Kaifi Azmi
Kaifi Azmi (born Athar Husain Rizvi; 14 January 1919 – 10 May 2002) was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participated in many memorable Mushaira gatherings of the twentieth century.
Also recorded as Kaifī Aʿẓmī
Kaifi Azmi
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- Name
- Kaifi Azmi
- Birth Name
- Athar Husain Rizvi
- Born
- 14 January 1919
- Birthplace
- Mijwan, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
- Place of death
- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Occupation
- * Poet
- Died
- 10 May 2002
- Spouse
- * Shaukat Kaifi
- Awards
- National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1970) Padma Shri (1974) Sahitya Akademi Award (1975) Sahitya Akademi Fellow (2002)
- Nationality
- India · British Raj · Dominion of India
- Movements
- Progressive Writers' Movement
- Education
- Aligarh Muslim University
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Kaifi Azmi (born Athar Husain Rizvi; 14 January 1919 – 10 May 2002) was an Indian Urdu poet. He is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures. Together with Pirzada Qasim, Jaun Elia and others he participated in many memorable Mushaira gatherings of the twentieth century.
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Kaifi Azmi (1919–2002) was a lyricist, poet and songwriter and a national of the British Raj and the Dominion of India. Born in Azamgarh, the lyricist died in Mumbai.
Kaifi Azmi studied at Aligarh Muslim University. The lyricist was associated with Progressive Writers' Movement.
Languages used include Urdu. Kaifi Azmi received Filmfare Awards, Padma Shri in literature and education and Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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wikidata · Q82066 · wikipedia · Kaifi Azmi
In this article
Biography
Biography
He was also a communist who wanted to see India one day become a socialist state. His wife was theatre and film actress Shaukat Kaifi.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kaifi Azmi • Birth Name — Athar Husain Rizvi • Born — 14 January 1919 • Birthplace — Mijwan, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) • Place of death — Mumbai, Maharashtra, India • Occupation — * Poet • lyricist • songwriter • Died — 10 May 2002 • Spouse — * Shaukat Kaifi • Political Party — Communist Party of India • Children — * Shabana Azmi • Baba Azmi • Awards — National Film Award for Best Lyrics (1970) Padma Shri (1974) Sahitya Akademi Award (1975) Sahitya Akademi Fellow (2002) • Website — azmikaifi.com
Early life
Early life
Azmi was born into a family in the village of Mijwan in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. He got his title from the city of the same name.
Family
Family
He was from a family of artists. His three brothers were also shayars (poets). Azmi was married to Shaukat Azmi. They have a daughter, Shabana Azmi who is an actress, and a son, Baba Azmi, a cinematographer. Azmi's daughter-in-law Tanvi Azmi is also an actress. During Partition, he was underground in Aurangabad, as he was hounded by the British police for being a "card-carrying communist". His parents and his five brothers took the ship from Bombay to Karachi. By the time he surfaced, their ship had left. He was denied a visa for Pakistan for several years despite the fact that his family lived there, because he was a communist.
Poetry
Poetry
• Kar chale hum fida jan-o-tan sathion ab tumhare hawale watan sathio zinda rahne ki mausam bahut hai magar jan dene ki rut roz ati nahi husn aur ishq dono ko ruswa kare wo jawani jo khu me nahati nahi aaj dharti bani hai dulhan sathio Kar Chale hum Fida Jaan-o-Tan Sathio • Kaifi Azmi • I sacrifice now, this life and body, o friends... the nation is in your hands now, o friends... so many seasons are there to live, but... the season to give up one's life doesn't come often,... leaving behind both, the beauty & the love, of what value is that youth, which doesn't bathe in blood... today the earth has become my bride, o friends I sacrifice now, this body and life, o friends... • Illustration — Syed Mahmood Khundmiri introducing Kaifi Azami in Annual Mushaira in Chicago. Like most of the Urdu poets, Azmi began as a ghazal writer, cramming his poetry with the repeated themes of love and romance in a style that was replete with clichés and metaphors. However, his association with the Progressive Writers' Movement and Communist Party made him embark on the path of socially conscious poetry. In his poetry, he highlights the exploitation of the subaltern masses and through them he conveys a message of the creation of a just social order by dismantling the existing one. Yet, his poetry cannot be called plain propaganda. It has its own merits; intensity of emotions, in particular, and the spirit of sympathy and compassion towards the disadvantaged section of society, are the hallmark of his poetry. His poems are also notable for their rich imagery and in this respect, his contribution to Urdu poetry can hardly be overstated. Azmi's first collection of poems, Jhankar was published in 1943. In 1944, he wrote a poem Ab Agli Id Ek Azad Pakistan Main Hogi — one of the works written by leading Progressive Writers of Urdu campaigning for Pakistan — although he later became bitter about the partition. His important works including anthologies of poetry, were Aakhir-e-Shab, Sarmaya, Awaara Sajde, Kaifiyaat, Nai Gulistan, an anthology of articles he wrote for Urdu Blitz, Meri Awaaz Suno, a selection of his film lyrics, and the script of Heer Raanjha in Devanagari. His lyrics titled "Kar chale hum fida" featured in the soundtrack of the 1964 Hindi film Haqeeqat. His best known poems are Aurat, Makaan, Daaera, Sanp, and Bahuroopni.
