Shatir Ghaznavi

Shatir Ghaznavi (1905–1971) was a playwright, lyricist and story/screenplay dialogue writer for movies, born in 1905 in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province, British India.

His real name was Amin-ul-haq Khan but he adopted the pen name of Shatir Ghaznavi.

His ancestors had moved from Ghazni, Afghanistan to Peshawar, so he used "Ghaznavi" as his pen name to indicate his origins.

He had started writing poetry and literary pursuits from his school days.

After completing his education he started his full-fledged literary career by launching a monthly literary magazine from Peshawar called Saghir. At the same time he started writing radio plays for the then All India Radio Station Peshawar.

The well-known literary figure and broadcaster of the time, Sajjad Sarwar Niazi was the director of the Peshawar Radio Station.

He spotted the talent of Shatir Ghaznavi and encouraged the young playwright to hone his skills.

One of Shatir's celebrated plays, which was broadcast from Radio Peshawar in 1934, was Zartaj.

After the departure of the station director, S.S. Niazi, who was transferred to All India Radio Bombay Station, Shatir moved to Lahore around 1934.

He became editor of a film magazine Tasveer.

Soon after he met A.R. Kardar, a film director who later became one of the top movie makers of Bollywood.

Shatir joined his team and moved with him first to Calcutta and then to Bombay.

Shatir remained on Kardar's team from 1934 to 1942.

Due to some misunderstanding Shatir left Kardar's team.

However, in parting, Kardar said to Shatir that the doors of his studios would always remain open for him.

Shatir joined J.K. Nanda as a writer and wrote the screenplay and dialogues of his film Ishara.

It was directed by J.K. Nanda with Pirthvi Raj Kapoor (the patriarch of the Kapoors like Raj Kapoor, Sashi and Rishi Kapoor, and Kareena and Karishma Kapoor) and Suraiya in the lead cast.

Music was composed by famous music director Khursheed Anwar.

In 1935 he wrote the story and dialogues of a celebrated movie of the time Baghi Sipahi.

This movie was released in 1936.

It was a costume film.

The movie was a hit and proved a turning point for Shatir's movie career.

Kardar signed him up for his next two movies Milap and Mandir.

Shatir wrote the stories and dialogues for both movies which were released in 1937.

Shatir wrote the lyrics of Kardar's next movie, Pooja. Some of its songs became instant hits like Ravi Kay Oos Par Sajanva, Gori Gori O Gawalan Kee Chori, Chal Prem Kay Pankh Lagaain and Jub Toot Gaya Darpan Mun Ka. The music director was Anil Biswas, a great musician of his time.

In 1941 Shatir wrote the lyrics of another movie, Swami, directed by Kardar.

Music for the movie was composed by the well-known composer, Rafiq Ghaznavi.

The movie was released in 1943.

It was one of the heaviest grossing movies of the time.

It became an instant hit and was rebroadcast by all the radio stations of pre-partition India and subsequently, after 1947, by all the radio stations of Pakistan until the nineteen sixties.

Shatir Ghaznavi was one of the pioneers of the new Urdu drama.

Stage drama was on the decline and further, it was following Agha Hashar's tradition of flowery and poetic language.

It was not a mirror of real life.

There being no other outlet for drama, Shatir wrote for the radio.

He introduced new topics and techniques.

He brought drama closer to real life both in content and form.

He got rid of the heavy, emotionally loaded, long-winded poetic dialogues.

He picked up social topics and introduced real life characters who spoke like real living people.

Even in his celebrated radio drama Zartaj in which Changez Khan and Halaku, grandfather and grandson, both fall in love with the same woman, speak in plain language like ordinary people.

Unfortunately, his plays have not been published and seem to have been lost for posterity.