Kamal Amrohi
Encyclopedia
Syed Amir Haider Kamal Naqvi popularly known as Kamal Amrohi or Amrohvi in Urdu (17 January 1918 - 11 February 1993) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and dialogue writer. He was a Shi'a Muslim and an Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 and Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 poet. He is most known for his Hindi films such as Mahal
Mahal (1949 film)
Mahal is a 1949 Indian Hindi film directed by Kamal Amrohi and starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala....

(1949), Pakeezah
Pakeezah
Pakeezah is a 1972 Indian film. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi who was known for his perfectionism. The music is by Ghulam Mohammed and Naushad...

(1972) and Razia Sultan
Razia Sultan (film)
Razia Sultan is 1983 Urdu film, written and directed by Kamal Amrohi, and starring Hema Malini and Dharmendra in lead roles.The film's music was provided by Khayyam, with lyrics by Jan Nisar Akhtar and two songs by Nida Fazli who walked into the project when Akhtar died...

(1983). He established Kamal Pictures (Mahal Films) in 1953 and Kamalistan Studio in Bombay in 1958.

Early life

Kamal Amrohi was born in Amroha
Amroha
Amroha is a small town in the north-western Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is located north-west of Moradabad, near the Sot River...

, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

 in India and later took on the name Kamal 'Amrohi' (Amrohvi). Raees Amrohvi one of the leading poets of Pakistan who gained immense fame for writing daily couplets for Jang (Pakistan's leading Urdu newspaper) for more than 30 years and Jaun Elia was one of the eminent Urdu poets of the twentieth century. Also from Pakistan were Kamal's cousins who were raised like brothers in the same household.
The eldest of these cousins was Syed Mohammed Taqi,at one time,Chief Editor of Jang He enjoyed the repution of being a PHILOSPHER.He is burried in Sakhi Hassan Grave yard in the compound with the other two brothers

Career

In 1938, he left Amroha to study in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

, now part of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, where singer K. L. Saigal discovered him and took him to Mumbai (Bombay) to work for Sohrab Modi
Sohrab Modi
Sohrab Modi was an Indian Parsi stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include Khoon Ka Khoon , a version of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Sikandar, Pukar, Prithvi Vallabh, Jhansi ki Rani, Mirza Ghalib, and Nausherwan-e-dil . His films always carried a message of strong commitment to...

's Minerva Movietoon, where he started his career working on films like Jailor (1938), Pukar (1939), Bharosa (1940), Kardar (Shohjeban 1946). He made his debut as a director in 1949, with Mahal
Mahal (1949 film)
Mahal is a 1949 Indian Hindi film directed by Kamal Amrohi and starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala....

, starring Madhubala and Ashok Kumar, which was a musical hit, with songs by Lata Mangeshkar.

He directed only four films. Two were Mahal
Mahal (1949 film)
Mahal is a 1949 Indian Hindi film directed by Kamal Amrohi and starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala....

(1949) for Bombay Talkies
Bombay Talkies
The Bombay Talkies Limited was a movie studio produced 102 movies, founded in 1934 in Malad, Bombay , India, by Himanshu Rai, Rajnarayan Dube and Devika Rani along with businessmen like F. E...

 and Pakeezah
Pakeezah
Pakeezah is a 1972 Indian film. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi who was known for his perfectionism. The music is by Ghulam Mohammed and Naushad...

(which was conceived in 1958 but was not brought to the screen until 1972).

He wrote scripts for the movies made by Sohrab Modi
Sohrab Modi
Sohrab Modi was an Indian Parsi stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include Khoon Ka Khoon , a version of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Sikandar, Pukar, Prithvi Vallabh, Jhansi ki Rani, Mirza Ghalib, and Nausherwan-e-dil . His films always carried a message of strong commitment to...

, Abdul Rashid Kardar and K. Asif
K. Asif
K. Asif was a film director, film producer and screenwriter who was famous for his work for the Hindi epic motion picture, Mughal-e-Azam .-Early life:...

. He was one of the four dialogue writers for the latter's famous 1960 movie, Mughal-e-Azam
Mughal-e-Azam
Mughal-E-Azam is a 1960 Indian historical epic film produced under the banner of Sterling Investment Corporation Pvt Ltd, and directed by K. Asif. With its unmatched production, K. Asif's magnum opus took nine years and $3 million to complete this movie. This was when a typical Bollywood film...

, for which he won the Filmfare Award.

