Akhtar ul Iman


Akhtar ul Iman was a noted Urdu poet and screenwriter in Hindi cinema, who had a major influence on modern Urdu nazm.
He won the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue in 1963 for Dharmputra and 1966 for Waqt. He was awarded the 1962 Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu, for his Poetry Collection, Yadein, by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.

Early life and education

Born in Qila Patthargarh, Najibabad, in the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh in 1915.
He gained his initial education at Bijnor, where he came in contact with poet and scholar Khurshid ul Islam – who taught at Aligarh Muslim University – and developed a long association with Ralph Russell. He graduated from the in Delhi.

Career

He preferred nazm over more popular ghazal as a mean of poetic expression. Akhtar ul Iman's language is "coarse and unpoetic". He uses "coarse" and mundane poetic expressions to make his message effective and realistic.
He left behind a substantial legacy for new generation of poets to follow which explores new trends and themes in modern Urdu poetry giving a new direction to the modern and contemporary Urdu nazm with emphasis on philosophical humanism.

Works

Books

• Iss Aabad Kharabe Mein -published by Urdu Academy, Delhi, India.
Autobiography of a famous Urdu writer of India.

Poetry

He has published eight collections:
Play
His contribution to Hindi cinema is significant, keeping in mind the number of landmark and hit movies he has contributed as a script writer. His first landmark movie was Kanoon, which became a big hit despite the fact that it had no songs or comedy sequences. This achievement remains unparalleled in Hindi cinema. Other important movies to which he contributed as a script writer were Dharmputra – for which he received a filmfare award – Gumrah, Waqt, Patther ke Sanam, and Daagh.
The one movie which has his lyrics is Bikhare Moti.

Awards

Literary awards
and Numerous other literary awards.