Amongst lyricists like Hasrat Jaipuri, Shakeel Badayuni, Sahir Ludhianvi and Majrooh Sultanpuri, who infused Urdu poetry into Hindi lyrics, would also be the late Kaifi Azmi. One of the few realms where Urdu still lives on is retro Hindi music. But that was just one facet that defined Kaifi. His early contempt for oppression led him to join the Communist Party Of India. The sighs and the sweat of the labourer found resonance in his poetry just as the disdain for religious fundamentalism and a reverence for women. A patriot, his Kar chale hum fida jaanon tan saathiyo remains one of the most rousing refrains. His socialist leanings led him back to his native village Mijwan in Uttar Pradesh and helped turn it into a ‘model’ hamlet with educational and skill-developing prospects for girls. And all this despite having suffered a stroke, which had rendered his left side incapacitated. There was nothing defeatist or cynical about Kaifi. He remained a romanticist, besotted by life, even as he was conversant with its shenanigans. Someone who remained as possessive about his Montblanc pens as he was proud of his Communist Party membership card. “This is my most precious capital,” he would quip of the card that reportedly was buried with the bard…
Prodigious poet
Kaifi was born as Sayyed Athar Hussain Rizvi in January 1919, in the village of Mijwan in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. At age 11, the remarkable boy, wrote his first ghazal Itna to zindagi mein kisi ki khalal pade and recited it at a mushaira. The ghazal became a rage. It was later sung and rendered eternal by legendary ghazal singer, Begum Akhtar. Born into a Shia family, Kaifi was well-versed with the martyrdom of Imam Hussain in the battle of Karbala. That early sense of angst against oppression and injustice veered a 20-year-old Kaifi into joining the Communist Party of India (CPI).
Later, Kaifi joined Ali Sardar Jafri in writing for the party’s paper, Qaumi Jung in Mumbai.
A member of the Progressive Writers’ Movement, Kaifi also worked with the labour union movement. His compassion for the marginalised found expression in his poetry. He wrote against communalism, religious fundamentalism and for the rights of women. His first collection of poems, Jhankar, was published in 1943. His best-known poems are Aurat, Makaan, Daaera, Sanp and Bahuroopni. He was the All India President of the Indian People Theatre Association (IPTA). He even acted in plays with other leftists such as Balraj Sahni.
Lyrics and films
Kaifi Azmi wrote his first film lyric, Rote rote guzar gayi raat, for Shahid Lateef’s Buzdil (1951) thanks to the benevolence of Urdu writer Ismat Chughtai. She urged her husband Lateef to take on Kaifi as he had to keep the kitchen fires burning. Kaifi went on to write the lyrics for Yahudi Ki Beti (1956), Parvin (1957), Miss Punjab Mail (1958) and Id Ka Chand (1958). Kaifi’s big break came with Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). S D Burman and he created the poignant Waqt ne kiya kya haseen situm. It’s said, there was no situation for the track. But Guru Dutt loved the song so much that he incorporated it in the film.
Next came Ramesh Saigal’s Shola Aur Shabnam (1961), which had melodious songs like Jaane kya dhoondti rehti hain and Jeet hi lenge baazi hum tum. But the film didn’t do well. Hence Kaifi’s efforts met with little recognition.
Kaifi began to be considered ‘unlucky’. So when filmmaker Chetan Anand asked him to write the lyrics for Haqeeqat (1964), the poet reportedly told him, ‘My stars don’t favour me.’ Chetan said that the same was said about him as well and perhaps, two negatives could make a positive. Haqeeqat is remembered for songs like the pathos-filled Main yeh sochkar uske dar se utha tha and the patriotic Kar chale hum fida, set to tune by Madan Mohan.
Then on Kaifi and Madan went on to collaborate in Chetan’s Hanste Zakhm and Hindustan Ki Kasam (both in 1973), creating enduring melodies. But their magnum opus was Heer Ranjha (1970), where the entire dialogue of the film was written in verse – an extraordinary feat by Kaifi. It’s said the hours and hours of devoted work took a toll on his health. The album had hit songs like Yeh duniya yeh mehfil, Meri duniya mein tum aayee and Milo na tum to hum ghabraye.
The song Meri aawaaz suno (Naunihal 1967), sung by Mohammad Rafi, attained immortality when it was played along the funeral procession of the late Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. His other notable lyrics were for films like Kohra, Anupama, Parwana, Bawarchi, Pakeezah, Hanste Zakhm and Sankalp (between the ’60s-’80s).
Kaifi also won acclaim for the script, dialogue and lyrics of M.S. Sathyu’s classic Garm Hawa (1974), based on a story by Ismat Chughtai. Starring Balraj Sahni, the film brought out the alienation of Muslims, who chose to stay back in post-Partition India. It won Kaifi, the Filmfare Awards for Best Dialogue, Best Screenplay (with Shama Zaidi) and Best Story (with Ismat Chughtai).
Kaifi went on to play a compelling role in Saeed Akhtar Mirza’s award-winning film Naseem (1995). It was a tale of a Muslim family that witnesses the communal frenzy post the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He wrote the dialogue for Shyam Benegal’s Manthan (1976) and Sathyu’s Kanneshwara Rama (1977) as well.
Mahesh Bhatt’s Arth (1982) was another milestone for Kaifi. Sung and composed by ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh, the lyrics of Arth captured its heartwrenching theme of faith and betrayal.Tum itna jo muskura rahe ho and Koi yeh kaise bataye are not mere ghazals – they define the tenor of the film. Kaifi’s last song was for the unreleased Chand Grahan (1997).
Shaukat’s Kaifi
The late actor Shaukat Azmi met Kaifi first at a mushaira in Hyderabad in 1947. Kaifi recited his feminist poem Aurat, which had the lines, “Uth, meri jaan! Mere saath hi chalnaa hai tujhe (Come, my beloved! With me, you must walk) …” leaving Shaukat mesmerised by the chivalry of his thought. It debunked the patriarchal mindset where a woman was confined to the grime of the kitchen. Rather Kaifi, in the poem, viewed his beloved as a comrade, a co-traveller. After the mushaira, while girls surrounded Kaifi for autographs, an impish Shaukat turned towards poet Sardar Jafri instead. When she finally came to Kaifi, he got back at her playfully by scribbling some gibberish. The romance began on this teasing note.
The initial years of their marriage were tough. They survived on the party stipend and lived in a commune-like apartment with three families. They turned parents to daughter Shabana (Azmi) and son Ahmer (cinematographer Baba Azmi) The children witnessed financial constraints but also enjoyed the security of being loved by parents, who loved each other immensely as well.
Shaukat recalled that Kaifi was supportive of her career as an actress. He would sit up with her and give her cues, while she rehearsed her lines. Their little cottage in Juhu’s Janki Kutir was a kind of a sanctum sanctorum for artistes. It witnessed the august presence of poets Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Firaaq Gorakhpuri and singer Begum Akhtar. It was a hub where India’s rich culture was cherished and celebrated. As a tribute to their association, Shaukat wrote Yaad Ki Rehguzar, an account of her life with Kaifi, which was adapted as the play Kaifi Aur Main (Kaifi and I). It premiered in Mumbai in 2006 on the fourth death anniversary of Kaifi and was enacted by Javed Akhtar and Shabana. Messiah of mijwan In the early ’70s, Kaifi suffered a brain haemorrhage, which rendered his left leg and hand incapacitated. Fighting the sense of despair, Kaifi pulled himself together and dedicated himself to the upliftment of Mijwan, his birthplace.
He set up the Mijwan Welfare Society in the obscure village, which didn’t even have a pin code then. In 1993, he set up Mijwan Welfare Society (MWS) for the girl child and women in rural India and made education and skill training its pivot. MWS today runs the Kaifi Azmi High School for Girls, Kaifi Azmi Inter College for Girls, Kaifi Azmi Computer Centre and Kaifi Azmi Sewing and Tailoring Centre. In recognition of his efforts, the U.P. government named the road leading to Mijwan, as Kaifi Azmi Road and the highway as Kaifi Azmi Highway. A train from Delhi to Azamgarh was named as Kaifiyaat Express. Mijwan stayed Kaifi’s pet project till he passed away, at 84, on May 10, 2002.
As the President of Mijwan, Shabana Azmi has taken her father’s dream forward. The chikankari (hand embroidery of Awadh) done by Mijwan’s women has today reached the glamour world under the tutelage of Manish Malhotra. The Mijwan Fashion Show is a hi-profile event held annually. On Kaifi’s centenary, son Baba Azmi premiered the film Mee Raksam as a tribute to the man and his message. Shot in Mijwan, it’s about a girl, whose passion for dance is encouraged by a liberal father. Kaifi may have left behind a rich legacy in terms of his poetry. But what’s even more priceless is the philosophy he practised. “When you’re working for change… that change might not occur within your lifetime… change will come, even if it does so after you are gone,” he once told Shabana. Mijwan is a proof of that.
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