Muhammad Aurangzeb or Qateel Shifai (; 24 December 1919 – 11 July 2001) was a Pakistani Urdu poet and lyricist.

Early life and career

Qateel Shifai was born in

Haripur District Haripur District (Hindko, ) is a district in the Hazara Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Before obtaining the status of a district in 1991, Haripur was a tehsil of Abbottabad District Its headquarters are the city of Haripur. Accor ...

as Muhammad Aurangzeb in 1919 in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(now

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

).Renowned poet, lyricist Qateel Shifai remembered today
Associated Press of Pakistan website, Published 11 July 2020, Retrieved 17 December 2021 He was of Hindkowan background. He adopted ''Qateel Shifai'' as his pen name in 1938, under which he was known in the world of

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

poetry. "Qateel" was his "takhallus" and "Shifai" was in honour of his ''ustaad'' (teacher) Hakeem Mohammed Yahya Shifa Khanpuri, whom he considered his mentor. Due to his father's death in 1935, Qateel was forced to quit his higher education. He started his own sporting goods shop. Being unsuccessful in his business, he decided to move from his small town to

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...

, where he started working for a transport company and later joined the Pakistani film industry in 1947 as a film song lyricist.Profile of poet Qateel Shifai on rekhta.org website
Retrieved 17 December 2021 "His father was a businessman and there was no tradition of sher-o-shayari in his family. Initially, he showed his poetry to Hakeem Yahya Shifa Khanpuri for correction and advice. Qateel derived his poetic surname 'shifai' from him. Later, he became the disciple of Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi who was his friend and neighbor." "In 1946, he was called to Lahore by ''Nazir Ahmed'' to work as the assistant editor of the monthly 'Adab-e-Latif', a literary magazine published since 1936. His first ghazal was published in the Lahore weekly 'Star', edited by the poet Qamar Ajnalvi." In January 1947, Qateel was asked to write the songs for a film by a Lahore-based film producer, ''Dewan Sardari Lal''. The first film he penned the lyrics for was ''Teri Yaad (1948)'' in Pakistan. Later, after working for some time as assistant lyricist to some of the famous poets/lyricists of the time (1948 to 1955), he eventually became a highly successful film lyricist of

and won numerous awards over the years for his film song lyrics despite a crowded field of competitors in those days. Among his contemporaries were poets like Kaifi Azmi, Amrita Pritam,

Majrooh Sultanpuri Asrar ul Hassan Khan (1 October 1919 − 24 May 2000), better known as Majrooh Sultanpuri, was an Indian Urdu poet and lyricist in the Hindi language film industry. He wrote lyrics for numerous Hindi film soundtracks. He was one of the dom ...

, Sahir Ludhianvi, Majaz Lucknawi,

Tanvir Naqvi Tanvir Naqvi (born Syed Khursheed Ali; 16 February 1919 1 November 1972), also spelled Tanveer Naqvi, was a British Indian and later Pakistani film songs lyricist and poet. He wrote lyrics for over 200 films, including Lollywood and Bollywood ...

, Saifuddin Saif, Ahmad Faraz and Muhammad Hasan Askari. In 1988, Qateel Shifai started work on his autobiography "Ghungroo Toot Gaye" with the assistance of his pupil, now a famous Urdu poet, Naeem Chishti. This was a long project and took quite a few years to complete. The book was finally published after his death by his son Naveed Qateel in 2006. The book revealed many hidden facts about film industry and literary circles and about the personal lives of legendary personalities like Sahir Ludhianvi,

Noor Jehan Noor Jehan (21 September 192623 December 2000) was a Pakistani playback singer and actress who worked in both British India and later in Pakistan's cinema of Pakistan, cinema. Her career lasted over six decades, during which she recorded 10,00 ...

and Iqbal Bano.

Death and legacy

Qateel Shifai died on 11 July 2001 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan. Over 20 collections of verse and over 2,500 film songs for Pakistani and Indian films were published. He wrote songs for 201 Pakistani and Indian films. His talent crossed the borders. His poetry has been translated into numerous languages including

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Gujarati, English, Russian and Chinese. On Qateel Shifai's 11th death anniversary in 2012, in an interview to a major newspaper, a prominent literary figure Dr Salahuddin Darvesh said, "Shifai was one of those great poets of 20th century who had gained international recognition."Qateel Shifai remembered on 11th death anniversary
The Nation (newspaper), Published 12 July 2012, Retrieved 17 December 2021

Awards and recognition

* '

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance (), officially known as the Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sp ...

