Tuesday marks the 30th anniversary of the death of poet and writer Rahi Masoom Raza, affectionately called Raza Saab by artists in the Hindi film industry. Rahi Masoom Raza was born in Gangauli village in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. He was an alumna of Aligarh Muslim University where he obtained his PhD in Hindi literature. Raza went on to teach at AMU and was quite popular among his students. Raza also went on to write dialogues for several Hindi movies. However, he is most remembered for writing dialogues for BR Chopra’s television series Mahabharat.
Let’s take a look at some of the lesser known facts about Rahi Masoom Raza:
He was an important figure in Hindi circles who could be described as the embodiment of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb. Some of his notable novels include Adha Gaon, Dil Ek Sada Kaghaz, Topi Shukla, Oos Ki Boond. Raza also wrote Chhote Aadmi ki Badi Kahani, a 1965 story about the war hero Abdul Hamid, which was widely disseminated by the then Interior Minister YB Chavan, on the radio, textbooks, etc., to protest the rising anti-Muslim counter sentiment.
It was in the 1970s that Raza had come to Mumbai to try to write films. He has written screenplays and dialogues for more than 200 films and has won several awards. He became one of the highest paid writers.
Writer, filmmaker, poet and media guru Amit Khanna describes Raza as an ‘impressive personality’. Khanna mentioned in an article for The Wire that Raza always wore a crisp white kurta, Aligarhi pajamas and a vest. He always chewed paan and was a charming conversationalist.
Raza was one of the few writers who was Hindi but wrote in Urdu, showing their exemplary skills in both languages.
Raza’s lesser-known work Scene: 75 is often touted as an autobiographical work. The novel tells the story of a writer in Bollywood in a sarcastic and witty way. The novel paints the picture of the Hindi film industry in the 1970s and is told from the perspective of writers.
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