Jan Nisar Akhtar

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Jan Nisar Akhtar : biography

14 February 1914 – 19 August 1976

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 and Meena Kumari. 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 Sahitya Akademi Award (Urdu) in 1976.Indian publishing in the seventies. by Vijaya Kumar Das. National Book Trust, India, 1978. p 96 . 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. Rediff.com, 21 August 2006.

He died in Mumbai, India on 19 August 1976, while he was still working on Kamal Amrohi’s film, Razia Sultan (1983). He was nominated posthumously for 1980 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for "Aaja Re Mere Dilbar" from the film, Noorie.

His anthology, Hindustan Hamara was re-released in Hindi in 2006 Indian Express, 20 August 2006.

Family

He married Safia Akhtar, a teacher and writer in 1943, who in turn was the sister of Majaz, a romantic revolutionary poet. When Jan Nisar moved to Mumbai to try his luck as a film lyricist, she stayed back with their children. She died of protracted cancer in 17 January 1953. Thereafter Jan Nisar got married again on 17 September 1956, to Khadija Talat. "Tumhare Naam", a collection of letters from 1 October 1943 to 29 December 1953 penned by Safia Akhtar, were first published in 1955 in two volumes under the title, "Harf-e-Aashna" and "Zer-e-Lab", this Hindi translation, was by Professor Asghar Wajahat, former Head of the Hindi Department, Jamia Millia Islamia was released in 2004. The Hindu, 8 January 2004.

He was the father of lyricist and script-writer Javed Akhtar and psychiatrist and poet Salman Akhtar, Shahid Akhtar, writer and journalist Uneza Akhtar, Albina sharma, grandfather of Farhan Akhtar, Zoya Akhtar, Kabir Akhtar, Shoneize Akhtar, Aiman Akhtar, Ahmed Akhtar, Abir Sharma and Nishat Akhtar, father-in-law of Shabana Azmi,Lata Akhtar and Monisha Nayar and the ex-father-in-law of Honey Irani and Raj Verma, and connected with the rest of Akhtar-Azmi family.

Early life

He was born in 1914, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India, into a family of Sunni theologians, scholars and poets. His father Muztar Khairabadi was poet as was his father’s elder brother, Bismil Khairabadi, while his great grandfather, Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi, a scholar of Islamic studies and theology, notably edited the first diwan of Mirza Ghalib on his request, and later became an important figure during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in his native Khairabad.

Jan Nisar passed his matriculation from Victoria Collegiate High School, Gwalior, and in 1930 joined Aligarh Muslim University, 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. The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature (Volume Two) (D -J). by Amaresh Datta. Sahitya Akademi, 2006. ISBN 81-260-1194-7. p. 1796-97.

Works

  • Khamosh Awaz
  • Khak-e-dil, Publisher: Nagara Tabaat, 1973.
  • Hindustan Hamara, Volume 1 & 2. 1965, 1974.
  • Pichhle Peher.
  • 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. ISBN 81-267-1265-1.