Poets

Jan Nisar Akhtar (Urdu: جان نثار اختر) was an important 20th century Indian poet of Urdu ghazals and nazms, and a part of the Progressive Writers' Movement, who was also a lyricist for Bollywood.

In his career spanning four decade during which he worked with distinguished music composers like C. Ramchandra, O.P. Nayyar, N Dutta and Khayyam writing about 151 songs, notable among them were songs from his breakthrough film AR Kardar’s Yasmin (1955), Aankhon hi Aankhon Mein in Guru Dutt's C.I.D. (1956), Yeh dil aur unki nigahon ke saaye in Prem Parbat (1974) and Aaja re in Noorie (1979) and his last unforgettable song Ae Dil-e-naadaan in Kamal Amrohi’s Razia Sultan (1983).

His notable poetry works include, Nazr-e-Butaan, Salaasil, Javidaan, Pichali Pehar, Ghar Angan and "Khaak-e-dil" (The Ashes of Heart"), a poetry collection for which he was awarded the 1976 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.

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 ..