Award' in 1994 for his contribution to literature by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, con ...

. * Adamjee Literary Award in 1964, 'Naqoosh Award', 'Abbasin Arts Council Award' were all given to him in Pakistan.Remembering renowned poet, lyricist Qateel Shifai on his 20th death anniversary
92 TV News website, Published 11 July 2021, Retrieved 17 December 2021 * He won Best Poet Award at 9th PTV Awards in 1998 * The much coveted '

Amir Khusro Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253 – 1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau, sometimes spelled as, Amir Khusrow or Amir Khusro, was an Indo-Persian culture, Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar, who lived during the per ...

Award' was given in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. * 'Special Millennium Nigar Award' for his lifetime contributions to the Pakistan film industry in 1999. In addition, Qateel won other 3 Nigar Awards in 1958, 1965 and 1979 Qateel Shifai produced a film in his mother language—Hindko—in 1970. It was the first Hindko film which was named "Qissa Khwani". The film was released in 1980. He died on 11 July 2001 in

. The street on which he lived in

has been named ''Qateel Shifai Street'' after him. There is also a sector of Haripur city that has been named after him – ''Mohallah Qateel Shifai''.

Filmography

Includes both

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

and

Indian films The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on pr ...

. * ''Bade Dilwala'' (1999) (lyricist) * '' Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan'' (1999) (lyricist) * '' Auzaar'' (1997) (lyricist) * '' Tamanna'' (1997) (as Qateel Shifai) * '' Naajayaz'' (1995) (lyricist) (as Qateel Shifai) * '' Naaraaz'' (1994) (as Qateel Shifai) * '' Hum Hain Bemisaal'' (1994) (as Qateel Shifai) * ''

Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

'' (1993) (lyricist) (as Qateel Shifai) * '' Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee'' (1993) (''Your Memories Have Returned'') (lyricist) (as Qateel Shifai) * ''Tahqiqaat'' (1993) (lyricist) (as Cratil Sipahi) * '' Painter Babu'' (1983) (lyricist)Qateel Shifai as lyricist in Indian film Painter Babu (1983) on hindigeetmala.net website
Retrieved 17 December 2021 * ''Kudrat'' (1981) (lyricist, only 1 theme/title song - Dukh sukh ki har ek mala) *'' Behan Bhai'' (1979) * '' Seeta Maryam Margaret'' (1978) * '' Begum Jaan'' (1977) * ''Shireen Farhad'' (1975) (lyricist) * '' Naila'' (1965) (lyricist) (Qateel Shifai won the Nigar Award for this film) * '' Farangi'' (1964) (lyricist) * '' Chingari'' (1964) * ''Haveli'' (1964) (lyricist) * '' Seema'' (1963) (lyricist) * '' Qaidi'' (lyricist) * ''

Shaheed ''Shahid'' ( , , ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the latter sense acqui ...

'' (1962) (lyricist) * ''

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

'' (1960) (lyricist) * '' Zehr-e-Ishq'' (1958) (lyricist) * '' Anarkali'' (1958) (Qateel Shifai won the Nigar Award for this film) * '' Nagin'' (1959) * '' Intezaar'' (1956) (lyricist) * ''Qatil'' (1955) (lyricist) * ''Gumnaam'' (1954) (assisted Hakim Ahmad Shuja as junior lyricist) * ''Gulnaar'' (1953) (assistant lyricist) * '' Teri Yaad'' (1948) (assistant lyricist) – (''Your Memories''- Equivalent Film Title in English) (First released film in the Pakistani film industry)

References

External links

Qateel Shifai Web Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shifai, Qateel 1919 births 2001 deaths Pakistani poets Urdu-language poets from Pakistan Recipients of the Pride of Performance Nigar Award winners Pakistani lyricists PTV Award winners Pakistani male songwriters Pakistani songwriters Recipients of the Adamjee Literary Award Hindkowan people