Rafeeq Ahamed (born 17 December 1961) is an Indian poet, lyricist and novelist. He has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry and is a six-time winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics. With more than 600 songs to his credit, Rafeeq Ahamed is regarded as the most successful and critically acclaimed lyricist of contemporary

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

Early life

Rafeeq Ahamed was born to Syed Sajjad Hussain and Thithayikutty on 17 December 1961 in Akkikavu,

Thrissur district Thrissur (), anglicised as Trichur, is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the central region of the state. Spanning an area of about , th ...

. He graduated in

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

from Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur.

Literary career

Rafeeq Ahamed authored a number of poems. Some of his collections include ''Swapnavangmoolam'', ''Paarayil Paninjathu'', ''Aalmara'' and ''Cheettukalikkar''. He won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 2006 for the collection ''Aalmara''. He is also a recipient of Vyloppilli Award, Odakkuzhal Award and P. Kunhiraman Nair Award. He also authored the novel ''Azhukkillam'' which was serialised in '' Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly'' and published as a book in 2015.

Film career

He started his film career through the 1999 film '' Garshom'' directed by P. T. Kunju Muhammed. His second work as a lyricist was ''

Perumazhakkalam ''Perumazhakkalam'' () is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Kamal and written by T. A. Razzaq. It stars Meera Jasmine, Kavya Madhavan, Dileep, Vineeth, and Biju Menon. The film's music was composed by M. Jayachandran. T ...

'', directed by Kamal. It was the music director M. Jayachandran who suggested Rafeeq to Kamal, based on an experience of working with Rafeeq for the title song of a television serial ''Samanathaalam''. Rafeeq penned the lyrics of the much acclaimed song;'' Rakkilithan'' for ''Perumazhakalam'' and has since written more than 600 songs for about 300 Malayalam films.

Bibliography

Poetry collections Novel * ''Azhukkillam'' (2015)

Partial filmography

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Awards

Literary awards

* Odakkuzhal Award for ''Rafeeq Ahammedinte Kavithakal'' (2014) *

Kerala Sahitya Akademi The Kerala Sahitya Akademi or Academy for Malayalam Literature is an autonomous body established to promote the Malayalam language and Malayalam literature, literature. It is situated in the city of Thrissur, Kerala in India. History The acad ...

Award for ''Alamara'' (2006) *

Olappamanna Olappamanna Mana Subramanian Namboothirippad (10 January 1923 – 10 April 2000), better identified by his Surname, family name, Olappamanna, was an Indian poet of Malayalam literature. A former chairman of Kerala Kalamandalam and an author o ...

Memorial Award for ''Paarayil Pathiinjathu'' (2000) * Edappally Award * Kunchupilla Award * Kanakasree Award * Vailoppilli Award * P. Kunjiraman Nair Award (2017) * Ulloor Award * Swathi-Ayyappa Panicker Literary Award (2019) * Padmaprabha Literary Award (2024)

Film awards

References

External links

Column
at ''The Indian Express'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahamed, Rafeeq Living people 1961 births Indian male poets 21st-century Indian Muslims Malayali people Writers from Thrissur Poets from Kerala Malayalam poets Malayalam-language lyricists Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award 20th-century Indian poets Malayalam-language novelists Indian male novelists 20th-century Indian novelists Novelists from Kerala Malayalam screenwriters Indian lyricists Screenwriters from Kerala 21st-century Indian male writers