Ismat Chughtai

• Name — Ismat Chughtai • Born — 21 August 1911 • Birthplace — Budaun, United Provinces, British India (now Uttar Pradesh, India) • Died — 24 October 1991 • Place of death — Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra, India • Occupation — * Writer • filmmaker • essayist • Language — Urdu • Education — Aligarh Muslim University • Genre — * Short stories • novel • plays • Children — Seema Sawhny Sabrina Lateef • Spouse — Shaheed Latif • Notable Works — Works of Ismat Chughtai

Ismat Chughtai was born on 21 August 1911 in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh to Nusrat Khanam and Mirza Qaseem Baig Chughtai; she was the ninth of ten children—six brothers and four sisters. The family moved frequently as Chughtai's father was a civil servant; she spent her childhood in cities including Jodhpur, Agra, and Aligarh—mostly in the company of her brothers as her sisters had all got married when she was still very young. Chughtai described her brothers' influence as a key factor that shaped her personality during her formative years. She thought of her second-eldest brother, Mirza Azim Beg Chughtai (also a novelist), as a mentor. The family eventually settled in Agra, after Chughtai's father retired from the Indian Civil Services. Chughtai received her primary education at the Women's College at the Aligarh Muslim University and graduated from Isabella Thoburn College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1940. Despite strong resistance from her family, she completed her Bachelor of Education degree from the Aligarh Muslim University the following year. It was during this period that Chughtai became associated with the Progressive Writers' Association, having attended her first meeting in 1936 where she met Rashid Jahan, one of the leading female writers involved with the movement, who was later credited for inspiring Chughtai to write "realistic, challenging female characters". Chughtai began writing in private around the same time, but did not seek publication of her work until much later. Chughtai wrote a drama entitled Fasādī (The Troublemaker) for the Urdu magazine Saqi in 1939, which was her first published work. Upon publication, readers mistook it as a play by Chughtai's brother Azeem Beg, written using a pseudonym. Following that, she started writing for other publications and newspapers. Some of her early works included Bachpan (Childhood), an autobiographical piece, Kafir (Infidel), her first short-story, and Dheet (Stubborn), her only soliloquy, among others. In response to a story that she wrote for a magazine, Chughtai was told that her work was blasphemous and insulted the Quran. She, nonetheless, continued writing about "things she would hear of". Chughtai's continued association with the Progressive Writers' Movement had significant bearings on her writing style; she was particularly intrigued by Angarey, a compilation of short-stories written in Urdu by members of the group including Jahan, Sajjad Zaheer, Sahibzada Mahmuduzaffar and Ahmed Ali. Other early influences included such writers as William Sydney Porter, George Bernard Shaw, and Anton Chekhov. Kalyān (Buds) and Cōtēn (Wounds), two of Chughtai's earliest collections of short stories, were published in 1941 and 1942, respectively. Chughtai's first novella Ziddi, which she had written in her early twenties was first published in 1941. The book chronicles the love affair between a woman, who works as domestic help in an affluent household and her employer's son. Chughtai later discussed the similarity in themes and style of the novel with the works of the romantic novelist Hijab Imtiaz Ali, citing her as another early influence. Commentators have praised the novella, both for its "compelling prose" and for providing "[glimpses] into a world where women try to break out of the shackles created by other women, rather than men". Critic and short story writer Aamer Hussein, in a 2015 retrospective review, likened Chughtai's "oracular voice, which didn't comment or explain, but studded the narrative with poetic observations" to that of American author Toni Morrison. Ziddi was later translated into English as Wild at Heart and adapted into a 1948 feature film of the same name.

Beginning in the 1960s, Chughtai wrote a total of eight novels, the first of which was Masooma (The Innocent Girl), published in 1962. The film follows the life of a young actress, Nilofar, who is forced to work as call girl to sustain her family once her father abandons them. Set in the Bombay of 1950s, the novel delves into the themes of sexual exploitation and social and economic injustice. Her next work, the 1966 novella Saudai (Obsession) was based on the screenplay of 1951 film Buzdil, which she co-wrote with Latif. Commentators have noted that Saudai could never shed its structure and still read like a screenplay despite Chughtai's efforts. Following a lukewarm reception for both Masooma and Saudai, Chughtai received significant praise for her fifth novel Dil ki Duniya (The Heart Breaks Free). Reviewing the novel, observers have placed it second only to Tedhi Lakeer in the canon of her work. The novel follows the lives of a varied group of women living in a conservative Muslim household in Uttar Pradesh. Dil Ki Duniya, much like Tedhi Lakeer, is autobiographical in nature as Chughtai drew heavily from her own childhood in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. Comparing the two, Hussein says, "if Tedhi Lakeer impressed me with its boldness, range and its credentials as a major novel, Dil ki Duniyas influence would linger with me forever, and I'd find its thematic and stylistic echoes in my own stories". In the early 1970s, Chughtai wrote two novels, Ajeeb Aadmi (A Very Strange Man) and Jangli Kabootar (Wild Pigeons) that made use of her knowledge of the Hindi film industry, which she had been a part of for the last couple of decades. Jangli Kabootar, which was first published in 1970, follows the life of an actress and was partially inspired from a real-life incident that had occurred at the time. Chughtai's grandson, filmmaker Aijaz Khan had expressed his interest in a making a feature film based on story in a 2015 interview with the Mumbai Mirror: "would like to make one of her stories, Jangli Kabootar [as the story has] always fascinated me." Ajeeb Aadmi similarly narrates the life of Dharam Dev, a popular leading man in Bollywood and the impact that his extra-marital affair with Zareen Jamal, a fellow actress has on the lives of the people involved. The novel was said to have been based on the affair between frequent co-stars Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman; Dutt was married to playback singer Geeta Dutt and the couple had three children at the time. While there are several allusions to real-life figures including Meena Kumari, Lata Mangeshkar, and Mohammed Rafi, members of the Dutt family and Rehman are never explicitly named. Chughtai said of Ajeeb Aadmi: "[In the novel], I go into [...] why girls run after him and producers like him, and the hell they make for these men and for their wives. The novel, which was released in the early 1970s, was praised for its bold nature and candour." Mumbai-based writer and journalist, Jerry Pinto noted the impact of Ajeeb Aadmis initial release saying, "There hadn't been a more dramatic and candid account of the tangled emotional lives of Bollywood before this." Writing for the Khaleej Times in 2019, Khalid Mohamed echoed the sentiment. He called the book a first of a kind tell-all book about the Hindi film industry, one that was "an eye-opener even for the know-alls of Bollywood". Mohamed also made a detailed note of Chughtai's candid style of writing, saying that she had an "instinctive gift for relating stories frankly and fearlessly".

Chughtai was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in the late 1980s, which limited her work thereafter. She died at her house in Mumbai on 24 October 1991, following the prolonged illness. Chughtai was known to have been averse of getting a burial, the common funeral practice in Islam. Rakhshanda Jalil quotes one of Chughtai's conversations with Qurratulain Hyder, a friend and contemporary writer in An Uncivil Woman: Writings on Ismat Chughtai, "I am very scared of the grave. They bury you beneath a pile of mud. One would suffocate [...] I'd rather be cremated." As per most accounts, Chughtai was cremated at the Chandanwadi crematorium, in accordance with her last wishes. Following the translation of numerous of her works into English, a renewed interest in the Urdu literature of the twentieth century, and subsequent critical reappraisals, Chughtai's status as a writer rose. Critical reappraisals for her works began with rereadings of Lihaaf, which in the intervening years has attached a greater significance; it was noted for its portrayal of the insulated life of a neglected wife in the feudal society and became a landmark for its early depiction of sex, still a taboo in modern Indian literature. Lihaaf has since been widely anthologised and has become one of Chughtai's most appreciated works. With more of her work being made available for reading to a wider audience over the years, criticism centered around the limited scope of Chughtai's writing has also subsided. In a 1993 retrospective piece, Naqvi also countered the perceived scope of Chughtai's writings, saying that her work was "neither confined to nor exhausted" by the themes central to Lihaaf: "she had much, much more to offer". She separately cited the example of Jangli Kabootar, which was one of the first novels in Chughtai's cannon to explore the theme of infidelity. Naqvi highlighted how despite having established herself as a significant voice in Urdu literature by this time, Chughtai still remained keen on probing new themes and expand the scope of her work. Tedhi Lakeer, which has come to be regarded as Chughtai's magnum opus is now considered to be one of the most significant works of Urdu literature by commentators and various media outlets. Critic and dramatist Shamim Hanfi gives it highest praise, saying that the novel, its first half in particular, matches up to the highest standards of world literature. Hussein comparably calls it one of the best novels of Urdu language and notes that Chughtai combines all her literary influences and her own lived experiences to create a radical text. He likened the novel's framework to that of a bildungsroman and praised its examination of the nationalist and feminist issues of the period. Commentators have also compared Chughtai's writing style in the novel to that of French writer and intellectual Simone de Beauvoir, based on the duo's existentialist and humanist affiliations.

• In the 2018 biopic of Saadat Hasan Manto titled, Manto, her character is portrayed by Rajshri Deshpande. • A 2019 Indian Hindi-language period drama film, Lihaaf: The Quilt is based on the story and stars Anushka Sen, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Mir Sarwar, Sonal Sehgal, Shoib Nikash Shah, Namita Lal, and Virendra Saxena. It was directed by Rahat Kazmi.

Film • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1948 — Shikayat — Dialogue writer • 1948 — Ziddi • 1950 — Arzoo • 1951 — Buzdil • 1952 — Sheesha • 1953 — Fareb — Also co-director • 1954 — Darwaza • 1955 — Society • 1958 — Sone Ki Chidiya — Also producer • 1958 — Lala Rukh — Also co-director and producer • 1966 — Baharen Phir Bhi Ayengi • 1973 — Garam Hawa — Filmfare Best Story Award (shared with Kaifi Azmi) • 1978 — Junoon — Miriam Labadoor — Cameo appearance

Ismat Chughtai is recorded as having received Filmfare Awards and Padma Shri in literature and education. The authorities additionally record the headings Ismat Chughati, Ismat Cughta'i, Ismat Cughtai and Ismat Chugtai.

Chughtai was a liberal Muslim whose daughter, nephew, and niece were married to Hindus. In her own words, Chughtai came from a family of "Hindus, Muslims and Christians who all live peacefully". She said she read not only the Qur’an, but also the Gita and the Bible with openness. Chughtai's short stories reflected the cultural legacy of the region in which she lived. This was well demonstrated in her story "Sacred Duty", where she dealt with social pressures in India, alluding to specific national, religious and cultural traditions. In Chughtai's formative years, Nazar Sajjad Hyder had established herself an independent feminist voice, and the short stories of two very different women, Hijab Imtiaz Ali and Rashid Jehan, were also a significant early influence. Many of her writings, including Angarey and Lihaaf, were banned in South Asia because their reformist and feminist content offended conservatives (for example, her view that the Niqab, the veil worn by women in Muslim societies, should be discouraged for Muslim women because it is oppressive and feudal).

On 21 August 2018, Google celebrated her 107th birthday with a Google Doodle.