Amjad Islam Amjad

Amjad Islam Amjad was a Pakistani Urdu poet, screenwriter, playwright and lyricist who was the author of more than 70 books. He received many awards for his literary work and screenplay for TV, including Pride of Performance, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and Necip Fazil International Culture and Art Award. He was born in Lahore, Punjab in 1944 and graduated from Government Islamia College Civil Lines, Lahore. He started his career as a lecturer and then worked as a director at Pakistan Television Corporation from 1975 to 1979. He wrote many popular drama series for PTV, such as Waris, Dehleez, Samandar, Raat and Waqt. He also wrote columns, translations, criticism and essays, while his main focus remained writing nazms, a type of Urdu poetry. He wrote the lyrics of Mann Ki Lagan for the 2003 movie Paap, the song which launched the Bollywood career of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. He also worked as the Director General of the Urdu Science Board and the project director of the Children Library Complex. He died from a cardiac arrest on 10 February 2023, at the age of 78. He was survived by his wife, four children and a large number of fans who admired his work and legacy.