In media
In media
Azmi was the subject of a documentary film called Diksha (2015), directed by Raman Kumar. In 1997, he recited his own poems for Kaifiyaat, an audio book on his collected works. Kaifi Aur Mein, a play based on his life, his works and the memoir of his wife, Shaukat Azmi – Yadon Ki Rahguzar (Down Memory Lane), was written and performed by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, and performed in India as well as abroad in 2006. Another play, directed by Rani Balbir, Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hasin Sitam, based on Kaifi Azmi's life and writings was staged in 2005, and received rave reviews.
Identity
Identity
Kaifi Azmi is recorded as having received Filmfare Awards, Padma Shri in literature and education and Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1919
Kaifi Azmi born at Azamgarh.
2002
Kaifi Azmi died at Mumbai.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Azamgarh.
Birth place
Mumbai.
Death place
Writings
At age eleven, Azmi wrote his first ghazal in Bahraich Itna To Zindagi Mein Kisi Ki Khalal Pade and somehow managed to get himself invited to a mushaira and over there, he recited a ghazal, rather a couplet of the ghazal which was very much appreciated by the president of the mushaira, Mani Jaisi, but most of the people, including his father, thought he recited his elder brother's ghazal. When his elder brother denied it, his father and his clerk decided to test his poetic talent. They gave him one of the lines of a couplet and asked him to write a ghazal in the same meter and rhyme. Azmi accepted the challenge and completed a ghazal. This particular ghazal was to become a rage in undivided India and it was immortalised as it was sung by legendary ghazal singer, Begum Akhtar. Azmi abandoned his studies of Persian and Urdu during the Quit India agitations in 1942 and shortly thereafter became a full-time Marxist when he accepted membership of the Communist Party of India in 1943. During this period, the leading progressive writers of Lucknow noticed him. They were very impressed by his leadership qualities. They also saw in him a budding poet and extended all possible encouragement to him. Consequently, Azmi started to win great acclaim as a poet and became a member of Progressive Writers' Movement of India. At the age of twenty-four, he started activities in the textile mill areas of Kanpur. As a full-time worker, he left his life of comfort, though he was the son of a zamindar. He was asked to shift his base to Bombay, work amongst the workers and start party work with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm.
Films
Films
Azmi's work in films includes working as a lyricist, writer, and actor. Azmi wrote his first lyrics for the film Buzdil, directed by Shaheed Latif and music by SD Burman, released in 1951. His early work as a writer was mainly for Nanubhai Vakil's films like Yahudi Ki Beti (1956), Parvin (1957), Miss Punjab Mail (1958) and Id Ka Chand (1964). While directors like Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Bimal Roy strove to create the "New Cinema", writers like Sahir Ludhianvi, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and Kaifi changed the tenor and vocabulary of the Hindi film song, creating a fresh new wave in Hindi film lyrics that lasted many years. His greatest feat as a writer was Chetan Anand's Heer Raanjha (1970) wherein the entire dialogue of the film was in verse. It was a tremendous achievement and one of the greatest feats of Hindi film writing. Azmi also won great critical accolades for the script, dialogues and lyrics of M.S. Sathyu's Garam Hawa (1973), based on a story by Ismat Chughtai. Azmi also wrote the dialogues for Shyam Benegal's Manthan (1976) and Sathyu's Kanneshwara Rama (1977). As a lyricist and songwriter, though he wrote for numerous films, he will always be remembered for Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and Chetan Anand's Haqeeqat (1964), India's greatest war film. Some notables films for which he wrote lyrics include Kohra (1964), Anupama (1966), Uski Kahani (1966), Saat Hindustani (1969), Shola Aur Shabnam, Parwana (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Pakeezah (1972), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Arth (1982) and Razia Sultan (1983). For Naunihal (1967), he wrote the song "Meri Aawaz Suno Pyar ka Raaz Suno" (Hear my voice, hear the secret of love) sung by Mohammad Rafi. The song is picturised over the funeral procession of Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru. Years later, after Azmi's own death his daughter, Shabana Azmi mentioned finding comfort in verses from the song. Azmi wrote the lyrics for Bible Ki Kahaniyan, the first Christian mythological television show broadcast in India. He also played a memorable role of Naseem's grandfather in Naseem (1995). Azmi died on 10 May 2002 at around the age of eighty-three. He was survived by his wife, daughter, and son. His autobiography is included in a collection of his works, Aaj Ke Prashid Shayar: Kaifi Azmi. • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1995 — Naseem — Naseem's Grandfather — Actor Filmography • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1951 — Buzdil — Lyricist • 1953 — Bahu Beti — Lyricist • 1955 — Hatimtai Ki Beti — Lyricist • 1956 — Yahudi Ki Beti — Writer • 1957 — Pravin — Writer • 1958 — Sone Ki Chidiya — Lyricist • 1958 — Lala Rukh — Lyricist — Uncredited • 1958 — Miss Punjab Mail — Writer • 1959 — Paper Flowers — Lyricist • 1960 — Apna Haath Jagannath — Lyricist • 1961 — Shama — Lyricist • 1961 — Shola Aur Shabnam — Lyricist • 1961 — Razia Sultana — Lyricist • 1962 — Nakli Nawab — Lyricist • 1962 — Gyara Hazar Ladkian — Writer • 1964 — The Fog — Lyricist • 1964 — Id Ka Chand — Writer • 1964 — Main Suhagan Hoon — Lyricist • 1964 — Haqeeqat — Lyricist • 1965 — Chor Darwaza — Lyricist • 1965 — Alor Pipasa — Lyricist — Bengali • 1966 — Anupama — Lyricist • 1966 — Do Dil — Lyricist • 1966 — Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi — Lyricist • 1966 — Aakhri Khat — Lyricist • 1967 — Naunihal — Lyricist • 1968 — Anokhi Raat — Lyricist • 1969 — Saat Hindustani — Lyricist — Won 'National Film Award' for Best Lyrics - Song: "Aandhi Aaye Ki Toofan" • 1969 — Satyakam — Lyricist • 1970 — Hamara Adhikar — Lyricist • 1970 — Dagabaaz — Lyricist • 1970 — Heer Raanjha — Lyricist • 1970 — Maharaja — Lyricist • 1970 — Maa Ka Aanchal — Lyricist • 1971 — Parwana — Lyricist • 1971 — Do Boond Pani — Lyricist • 1972 — Rivaaj — Lyricist • 1972 — Pakeezah — Lyricist • 1972 — Bawarchi — Lyricist • 1973 — Naina — Lyricist • 1973 — Alam Ara — Lyricist • 1973 — Hanste Zakhm — Lyricist • 1973 — Hindustan Ki Kasam — Lyricist • 1974 — Faslah — Lyricist • 1974 — Garm Hava — Lyricist, Writer — Won 'National Film' for Best Story (with Ismat Chughtai). 'Filmfare Award' for Best Dialogue, Best Story (with Ismat Chughtai) and Best Screenplay. This movie was India's official submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1974. • 1977 — Dil Aur Patthar — Lyricist • 1977 — Shankar Hussain — Lyricist • 1977 — Dhoop Chhaon — Lyricist • 1979 — Shaitan Mujrim — Lyricist • 1979 — Inspector Eagle — Lyricist • 1982 — Yeh Nazdeekiyan — Lyricist • 1982 — Arth — Lyricist • 1982 — Deedar-E-Yaar — Lyricist • 1982 — Lakshmi — Lyricist • 1982 — Suraag — Lyricist • 1983 — Razia Sultan — Lyricist • 1984 — Hum Rahe Na Hum — Lyricist • 1984 — Bhavna — Lyricist • 1986 — Mere Saath Chal — Lyricist • 1986 — Nasihat — Lyricist • 1986 — Shart — Lyricist • 1989 — Main Azaad Hoon — Lyricist • 1993 — Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee — Lyricist • 1998 — Tamanna — Lyricist • 2003 — Ek Alag Mausam — Lyricist
National Film Awards
National Film Awards
• 1970: National Film Award for Best Lyrics: Saat Hindustani • 1973: National Film Award for Best Story: Garam Hawa (with Ismat Chughtai)
Tribute
• Illustration — The Speaker, Lok Sabha, Shri Somnath Chatterjee at a function of renaming of the road as “Kaifi Azmi Sadak” in New Delhi on 22 February 2005 The government has also inaugurated a train named "Kaifiyat Express" which runs from his hometown Azamgarh to Old Delhi. On 14 January 2020, search engine Google commemorated Kaifi Azmi with a Doodle on his 101st birth anniversary. Google commented: "With work ranging from passionate love poems and activist verses to Bollywood songs lyrics and screenplays, Azmi has become one of the most renowned poets of the 20th century in India, and his humanitarian efforts continue to impact people's lives today." There is street also named after him Kaifi Azmi road in Hyderabad. There is also a road in R. K. Puram, New Delhi named Kaifi Azmi Marg after him.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q82066: Kaifi Azmi
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Kaifi Azmi”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- A Critical Exploration of the Ideals of Marxist Approach in the Poetic Works of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Kaifi Azmi, SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH, 2022
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2022
Awards
Awards
He was the recipient of Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award in 1974. Besides he was awarded the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu for his collection Awaara Sajde, Special Award of Maharashtra Urdu Academy, Soviet Land Nehru Award, Lotus Award from the Afro-Asian Writers' Association, and President's Award for national integration. In 1998, Government of Maharashtra conferred the Jyaneshwara Award on him. He was also honoured with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement. Kaifi Azmi returned his Padma Shri in the 1980s after the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Vir Bahadur Singh remarked that those speaking Urdu as a second language should be made to sit on a donkey and paraded. According to his daughter Shabana Azmi, her father replied that he had written in Urdu all his life, and if his State's Chief Minister held such views on the language, he, as a writer, must stand up for himself. In 2000, he was conferred the first Millennium Award by the Government of Delhi and the Delhi Urdu Academy. He has also been honoured with a doctorate from Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan.
Sahitya Akademi Award
Sahitya Akademi Award
• 1975: Sahitya Akademi Award: Awara Sajde • 2002: Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (Immortals of Literature)
Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
• 1975: Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue: Garam Hawa • 1975: Filmfare Award for Best Story: Garam Hawa (with Ismat Chughtai) • 1975: Filmfare Award for Best Screenplay: Garam Hawa
Select bibliography
• Kaifi Azmi – Fan Aur Shaqsiyat (Urdu), Mayar Publications, 2004. • Kaifiyaat: Kulliyat-e-Kaifi Azmi (Urdu), Educational Publishing House, 2003.. • Zehr-e-Ishq (Hindi), Vani Prakashan, 2003. • Heer Ranjha (Hindi), Vani Prakshan, 2003. • Steel Man was Here, Penguin, 2002. • Kaifi Azmi – Selected Poems and Life Sketch, Rajpal Publishers, 2002.. • Aaj Ke Prashid Shayar: Kaifi Azmi – Chuni Hui Shayari (Hindi), Rajpal & Sons, 2002.. • Meri Awaz Suno (Hindi), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2002. • Nai Gulistan Vol. 1 (Hindi), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2001. • Nai Gulistan Vol. 2 (Hindi), Rajkamal Prakashan, 2001. • Doosra Banwas (Hindi), Diamond Pocket Books Pvt. Ltd.. • Awara Sajde (Hindi), Lokbharti Prakashan, 1995. • Sarmaya (Urdu), Mayar Publications, 1994. • Kaifi Azmi: Symbol of Resistance – Ranjit Hoskote. The Hindu, 19 May 2002. • Kaifi Azmi: A Poet and a Gentleman. The Times of India, 10 May 2002. • Kaifi Azmi: The Last Comrade-poet – Tarique Omum. The Milli Gazette. 1 June 2002.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Kaifi Azmi - A Rebellious Poet. Kaifi Azmi.
- 2.NCERT. स्पर्श भाग 2. 41. 978-81-7450-647-4.
- 3.Shabana Azmi launches website to honour father Kaifi Azmi. DNA India. 16 July 2014.
- 4.PTI. Shabana Azmi launches website to honour father Kaifi Azmi. India Today. 17 July 2014.
- 5.www.infomarkglobal.com, Rahul-. Kaifi Azmi - the last comrade-poet. Kaifi Azmi. 28 July 2014.
- 6.Sharma, Ashutosh. Kaifi Azmi – a 'maulvi' who turned to music and Marx. National Herald. 10 May 2018.
- 7.Karan Bali. Kaifi Azmi - profile. Upperstall.com website. 2014.
- 8.Azmi, Kaifi. Kaifi Azmi. Outlook. 6 February 2022.
- 9.Death of an icon: Kaifi Azmi (?-2002). Himal Southasian. 1 August 2002.
- 10.Remembering Kaifi Azmi, the people's poet. The Indian Express. 3 March 2019.
- 11.Ansari, Shaukatullah. Pakistan The Problem Of India. xxii. 1944.
- 12.Kidwai, Rasheed. Neta–Abhineta: Bollywood Star Power in Indian Politics. Hachette India. 5 September 2018. 978-93-5009-803-5.
- 13.Kaifi Azmi. Rediff.
- 14.Ausaja, S. M. M. Bollywood in Posters. Om Books International. 1963. 2009. 978-81-87108-55-9.
- 15.Kumar, Vinod. Md. Rafi ke 51 Geeton Ki sargam: Song Sargam or Swarlipi Book. Notion Press. 117. 2017. 978-1-947697-27-0.
- 16.Kaifi. kaifiaurmain.com.
- 17.Penguin Books India. A Poem for Cry: Favourite Poems of Famous Indians. 26–. 9 January 2008. 978-0-670-04998-1.
- 18.Bible Ki Kahaniya. nettv4u.
- 19.Singh, Bhupinder. Kaifi Aur Main. a reader's words. 3 December 2006.
- 20.Spectrum. The Sunday Tribune. 20 March 2005.
- 21.Kaifi Azmi's Padma Shri award in Art in 1974. Padma Awards Directory (1954 - 2013), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India website.
- 22.SNA Official website. List of Fellows And Honorary Fellows Fellows.
- 23.Role of arts not just to entertain: Shabana Azmi. The Hindu. 20 October 2015.
- 24.Tarique Omum. Kaifi Azmi - the last comrade-poet. The Milli Gazette. 1 June 2002.
- 25.Google Doodle Celebrates Legendary Poet Kaifi Azmi's 101st Birth Anniversary. NDTV. 14 January 2020.
- 26.Kaifi Azmi's 101st Birthday. 1 August 2018.
- 27.Kaifi Aur Main - saga of a poet. Indian Peoples' Theatre Association (IPTA) website. 3 January 2007.
- 28.Government of India - Sahitya Akademi Fellows List. 6 May 2008.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
A Critical Exploration of the Ideals of Marxist Approach in the Poetic Works of Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Kaifi Azmi, SMART MOVES JOURNAL IJELLH, 2022Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q82066: Kaifi AzmiWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the heading Kaifī Aʿẓmī. His recorded language was Urdu. His recorded confession was Islam. He married Shaukat Kaifi. 2 children are recorded: Shabana Azmi and Baba Azmi. Azmi received Filmfare Awards, Padma Shri in literature and education and Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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