Sayyid Akhtar Hussein Rizvi, known as Kaifi Azmi (January 14, 1919 — May 10, 2002) was an Indian Urdu poet. He was considered to be one the greatest Urdu poets of 20th century. Kaifi Azmi was married to Shaukhat Azmi. They have a daughter, Shabana Azmi and Baba Azmi.
At age eleven, Azmi wrote his first ghazal Itna to Zindagi Mein Kisi Ki Khalal Pade. This particular ghazal was immortalized as it was sung by legendary ghazal singer, Begum Akhtar. Azmi abandoned his studies of Persian and Urdu. He accepted membership of the Communist Party of India in 1943.
Like most of the Urdu poets, Azmi began as a ghazal writer, cramming his poetry with the repeated themes of love and romance. His best known poems are Aurat, Makaan, Daaera, Saanp, and Bahuroopni. Azmi’s work in films includes working as a lyricist, writer and actor. Azmi wrote his first lyrics for the film Buzdil. His early work as a writer was films like Yahudi Ki Beti (1956), Parvin (1957), Miss Punjab Mail (1958) and Id Ka Chand (1958). His greatest feat as a writer was Chetan Anand’s Heer Raanjha. As a lyricist and songwriter, though he wrote for numerous films, he will always be remembered for Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) and Chetan Anand’s Haqeeqat (1964), India’s greatest war film. Some notables films for which he wrote lyrics include Kohra (1964), Anupama (1966), Uski Kahani (1966), Saat Hindustani (1969), Shola Aur Shabnam, Parwana (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Pakeezah (1972), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Arth (1982) and Razia Sultan (1983).
He was the recipient of Padma Shri one of the Indian Government’s highest civilian awards. Besides he was awarded the Uttar Pradesh Urdu Academy Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award.
Azmi died on May 10, 2002 at around the age of eighty-three.
Kaifi Azmi – Biography
