Log in Sign up
Back to Discover
🎨

Majrooh Sultanpuri

arts Maturity 11-13 death dying war conflict
This article covers sensitive topics: death_dying, war_conflict. Parents can manage visibility in Parental Controls.

He wrote songs for movies.

Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
These songs were very popular. He loved to write poems too. His words helped him win big awards. He was a great writer. Do you like movie songs?

39 words

Majrooh Sultanpuri was a famous writer.

Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
He wrote many songs for movies. He also wrote beautiful poems.

He once studied to be a doctor. But he loved poetry more. He began to write songs for films. This helped him support his family.

He worked for sixty years. He wrote songs for many different people. Some of his songs were very popular.

He won many big awards. He won a prize for his song in the movie Dosti. He also won a very special award for his life work.

His words still make people happy. He was a great part of movie history.

108 words

Majrooh Sultanpuri was a famous Indian poet.

Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
He wrote many songs for Hindi films. He was a major force in cinema for many years.

As a young man, he studied to be a doctor. He learned about Unani medicine. But he loved poetry more. He once read a poem at a public meeting. The crowd loved it. This helped him decide to become a writer.

He wrote lyrics for many famous movies. He worked with many music leaders. He wrote songs for films like Dosti and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. He even wrote for the movie Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander.

Majrooh was a very skilled writer. He won the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award in 1965. He also won the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. This was a very big prize for his life work. He was the first lyricist to win it.

He lived a long life of sixty years in writing. He died in the year 2000. People still remember his beautiful words today.

169 words

Majrooh Sultanpuri was a famous Indian poet and songwriter.

Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
He wrote lyrics for many Hindi films. His words helped shape the sound of Indian cinema. He was a leader in the Progressive Writers' Movement. This group of writers wanted to change how stories were told. People remember him as a great Urdu poet. He was known for his skill in writing ghazals. A ghazal is a beautiful type of poem. His work lasted for sixty years in the film industry.

His journey to writing began in an unusual way. He was born Asrar ul Hassan Khan in Sultanpur. He studied traditional religious subjects for seven years. This included learning Arabic and Persian. Later, he studied Unani medicine at a college. He worked as a Hakim, which is a traditional doctor. One day, he recited a ghazal at a public meeting called a mushaira. The audience loved his poem so much that he changed his life. He decided to stop practicing medicine to become a poet.

Majrooh did not start writing for movies right away. In 1945, he visited Bombay to attend a poetry meeting. A producer named A.R. Kardar heard his work. At first, Majrooh did not want to write for films. He did not think very highly of them. However, his friend Jigar Moradabadi told him it would help his family. The composer Naushad gave him a test to see his skill. Majrooh wrote lyrics to match a specific tune. He successfully joined the film industry with the movie Shah Jehan in 1946.

His life was not always easy. Majrooh had strong political beliefs. In 1949, he was sent to prison for two years. This happened because of his poems about the government. He refused to apologize for his writing. Later, in 1951, he was arrested again for a poem. Despite these hard times, he continued to work. He wrote for many famous music directors. These included Naushad, R. D. Burman, and Laxmikant-Pyarelal. He also wrote for films like Andaz and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander.

Majrooh won many important prizes for his talent. In 1965, he won the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award. He won this for the song "Chahunga Main Tujhe" from the film Dosti. In 1993, he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. This is the highest honor in Indian cinema. He was the very first lyricist to win this special award. He lived to be 80 years old. He died in Mumbai in the year 2000. His last film work was released in 2001.

422 words

Majrooh Sultanpuri was a legendary Indian Urdu poet and film lyricist.

Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
He was a dominant musical force in Indian cinema during the 1950s and early 1960s. Beyond the film industry, he was a vital member of the Progressive Writers' Movement. This group sought to use literature to address social issues. He is also celebrated as one of the finest avant-garde Urdu poets of the 20th century. His work bridged the gap between high literature and popular culture.

His path to becoming a poet was quite unexpected. Born Asrar ul Hassan Khan in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, he followed a traditional education. He completed a seven-year Dars-e-Nizami course. This curriculum focused on religious studies and proficiency in Arabic and Persian. He also earned a certificate as an Alim, a scholar. Later, he studied Unani medicine, a traditional healing system, at Takmeel-ut-Tib College. He actually began his career as a struggling Hakim, or traditional doctor.

A turning point occurred during a mushaira, a public poetry recital. While reciting a ghazal, a form of lyrical poem, he captured the audience's heart. The success of his recitation convinced him to abandon medicine. He decided to pursue poetry as a serious profession. He soon became a disciple, or shagird, of the famous poet Jigar Moradabadi. This mentorship helped him establish himself within the competitive world of Urdu poetry.

Majrooh's entry into the film industry required overcoming his own hesitation. In 1945, he visited Bombay to attend a mushaira at the Saboo Siddique Institute. Producer A.R. Kardar was impressed by his work and sought his help. Initially, Majrooh refused to write for films because he did not value them highly. His friend Jigar Moradabadi persuaded him to accept the work to support his family. To prove his skill, composer Naushad gave him a musical test. Majrooh had to write lyrics that matched a specific metre, or rhythmic pattern. He succeeded with the song "Jab Usne Gesu Bikhraye," leading to his first film credit in Shah Jehan (1946).

His career was marked by both immense success and political struggle. Majrooh held strong leftist political leanings, which led to conflict with the government. In 1949, he was sentenced to two years in prison for writing politically charged poems. He was arrested during a period of nationwide arrests of communists. Even after serving his sentence, he had to rebuild his film career. He was arrested again in 1951 for a poem comparing Jawaharlal Nehru to Hitler. Despite these challenges, his talent remained undeniable as he worked with many famous music directors.

Over six decades, Majrooh collaborated with a vast array of musical talent. He worked with directors like Naushad, O. P. Nayyar, and R. D. Burman. In the 1980s and 1990s, he frequently collaborated with the duo Anand–Milind. They worked together on notable films such as Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak and Love. He also wrote for Jatin-Lalit on the film Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. His ability to adapt to different musical styles made him a staple of the industry.

Majrooh's contributions earned him the highest honors in the arts. In 1965, he won the Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song "Chahunga Main Tujhe" from the film Dosti. In 1993, he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement. This was a historic moment, as he was the first lyricist to win this prestigious honor. He passed away in Mumbai on May 24, 2000, at the age of 80. His final film work, One 2 Ka 4, was released posthumously in 2001.

His legacy lives on through his profound literary contributions. He is remembered for creating some of the most famous verses in Urdu poetry. One such verse describes a person starting a journey alone and eventually forming a caravan. This imagery reflects his deep understanding of human connection and social movement. He remains a symbol of how art can serve both the individual soul and the broader community.

655 words
🖼️ Images & Media (1)
File:Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Majrooh Sultanpuri 2013 stamp of India.jpg
Up Next
🎨
Gulzar
Arts
More to explore

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.