As a director, he developed a style that combined a stylized direction with minimalist performances. This style was different from the one with expressive acting that was common in Indian cinema of his period. Both Mahal
Mahal
-Geography:* Mahal, India, a small town in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India* Malé, the capital of Maldives* Mahalle, Turkish language country subdivision or neighbourhood term* Mahalla, an Arabic language country subdivision or neighbourhood term...

and Pakeezah
Pakeezah
Pakeezah is a 1972 Indian film. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi who was known for his perfectionism. The music is by Ghulam Mohammed and Naushad...

express Amrohi's personal vision of the world, and it can be said that they are not so much movies as symphonic poems on celluloid.

In 1958, he started Kamaal Studios for his banner Mahal Films, though it closed down after three years and later changed hands to become Natraj Studios.

It was mentioned that the last movie he wanted to make was called Aakhri Mughal. He had written a substantial portion of the script. But it went into oblivion after his death. Noted film maker J P Dutta was to revive the film in the late 1990s which was supposed to have been Abhishekh Bachchan's debut movie. But later Dutta scrapped the project. He was again planning to revive the film in 2007 after the debacle of his costume drama Umrao Jaan (2006) remake from the cult film from the 80s.

Personal life

Amrohi married three times: His first wife was Bano (who was a maid to Nargis's mother, Jaddan Bai); she died of asthma. His second wife was Mehmoodie. He met Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari , born Mahjabeen Bano, was an Indian movie actress and poetess. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of Hindi Cinema...

 on a set when she was 19 and he was 34. They fell in love and married in 1952. The marriage ended in 1964. They remarried, but Meena Kumari had become an alcoholic by then. She died on 31 March 1972, and Amrohi died on 11 February 1993 in Mumbai, ten years after making his last film, Razia Sultan
Razia Sultan (film)
Razia Sultan is 1983 Urdu film, written and directed by Kamal Amrohi, and starring Hema Malini and Dharmendra in lead roles.The film's music was provided by Khayyam, with lyrics by Jan Nisar Akhtar and two songs by Nida Fazli who walked into the project when Akhtar died...

(1983). He was buried next to Meena Kumari in an Iranian graveyard.

Kamal Amrohi had three children with Mehmoodie: two sons, Shandaar and Taajdaar, both of whom worked with him in Razia Sultan, and a daughter, Rukhsar. Shandaar Amrohi died on Sunday the 21 August 2011 in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...

. He was laid to rest in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 on 22 August.

Filmography

  • Chalia 1938 as a dialogue writer
  • Pukar
    Pukar (1939 film)
    Pukar is a 1939 Urdu film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi at production house, Minerva movietone. The film is about Mughal emperor Jehangir's legendary justice and focuses how Jehangir offers himself to be killed when a washerwoman accuses the empress Noorjehan of killing her husband in a...

     1939 asalogue writer
  • Mahal
    Mahal (1949 film)
    Mahal is a 1949 Indian Hindi film directed by Kamal Amrohi and starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala....

     (1949)
  • Daera 1953 as a director
  • Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai 1960 writer
  • Pakeezah
    Pakeezah
    Pakeezah is a 1972 Indian film. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi who was known for his perfectionism. The music is by Ghulam Mohammed and Naushad...

     1972 directed
  • Razia Sultan
    Razia Sultan (film)
    Razia Sultan is 1983 Urdu film, written and directed by Kamal Amrohi, and starring Hema Malini and Dharmendra in lead roles.The film's music was provided by Khayyam, with lyrics by Jan Nisar Akhtar and two songs by Nida Fazli who walked into the project when Akhtar died...

     1983 directed
  • Shankar Hussain
    Shankar Hussain
    Shankar Hussain is a 1977 Bollywood film directed by Yusuf Naqvi. It has memorable songs by Rafi sing Kahin ek Masum Nazuk si Lardki sung by Rafi and Aaap yun Faaslon Se sung by Lata, both classics Khayyam's repertoire.-Cast:*Pradeep Kumar...

     - Producer

Us Raat Ki Yaadein Meena Kumari, 1954
Ghutan - Meena Kumari, Dilip Kumar 1955
Mughal-E-Azam (dialogue) Dilip Kumar, Madhubala 1960
Shahjehan (writer) 1946
1945 Phool (dialogue)
1943 Mazaaq (dialogue)
1940 Bharosa (writer)
1940 Main Hari (dialogue)
1938/ Jailor I (story)
1938/ Jailor II (story)

Further reading


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK