Sahir Ludhianvi

Sahir won a Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for Taj Mahal (1963). He won a second Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist for his work in Kabhie Kabhie (1976). He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1971. On 8 March 2013, the ninety-second anniversary of Sahir's birth, a commemorative stamp was issued in his honour by India Post.

Sahir was born on 8 March 1921, in a Punjabi -speaking Gujjar family in Karimpura, Ludhiana, Punjab, British India. This is the reason why he added the suffix Ludhianvi after his name. His mother, Sardar Begum, left her husband, thus forfeiting any claim to financial assets from the marriage. In 1934, Sahir's father remarried and sued (acrimoniously and unsuccessfully) for custody of his son. In a recent biography titled Sahir: A Literary Portrait (Oxford University Press) written by US-based author Surinder Deol, the author agrees with the very brief conclusion of Pakistani poet Ahmad Rahi, a friend of Sahir over the years, about Sahir's life story in a nutshell, "In his entire life, Sahir loved once, and he nurtured one hate. He loved his mother, and he hated his father." Sardar Begum required protection from Sahir's father and suffered financial deprivation. Sahir's place of birth in Ludhiana is marked with a small plaque on the building's arched entrance. Sahir was educated at the Khalsa High School in Ludhiana. He then enrolled at the Government College, Ludhiana. The auditorium there is named after him. As a college student, Sahir was popular for his ghazals and nazms (poetry in Urdu) and impassioned speeches.

In 1943, Sahir settled in Lahore. There, he completed Talkhiyaan (Bitterness) (1945), his first published work in Urdu. He was member of All India Students Federation. Sahir edited Urdu magazines such as Adab-e-Lateef, Shahkaar, Prithlari, and Savera and became a member of the Progressive Writers' Association. However, when he made controversial statements promoting Communism, a warrant for his arrest was issued by the Government of Pakistan. In 1949, after partition, Sahir fled from Lahore to Delhi. After eight weeks, Sahir moved to Bombay. He later lived in Andheri, a suburb of Mumbai. There, his neighbours included Gulzar, a poet and lyricist and Krishan Chander, an Urdu litterateur. Sahir was a member of IPTA and also the Progressive Writer's Association. Sahir's work as a lyricist in the film industry gave him financial stability beyond his earnings as a poet. He made his debut with four songs in the film Azadi Ki Raah Par (1949). One of the songs was Badal Rahi Hai Zindagi. The film and its songs went unnoticed. However, after Naujawan (1951), with music by S.D. Burman, Sahir gained recognition. Sahir's major success was Baazi (1951) with composer Burman. Sahir was then considered part of Guru Dutt's team. The last film Sahir made with Burman was Pyaasa (1957). After this film, Sahir and Burman went their separate ways due to artistic and contractual differences. Sahir worked with other composers including Ravi, Roshan, Khayyam and Datta Naik. Datta Naik also credited as N. Datta, a Goan, admired Sahir's poetry and their collaboration produced the score for Milap (1955), Chandrakanta (1956), Sadhna (1958), Dhool Ka Phool (1959), Dharamputra (1961) and Naya Raasta (1970). Sahir also worked with music director Laxmikant–Pyarelal in the films like Izzat (1968), Man Ki Aankhen (1970), Dastaan (1972) and Daag (1973). From about 1950 until his death, Sahir collaborated with Baldev Raj Chopra, a film producer and director. Sahir's last work for Chopra was for Insaaf Ka Tarazu (1980). Yash Chopra, both while directing for B R Films, and later as an independent director and producer, also engaged Sahir as the lyricist for his films, till Sahir's death. In 1958, Sahir wrote the lyrics for Ramesh Saigal's film Phir Subah Hogi, based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel Crime and Punishment. The male lead was played by Raj Kapoor. Shankar–Jaikishan would be composing music for the film but Sahir demanded a composer with a more intimate knowledge of the novel. Consequently, Khayyam composed the film score. The song Woh Subah Kabhi Toh Aayegi with its minimal background music remains popular. Khayyam collaborated with Sahir in many films including Kabhie Kabhie (1976) and Trishul (1978). Sahir was a controversial figure in that he was artistically temperamental. He insisted that the film score should be composed for his lyrics and not the other way around. He also insisted on being paid one rupee more than Lata Mangeshkar and this created a rift between them. Sahir promoted his girlfriend, Sudha Malhotra's singing career. He also insisted that All India Radio credit film song lyricists in its broadcasts.

Sahir was romantically involved with Amrita Pritam and later Sudha Malhotra. Sahir and Pritam's love story was to be the subject of a 2014 movie that was legally objected to by the latter's grandson.

On 25 October 1980, at the young age of fifty-nine, Sahir died of a sudden cardiac arrest. He was buried at the Juhu Muslim cemetery. In 2010, his tomb was demolished to make room for new interments.

The Hindi film, Pyaasa (1957), is said to be inspired by Sahir's unrequited affection for the Hindi novelist and poet, Amrita Pritam and features several famous songs with lyrics written by him. Sahir's life has been chronicled by Sabir Dutt and by Chander Verma and Dr. Salman Abid in "Main Sahir Hoon". Sahir Ludhianvi: the People's Poet, a book by Akshay Manwani, is the product of interviews and writings about Sahir by his friends such as Yash Chopra, Dev Anand, Javed Akhtar, Khayyam, Sudha Malhotra, Ravi Chopra and Ravi Sharma. The book also analyses Sahir's poetry and lyrics in the context of his personal life.