| Aghajani Kashmeri | |
|---|---|
| Born | Syed Wajid Hussain Rizavi October 16, 1908 Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Died | March 27, 1998 (age 89) Toronto, Canada |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, Urdu Poet |
| Years active | Over 40 years |
| Spouse | Khursheed Kashmeri (neé Kazi) |
| Children | Zuhair Kashmeri and Sarwar Kashmeri |
Syed Wajid Hussain Rizavi (Urdu: سيد واجد حسین رضوی, Hindi: सैय्यद वाजिद हुसैन रिज़वी, (16 October 1908 - 27 March 1998), better known by his Bollywood film name, Aghajani Kashmeri (Urdu: آغاجانی کشمیری, Hindi: आग़ाजानी कश्मीरी) or Kashmiri (Urdu: کشمیری, Hindi: कश्मीरी), also Agha Jani and Aga Jani, was an Indian screenwriter, a former actor, and Urdu poet.
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Kashmeri was born on 16 October circa 1908, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. He ran away from home in his late teens to star in an early Bollywood film, Shan e Subha (also sometimes listed as Shan e Subhan and Shane Subhan), which was being shot in Rangoon. In part, he was inspired by his first cousin, Nawab Kashmiri, also of Lucknow, the best-known character actor in early Indian cinema, with hits such as Yahudi ki Ladki (Daughter of the Jew), in which Nawab played an elderly Jew. Subsequently, Aghajani returned to Calcutta, did bit roles and a few lead roles, two of them opposite Begum Akhtar. Two of the movies he acted in were Miss Manorama and Anokhi Ada, both in the 1930s. Some websites about Bollywood movies database erroneously refer to him under the category "Actress". A documentary being shown in Canada, documents his life. It is called The Golden Pen. Click the title to view a website with details on Aghajani's life, films, and on the shooting of this one hour documentary produced with funding from OMNI-TV of Canada.
Kashmeri later realized he wasn't over six feet and decided he wasn't the "hunk" he should be to become a real hero in the Bollywood of that time. Given his literary upbringing in Urdu - he was a pupil of the famous Urdu poet Arzoo Lucknowi and was schooled in the finest tradition of Urdu literature - he joined the film studio Bombay Talkies, learned screenplay writing with Hemansu Roy, and wrote his first movie in the early 1930s, which was directed by German director Franz Osten, who worked in Bombay Talkies at the time. The movie, named Vachan, was a hit. He went on to write more than 50 movies, became a celebrated movie writer, a poet and a humourist.
In Bombay (now Mumbai) he and his wife lived with their sons Zuhair Kashmeri (now living in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada) and Sarwar Kashmeri [1] (now living in Reading, Vermont, USA) on Cumballa Hill Road near Warden Road/Nepean Sea Road/Malabar Hill. He wrote for some of the best known names in Bollywood, producer-directors Subodh Mukherjee, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Sunil Dutt (also a well-known actor and one of Aghajani's greatest admirers and friends, whose wife Nargis was introduced in Taqdeer, written by Aghajani), Mehboob Khan, Hemanshu Rai of Bombay Talkies, Franz Osten, Pramod Chakravorty; and actors Ashok Kumar, Veena, Devika Rani, Noor Jehan, Suraiya, Sadhana, Saira Banu, Joy Mukherjee, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Nimmi (who was married to his nephew, the famous writer and director Ali Raza).
Aghajani Kashmeri's home in Bombay, a fourth floor apartment overlooking the Arabian Sea in a building called Keki Court, was the venue for some of the greatest poets, songwriters and ghazal singers of the time. He wrote an autobiography in 1971, Sahar Hone Tak [2], that was published in both Urdu and Hindi. It is now out of print and the copyright is owned by his sons Zuhair Kashmeri and Sarwar Kashmeri. Sahar Hone Tak has been praised by critics for its candid writing, its colorful description of early Lucknow and its mushairas, descriptions of poets who have faded into obscurity, with their verses as remembered by Aghajani, but especially of the very early Indian cinema in Calcutta and in Bombay (Mumbai). It documents the development of early storylines in the Indian cinema, the cultural and social themes that marked post independent India, and how slowly the movies veered towards the formula films that one largely sees in Bollywood today, with the exception of a few gems here and there.
Aghajani retired in Toronto, Canada, with his wife Khursheed Kashmeri, who died on 7 May 1996; Aghajani died on 27 March 1998. Both are buried at the York Cemetery in Toronto. His life is recounted in a one-hour documentary produced by his son Zuhair Kashmeri with funding from OMNI-TV of Canada, http://thegoldenpen.ca being released late in 2011. It features a traditionaal poetry session, mushaira, in Lucknow, and lovely shots of the historic monuments and streets of Lucknow; and footage from early films such as Najma, Amar, and later films such as Mujhe Jeene Do, Junglee, Love in Simla and Humsaya, all written by Aghajani Kashmeri.
The following is a partial filmography:
Kashmeri was credited by various names in these films. In addition, Kashmeri recorded several propaganda Urdu commentaries for the British India army command during the Second World War and was given a rank in the army.
1. Sahar Honé Tak by Aghajani Kashmeri, Mithals, New Delhi, India, 1965. (Autobiography published in Urdu and Hindi, from which the bulk of material in this article has been obtained. The rest from interviews conducted by the writer, his son, Zuhair Kashmeri of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.) 2. Lives Lived: Aghajani Kashmeri by James Macgovan, "Bombay movie legend. Born in Lucknow, India, on July 14, 1908, died on March 27, 1998, of cancer in Toronto, aged 89." The Globe and Mail, April 16, 1998, Page A24, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 3. "Aghajani Kashmeri,89, actor and screenwriter," by Nick Pron, Toronto Star, Page B5, Toronto, Canada. 4. "Man with the golden pen," Mid-Day (daily newspaper), Bombay (now Mumbai), India, Section Two, Page VI, Friday, March 8, 1991. Author Rafique Baghdadi, Journalist, Mumbai. Zuhair Kashmeri's blog: http://kashmeri.info/the-documentary/ with information on Aghajani Kashmeri. A one-hour documentary on Aghajani Kashmeri being released in 2011, website http://thegoldenpen.ca written and produced by Zuhair Kashmeri.