24 Facts About Kaifi Azmi

Kaifi Azmi is remembered as the one who brought Urdu literature to Indian motion pictures.

Kaifi Azmi was a communist who wanted to see India one day become a socialist state.

Kaifi Azmi's wife was theatre and film actress Shaukat Kaifi.

Kaifi Azmi got his title from the city of the same name.

Kaifi Azmi was denied a visa for Pakistan for several years despite the fact that his family lived there, because he was a communist.

At age eleven, Kaifi Azmi wrote his first ghazal in Bahraich Itna To Zindagi Mein Kisi Ki Khalal Pade and somehow managed to get himself invited to a mushaira and over there, he recited a ghazal, rather a couplet of the ghazal which was very much appreciated by the president of the mushaira, Mani Jaisi, but most of the people, including his father, thought he recited his elder brother's ghazal.

Kaifi Azmi abandoned his studies of Persian and Urdu during the Quit India agitations in 1942 and shortly thereafter became a full-time Marxist when he accepted membership of the Communist Party of India in 1943.

Consequently, Kaifi Azmi started to win great acclaim as a poet and became a member of Progressive Writers' Movement of India.

Kaifi Azmi was asked to shift his base to Bombay, work amongst the workers and start party work with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm.

Kaifi Azmi's poems are notable for their rich imagery and in this respect, his contribution to Urdu poetry can hardly be overstated.

Kaifi Azmi's lyrics titled "Kar chale hum fida" featured in the soundtrack of the 1964 Hindi film Haqeeqat.

Kaifi Azmi's best known poems are Aurat, Makaan, Daaera, Sanp, and Bahuroopni.

Kaifi Azmi wrote his first lyrics for the film Buzdil, directed by Shaheed Latif and music by SD Burman, released in 1951.

Kaifi Azmi wrote the dialogues for Shyam Benegal's Manthan and Sathyu's Kanneshwara Rama.

Kaifi Azmi wrote the lyrics for Bible Ki Kahaniyan, the first Christian mythological television show broadcast in India.

Kaifi Azmi played a memorable role of Naseem's grandfather in Naseem.

Kaifi Azmi died on 10 May 2002 at around the age of eighty-three.

Kaifi Azmi was survived by his wife, daughter, and son.

Kaifi Azmi's autobiography is included in a collection of his works, Aaj Ke Prashid Shayar: Kaifi Azmi.

Kaifi Azmi was the subject of a documentary film called Diksha, directed by Raman Kumar.

Kaifi Azmi was the recipient of Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award in 1974.

Kaifi Azmi was honoured with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship for lifetime achievement.

Kaifi Azmi returned his Padma Shri in the 1980s after the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Vir Bahadur Singh remarked that those speaking Urdu as a second language should be made to sit on a donkey and paraded.

Kaifi Azmi has been honoured with a doctorate from Vishva Bharati University, Santiniketan.