become a major box office success of the year. The film also won the president's silver medal and the 'Film of the Year' Award from the Bengal Film Journalist Association. The film was also screened at the Berlin Film Festival in June 1963 and was India's official entry to the Oscars that year. The controversy about who actually directed ''

'' has increased over the years. Since the film is characteristic of

's feel and style, it is difficult to think that he did not direct the film. However, Guru Dutt never denied Abrar Alvi's role in the film, nor did he make any counter-claims when Alvi won the Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film. Abrar Alvi has stated that Guru Dutt did direct the songs in the film, but not the film in its entirety. The editor of the film Y.G. Chawan says that for the film, it was Abrar who sat with him. To quote him: "Abrar worked so hard on that film but he never got any credit. People say it was produced by Guru Dutt so it had to be Guru Dutt's film."

Awards

* Won –

10th National Film Awards The 10th National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1962. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 21 A ...

(1962): President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi – ''

'' * Won –

Filmfare Award for Best Director The Filmfare Best Director Award is one of the main awards presented given by the annual Filmfare Awards to recognise directors working in Hindi cinema. It was first presented in 1954 in the inaugural year. Superlatives Bimal Roy has the r ...

for: ''

'' (1962)

Death

Abrar Alvi died due to a stomach complication on Wednesday, 18 November 2009 in Mumbai. He was 82 years old.

Select filmography

Writer

* '' Guddu'' (1995) (dialogue) (screenplay) * ''Kasam Suhaag Ki'' (1989) (dialogue) * ''Patthar Dil'' (1985) (dialogue) (screenplay) * ''Khuda Kasam'' (1981) (dialogue) (screenplay) * '' Biwi-O-Biwi: The Fun-Film'' (1981) (dialogue) * ''

Hamare Tumhare ''Hamare Tumhare'' is a 1979 Hindi movie, produced by F. C. Mehra and directed by Umesh Mehra. The film stars Sanjeev Kumar, Raakhee, Amjad Khan, Prem Krishen, David, Mehmood, Asrani, Anil Kapoor (In his film debut), Lucky Ali, and Amrish Pur ...

'' (1979) (dialogue) (screenplay) * ''Sabse Bada Rupaiya'' (1976) (dialogues) (screenplay) * ''

Bairaag ''Bairaag'' () is a 1976 Hindi-language film. Produced by the duo Mushir-Riaz, it is directed by Asit Sen. The film stars Dilip Kumar, who received a Filmfare nomination for Best Actor for playing a triple role. ''Bairaag'' also stars Saira Ba ...

'' (1976) (dialogue) * ''

Laila Majnu ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

'' (1976) (dialogue) * ''

Manoranjan ''Manoranjan'' () is a 1974 Indian Hindi film directed by Shammi Kapoor. It is a remake of ''Irma La Douce''. Sanjeev Kumar plays Jack Lemmon's role, Zeenat Aman Shirley MacLaine's and Shammi Kapoor plays Lou Jacobi's. Hotel Casanova is called H ...

'' (1974) (written by) * '' Saathi'' (1968) (dialogue) * ''

Sunghursh ''Sunghursh'' is a 1968 Indian Hindi film directed and produced by Harnam Singh Rawail. It is based on a short story ''Layli Asmaner Ayna'' in Bengali language by Jnanpith Award-winning writer Mahasweta Devi, which presents a fictionalised accou ...

'' (1968) (dialogue) * ''Chhotisi Mulaqat'' (1967) (dialogue) * '' Suraj'' (1966) (dialogue) * ''

Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi ''Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi'' () is a 1966 Hindi-language romantic-tragedy film produced by Guru Dutt and directed by Shaheed Latif. It stars Dharmendra, Mala Sinha, Tanuja, Deven Verma, Rehman, Johnny Walker in lead roles. The film is still rem ...

'' (1966) (written by) * ''

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

'' (1962) (dialogue) (screenplay) * ''

'' (1962) (dialogue) * ''

Chaudhvin Ka Chand ''Chaudhvin Ka Chand'' () is a 1960 Indian Hindi-language Muslim social film directed by Mohammed Sadiq. This film was a super-hit at box-office, and became one of the top-grossing films of 1960. A production of Guru Dutt, the film centers on a ...

'' (1960) * ''

'' (1959) (dialogue) (screenplay) * ''

'' (1957) (dialogue) * '' Mr. & Mrs. '55'' (1955) (dialogue) * ''

'' (1954) (dialogue)

Actor

* ''Laila Majnu'' (1976) – (Guest Appearance) * ''12 O'Clock'' (1958) – Police Inspector

Director

* ''

'' (1962) * ''Darar'' (Serial Screenplay)

References

External links

*
A newsreport on Sathya Saran's book Ten Years With Guru Dutt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvi, Abrar 20th-century Indian film directors Indian male screenwriters Indian male film actors 2009 deaths Hindi-language film directors Male actors in Hindi cinema 1927 births 20th-century Indian male actors Place of birth missing Film directors from Mumbai Male actors from Mumbai Filmfare Awards winners 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers