Kaifiyat, Kaifi Azmi - The Poet Extraordinaire Options

[swarapriya]

Kaifiyat

(I humbly dedicate this thread to the memory of Erum Hashmi who was instrumental in seeding this idea in my mind to start this thread on this extraordinary poet.)

(Note: These are excerpts from an article that appeared in the “Anmoal Fankaar” web site. The full text can be found at the following location …

http://www.anmolfankaar.com/specials/ek-fa...-extraordinaire

My many thanks to Aparna for her several suggestions to make the full essay cohesive and readable.)

Kaifi Azmi was an eminent poet with many progressive ideas. Throughout his life he championed causes that affect the under privileged, oppressed, and down-trodden. He crusaded tirelessly for secular values. He was the eloquent voice of the progressive movement. He was a poet at heart but a socialist in practice. Azmi left an indelible mark through his writings. He expressed through them views that were very intrepid in nature. He breathed fire into his literature campaigning and fighting vigorously for social justice. Azmi was a trendsetter who voiced the stark realities of life through the poems he authored. The intensity of emotions used in his words, the spirit of compassion for the down-trodden, stark but rich in imagery sprinkled throughout his writings, became hallmarks of his style. He once stated that his writings were born out of his engrained convictions. His daughter, actress Shabana Azmi, says about him that, “ … indomitable will and an extraordinary skill to organize people kept him dynamic throughout his life. ..”

Kaifi Azmi was born as Akhtar Hussain Rizvi in 1918 in a small village in Uttar Pradesh. His father was a landlord, but was an educated person and preferred to work for the government. He was very inclined to send his son to school so that his son could get a modern education, but because of the stiff opposition he faced from his relatives he had to call that idea off. Instead, Azmi was sent to school to study theology in Lucknow to keep his elders happy. Young Azmi was a nonconformist at an early age. He saw that students enjoyed few privileges at the school and organized a student union. When the union’s demands for fair treatment failed, he organized the students to go on a strike that lasted a very long time. The seminary got tired of him and finally expelled him from the school.

Azmi Saab studied from home and acquired a good knowledge of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu. He passed several examinations at Lucknow University and Allahabad University in these languages.

Azmi’s stint at the seminary in Lucknow didn’t go unnoticed by leading progressive writers homed in that town. They befriended with him and encouraged him to start writing poetry. This encouragement and his command of several languages made it possible for him to quickly establish himself as a budding and acclaimed poet admired by his peers.

Kaifi Saab wrote his first ghazal when he was only 11 years old. He was invited to participate in a Mushaira where he recited his small verse. That same ghazal became very popular and the great ghazal singer Begum Akhtar made it even more famous by singing it.

The year 1942 saw India mounting pressure on the English rulers by organizing protests , marches, slogans, and other forms of resistance. These agitations rose like hot fever and eventually culminated in the Quit India movement. Azmi Saab abandoned his studies and became part of the movement. He joined the Communist Party in 1943.

He moved to Kanpur and started working for a textile mill. Seeing how the mill was ill-treating its workers, Azmi once again started organizing unions, protests and agitation. By seeing the results Kaifi Saab was getting in Kanpur, the leaders of the Communist Party asked him to shift to Bombay to accomplish similar goals there.

While in Bombay he became a trade union worker and continued the work he started in Kanpur. He also worked closely with two of the Party’s Urdu newspapers, “Quami Jung” and “Mazdoor Mohalla”. He became associated with the Progressive Writers Association (PWA) and Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association (IPTA). For the latter organization, he participated in some of their plays.

With so many activities he was involved in, Azmi Saab still found time to often write and also attended mushairas whenever he could. In 1947, one of his visits brought him to Hyderabad. In the mushaira he met Shaukat Ali, a film and stage actress, who was also equally free spirited as he was. He fell in love with her and later they married. Actress Shabana Azmi is their daughter. The noted cameraman Baba Azmi is their son.

While tirelessly working for the Party and being associated with their related activities, Azmi Saab needed some financial relief to provide for his family. This led him to meet Shaheed Latif of the Bombay film world, who was about to direct a film called “Buzdil (1951)”. Latif Saab offered Azmi an opportunity to write the lyrics for the movie, and thus Azmi’s stint with the Bombay cinema began.

During his distinguished career, Kaifi Azmi was showered with many worthy honors. Some of these include Padma Shree, Sahitya Academy Award, Sahitya Academy Fellowship Award, and a host of others.

He also won Filmfare Awards for Best Story, Best Screenplay, and Best Dialogue for his work in “Garam Hawa (1973)”. He received the National Film Award for Best lyrics for his songs in K.A. Abaas’ “Saat Hindustani (1970)” which introduced Amitabh Bachchan as an actor.

He received several governmental honors. The government of Uttar Pradesh naming the road leading to the town he was born in as “Kaifi Azmi Road” and the highway as “Kaifi Azmi Highway”. The train from Delhi to Azamgarh, near his village, was named by the government of India as “Kaifiyat”.

In addition, the Purvanchal University now has a “Kaifi Azmi Media Centre” in Janpur. There is a Kaifi Azmi
Academy in Lucknow, In Juhu, Mumbai, a park was named as “Kaifi Azmi Park”. There is another park by the same name in Phoolpur. In Hyderabad, where Kaifi Azmi met his wife Shaukat, there are plans to build his statue.

Kaifi Azmi was awarded many honorary doctorates by various universities including Vishwa Bharati University, Puruvanchal University, and Agra University.

Kaifi passed away on May 10, 2002.

"I was born in ghulam Hindustan, am living in an Azad Hindustan and will die in a socialist Hindustan." These were the words Kaifi Azmi spoke in an interview.

Kaifi Azmi. A great poet and leader. An even a better human being.

Kaifi Azmi's filmography follows ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jul 27 2010, 07:28 PM

[swarapriya]

Kaifi Azmi Filmography

Following is the part 1 and part 2 of the filmography of Kaifi Azmi Saab ...

This post has been edited by swarapriya: Jul 28 2010, 11:01 AM

[swarapriya]

Buzdil (1951)

Kaif Azmi Saab's film stint started with this beautiful musical album by Burmanda. He split the duties of writing lyrics for this film with Shailendra. With Burmanda at work, and with lyrics from written by two great poets, the net result is some beautiful songs. I am uploading these songs in back-to-back two posts. The first post contains songs from the film. The second post contains a couple of extended versions.

Now for a description of the songs from the Burmanda's fine album and the songs themselves ...

[swarapriya]

Concluding Songs from "Buzdil (1951)" ...

Here are a couple of extended version songs from this album ...

[Faraaj73]

Buzdil (1951)

Kaif Azmi Saab's film stint started with this beautiful musical album by Burmanda. He split the duties of writing lyrics for this film with Shailendra. With Burmanda at work, and with lyrics from written by two great poets, the net result is some beautiful songs. I am uploading these songs in back-to-back two posts. The first post contains songs from the film. The second post contains a couple of extended versions.

Now for a description of the songs from the Burmanda's fine album and the songs themselves ...

Swarapriya

Nice write-up on Kaifi Azmi's life and another interesting topic that you've started. Where do you get the energy to put so much care into each new thread you start? Don't want you to stop, just asking!!!

Sorry for nitpicking, but the maths of him being born in 1918 and being 18 in 1942 doesn't add up.

Now that you've brought up the topic of the wonderful album Buzdil, I'd like to share two much earlier renditions of Jhan Jhan Jhan....

Bengali - SD Burman - Jhan Jhan Manjira Baaje 3m 08s 160kbps mp3
Vintage Music - Indian Classical Faiyaz Khan - Bihaag - Jhan Jhan Jhan Payal Baje 3m 00s 188kbps mp3

This post has been edited by Faraaj73: Jul 27 2010, 06:44 PM

[Aditya Pant]

A few corrections in the filmography. The 3 credits for Asst. Director are definitely wrong. A septugenarian Kaifi Azmi working as an assistant to the likes of T. Rama Rao and Rakesh Roshan is impossible!

Aditya

[swarapriya]

Buzdil (1951)

Kaif Azmi Saab's film stint started with this beautiful musical album by Burmanda. He split the duties of writing lyrics for this film with Shailendra. With Burmanda at work, and with lyrics from written by two great poets, the net result is some beautiful songs. I am uploading these songs in back-to-back two posts. The first post contains songs from the film. The second post contains a couple of extended versions.

Now for a description of the songs from the Burmanda's fine album and the songs themselves ...

Swarapriya

Nice write-up on Kaifi Azmi's life and another interesting topic that you've started. Where do you get the energy to put so much care into each new thread you start? Don't want you to stop, just asking!!!

Sorry for nitpicking, but the maths of him being born in 1918 and being 18 in 1942 doesn't add up.

Now that you've brought up the topic of the wonderful album Buzdil, I'd like to share two much earlier renditions of Jhan Jhan Jhan....

Bengali - SD Burman - Jhan Jhan Manjira Baaje 3m 08s 160kbps mp3
Vintage Music - Indian Classical Faiyaz Khan - Bihaag - Jhan Jhan Jhan Payal Baje 3m 00s 188kbps mp3

Thank you very much Faraaj for your kind words.

I probably didn't check the dates moe closely. I went back and made changes to the write up to come around the problem. Also, many thanks for sharing the two earlier renditions of "Jhan Jhan ...".

Cheers,
S

[swarapriya]

A few corrections in the filmography. The 3 credits for Asst. Director are definitely wrong. A septugenarian Kaifi Azmi working as an assistant to the likes of T. Rama Rao and Rakesh Roshan is impossible!

Aditya

I didn't check to verify each entry of the filmography. I am pretty sure there are some inaccuracies and probably there are some gaping holes. Idea ws to bring it to open so that people like yourself can help me straighten it out as most of the time what you find in the Internet media may not be that accurate.

Thanks Aditya,

Cheers,
S

[Exon]

SP,

I very much echo Faraaj's feelings. Your posts are always very informative. You put in lot of effort to bring us some well organized threads.

Here are a few additions to Kaifi's filmography.

Bahu Beti (1952)
Gulbahar (1954)
Sultan Daaku (1956)
Yahudi ki Beti (1956)
Zindagi (1956)
Sone Ki Chidiya (1958)
Forty Days (1959)
Gyarah Hazar Ladkiyan (1962)
Naqli Nawab (1962)
Main Suhaagan Hoon (1964)
Ek Bulbula Pani (1970 ur)
Hamara Adhikar (1970)
Maa ka Aanchal (1970)
Do Boond Pani (1971)
Saaz aur Sanam (1971)
Mangethar (1972)
Rivaaj (1972)
Shair-e-Kashmir Mahjoor (1972)
Sultan Daaku (1972)
Sankalp (1974)
Sahib Bahadur (1977)
Shaitaan Mujrim (1980)
Kanoon aur Muzrim (1981)
Lakshmi (1982)
Bhavna (1984)
Chand Grahan (1997)

I am surprised not see a Kaifi Azmi section under lyricists.
May I propose a dedicated section on this well known lyricists?

Exon

[Viraj Padhye]

Hi,

Adding couple of them.

Naata - 1955
Dagabaaz - 1970

Pakeeza is from 1971 (not 1972).

Viraj

[Aditya Pant]

Hi,

Adding couple of them.

Naata - 1955
Dagabaaz - 1970

Pakeeza is from 1971 (not 1972).

Viraj

Pakeezah released in February 1972. That's the reason why it was nominated for filmfare award in the same year as Beimaan and lost the music award to it (!!!!). The film could have been censored in 1971, because of which HFGK and other sources might include then in 1971.

Aditya

[Sangeet]

Few more

Kahan Tak Aasman hai
Shart 1985
Ek Pal
Jaana Na Dil Se Door 2001

This post has been edited by Sangeet: Jul 28 2010, 03:12 AM

[swarapriya]

Aditya, Exon, Sangeet & Viraj,

I have updated the filmography tables with the changes you've suggested. Thank you all kindly for your inputs.

Cheers,
Swarapriya

[Exon]

SP,

Here is one more movie with Kaifi as lyricist.

Chandu (1958)


Exon

[r&d]

Baap Bahu Aur Beta (1969)
Id Ka Chand (1964)
Laadla (1954)