Early life and background
Shakeel Badayuni was born in Badayun,
Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mohammed Jamaal Ahmed Sokhta Qadiri
wanted him to have a good career, thus he arranged Arabic, Urdu,
Persian, and Hindi tuition for Shakeel at home. His inclination
towards poetry was not hereditary like other shayars. One of his
distant relatives, Zia-ul-Qadiri Badayuni was a religious shayar.
Shakeel was influenced by him and the contemporary environment
of Badayun led him to Sher-o-Shayari.
When he joined Aligarh Muslim University
in 1936, he started participating in inter-college, inter-university
mushairas and won frequently. In 1940, he married Salma, who was
a distant relative of his and they had been living in a common
house since childhood, however, the purdah system was vogue in
their family and they were not close. After completing his B.A.,
he moved to Delhi as a supply officer, but continued participating
in mushairas, earning fame nation-wide. Those were the days of
shayars who wrote about the downtrodden sections of society, their
upliftment, the betterment of society and all. But Shakeel had
an altogether different taste - his poetry was more often not
romantic and close to heart. Shakeel used to say:
Main Shakeel Dil Ka Hoon Tarjuma
Keh Mohabbaton Ka Hoon Raazdaan
Mujhe Fakhr Hai Meri Shayari
Meri Zindagi Se Juda Nahin
Career
Shakeel moved to Bombay in 1944 to write
songs for films. He met film producer, A.R. Kardar and music composer,
Naushad who asked him to sum up his poetic skills in one line.
Shakeel wrote, Hum dard Ka Afsana Duniya Ko Suna Denge, Har Dil
Main Mohabbat Ki Ek aag Laga Daingay. Naushad immediately signed
him for Kardar's film, Dard (1947). The songs of Dard proved to
be very successful especially Uma Devi (Tun Tun)'s Afsana Likh
Rahi Hoon. Only a few are so lucky that they attain success in
their first film, but Shakeel deserved success which started with
Dard and continued on over the years.
Together, he and Naushad became one of
the most sought after composer/lyricist duos in the industry.
Among the stupendous scores they churned out together, are those
of Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), and Mughal-e-Azam
(1960), that stand out. Other films they scored together include
Dulari (1949), Shabab (1954), Ganga Jamuna (1961), and Mere Mehboob
(1963). Although Badayuni worked most extensively with Naushad,
he also collaborated with Ravi and Hemant Kumar as well. His lyrics
for the song Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin and Ravi's music both won
Filmfare Awards for the hit film Gharana. His other notable film
with Ravi is Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), while Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam
(1962) is his biggest hit with Hemant Kumar. The title song from
Chaudhvin Ka Chand, rendered by Mohammed Rafi, won Badayuni the
Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1961.
Awards
1961 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for
the song Chaudvin ka chand ho in the film Chaudhvin Ka Chand
1962 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song husnwale tera jawab
nahin in the film Gharana
1963 Filmfare Best Lyricist Award for the song kahin deep jale
kahin dil in the film Bees Saal Baad