Riaz Ur Rehman Saghar

Riaz-Ur-Rehman Saghar (Punjabi, ur, ریاض الرحمان ساغر, (born 1 December 1941, Bathinda, Punjab, British India; died 1 June 2013, at Lahore, Pakistan) was a poet and a film song lyricist active in Pakistani cinema.

He had been awarded numerous awards in recognition of his services to the Pakistani film industry. He is credited with having written over 25000 songs in his lifetime, including many for noted Pakistani singers such as Hadiqa Kiani ("Dupatta Mera Malmal Da" �وپٹا میرا ململ دا "Yaad Sajan Di Ayi" �اد سجن دی آوے and a duet song with Asha Bhosle and Adnan Sami Khan ("Kabhi to Nazar Milao" �بھی تو نظر ملاؤ. Saghar also wrote prose and film dialogue in some of the films.

Early life

Riaz-ur-Rehman Saghar was born on 1 December 1941 in Bathinda(بٹھنڈا), Punjab, British India to Maulvi Muhammad Azeem (مولوی محمد عظیم) and Sadiqan Bibi (صدیقن بی بی). In 1947, his family emigrated to Pakistan as refugees following the independence of India. During the journey, Saghar's father was murdered by a Sikh extremist, and his infant brother died of starvation. In Walton Cantonment and later Multan, where Saghar and his mother settled, they made their living making and selling paper bags in the marketplace. Saghar enrolled in Millat High School where he discovered his love of poetry. He later entered Emerson College Multan for Intermediate Studies, where his poetry readings attracted large crowds. After several warnings, he was expelled from Emerson, after which he traveled to Lahore to begin his career. He finished his schooling in Multan and then moved to Lahore in 1957.

Career

In journalism

In Lahore, Saghar found a job at ''Lail o Nahar'', an Urdu-language weekly magazine, where he worked for a year but soon realized it was not his place of interest. He moved on to ''Nawa-i-Waqt'' daily newspaper and while there, he did his Intermediate and bachelor's degrees in 'Punjabi Fazil'. He worked as a culture and film editor at '' Nawa-i-Waqt'' (newspaper) and the weekly 'Family' magazine till 1996.

As a newspaper columnist

Saghar was the first columnist to write on national political situations in the form of a ballad. His first column was published in 1996 by the title of "Arz Kia Hai" (Urdu عرض کیا ہے), covering political, social and cultural Issues. His last column was published in ''Nawa-i-Waqt'' on 24 March 2013 by the title of "Subah ka sitara chup gya ha" (صبح کا ستارہ چُھپ گیا ہے) .

Career in the film industry

As a songwriter

While working as a journalist, Saghar's love for poetry remained strong. In 1958, he wrote his first song for a film that was never released. His first released song was in the film ''Alia'', but his first real success came with the song "Mere dil kay sanam khane mei ek tasveer aisi hai" from the film ''Shareek e Hayat''. He wrote film song lyrics for a Punjabi movie "Ishq Khuuda"(2013) which was released after his death. Saghar worked as a journalist but his passion for poetry drove him to the film world as well. He wrote more than 2000 songs during his professional career.

Film dialogue and script writer

Saghar worked as a dialogue and story writer for about 75 films, including ''Shama'' (1974), ''Naukar'' (1975), ''Susraal'' (1977), Shabana (1976), ''Nazrana'' (1978), ''Aurat aik paheli'', ''Aawaz'' (1978), ''Bharosa''(1977) ''Tarana'' and Moor (film) (2015)

As a film and TV songwriter

Saghar has written over 2,000 songs for many singers and music directors for Pakistani films, radio and TV.

Some of his popular songs were:
*''Chalo Kahin Dur Yeh Samaj Chorr Dein'' Sung by Mala and Mehdi Hassan, music by A. Hameed, film ''Samaj'' (1974)
*''Ankhein Ghazal Hain Aapki Aur Hount Hain Gulab'' Sung by Asad Amanat Ali Khan, music by M. Ashraf, film ''Saheli'' (1978)
*''Dekha Jo Chehra Tera Mausam Bhi Pyara Laga'' Sung by Arshad Mehmood (singer), music by Amjad Bobby, film Ghunghat (1996 film)
*''Mujh Ko Bhi Koi Lift Karadey'' Sung by Adnan Sami Khan
*''Dupatta Mera Malmal Da'' Sung by Hadiqa Kiani, lyrics by Riaz ur Rehman Saghar (1998)
*''Kal Shab Dekha Mein Nay Chaand Jharoke Mein'' Sung by Waris Baig, music by Sajjad Ali

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