Indian Community Center (ICC) Series Yaad-e-Raftgan presented Seh'r-e-Sahir on July 30, 2017. Ms. Hamida Banu, former Urdu lecturer at Berkeley Universit, was MC of the program.
Hamida Banu read a well-researched maqala about the life and work of this great Urdu poet. In her unique style, Hamida Banu tracee Sahir's life, from his troubled childhood and his equally troubled love relationships to his rise as one of the pre-eminent personalities of the Progressive Writers Movement and his journey as lyricist through the golden era of Hindi film music, the 1950s and 1960s.
Sahir Ludhianvi was born on March 8th, 1921 in Karimpura locality in Ludhiana, Punjab. His real name was Abdul Hayee. He was born in a wealthy family of zamindars. His grandfather's name was Fateh Mohammad and his father's name was Fazal Mohammad.
In 1934, when Sahir was 13 years old, his father re-married. His mother, Sardar Begum, who was Kashmiri, took a bold step and decided to get divorce from her husband, forfeiting all claims. Sahir's father sued for custody but lost. He threatened Sahir's life and Sahir's mother had to keep him under constant watch. So Sahir's formative years were spent in fear and financial straits.
After matriculation, he joined S. C. Dhawan Government College for Boys in Ludhiana from where he was expelled. After being expelled, in 1943, Sahir moved to Lahore where he joined Dayal Singh College. Here, he got his first taste of success. He was elected president of the Student Federation and it was here that he published his first book of poems, Talkhiyaan (Bitterness) in 1945 while still a student. 
He also became a member of the Progressive Writers' Association. Soon, however, his inflammatory writings in Savera resulted in the Government of Pakistan issuing a warrant for his arrest. So, Sahir fled to Delhi but after a couple of months, moved to Bombay.
Sahir made his debut as a lyricist with the film "Azadi Ki Raah Par" in 1948. The film had four songs written by him. His first song was "badal rahii hai zindagii". However, it was the year 1951 that would bring him fame and recognition. Two films, released in 1951, had songs that sky-rocketed in popularity and are hummed even today. First was "ThanDii hawaayeN lehraa ke aayeN" from Naujawan. The second was a landmark film, marking the directorial debut of Guru Dutt - Baazi. Both films, coincidentally, had music by S. D. Burman.
Sahir had a long and successful career as a lyricist and worked with most music directors in the 50s and 60s including Roshan, Madan Mohan, Khaiyyam, Ravi, S. D. Burman and N. Dutta. He was an integral part of Guru Dutt's team and along with S. D. Burman, gave numerous hits. His work with Roshan resulted in fabulous music for several period films, including Taj Mahal for which he won his first Filmfare award for Best Lyricist. In the 70s, most of his work was for Yash Chopra films but the paucity of films certainly did not diminish the quality of his writings and he won his second Filmfare award for Best Lyricist for Kabhie Kabhie in 1976. He was also awarded the Padmashri by the government of India in 1971.
Sahir Ludhianvi is probably the only songwriter in Hindi films whose poetry was accepted in its purest form and incorporated as a film song. So great was his stature as an Urdu poet that he never had to mould his poetry to suit the demands of film songwriting, instead producers and composers adapted their requirements to his poetry. His songs in films like Pyaasa, Naya Daur and Phir Subah Hogi have attained the status of classics.
Sahir Ludhianvi succumbed to a massive heart-attack on October 25, 1980. He died a bachelor.
