Agha Hashar Kashmiri

2021-09-08T21:19:53Z

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{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Agha Hashar Kashmiri
| image = Agha Hashar - The Indian Shakespeare (8318934296).jpg
| caption = Agha Hashar's grave in Lahore
| birth_name = Muhammad Shah
| birth_date = 3 April 1879
| birth_place = Banaras, India<ref name=Dawn/>
| death_date = 01 April 1935(aged 56)<ref name =Dawn/>
| death_place = [[Lahore]], [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab Province]], [[British India]]<br/><small>(now in [[Punjab, Pakistan|Punjab]], Pakistan)</small>
| occupation = [[dramatist]], [[playwright]] and [[poet]]
| spouse = Mukhtar Begum, a ghazal singer
| family = [[Farida Khanum]] (sister-in-law)
}}

'''Agha Hashar Kashmiri''' (born Muhammad Shah, 3 April 1879 – 1 April 1935) was an [[Urdu]] [[poet]], [[playwright]] and [[dramatist]]. A number of his plays were Indian Shakespearean adaptations.<ref name="EB" />

==Early life==
He started to show interest in stage dramas and moved to Bombay at the age of 14 and started his career as a playwright there.<ref name=Dawn>[http://www.dawn.com/news/403203/karachi-agha-hashar-s-role-in-drama-writing-lauded Agha Hashar Kashmiri article on Dawn (newspaper)] Published 30 April 2005, Retrieved 5 April 2018</ref><ref name=poemhunter>[http://www.poemhunter.com/agha-hashar-kashmiri/biography/ Profile of Agha Hashar Kashmiri] Retrieved 5 April 2018</ref>

==Career==
Agha Hashar Kashmiri'is first play, ''Aftab-e-Muhabbat'', was published in 1897. He started his professional career as a drama writer for the New Alfred Theatrical Company in [[Bombay]], on a salary of only 15 Rs. per month.<ref name=poemhunter/> ''Mureed-e-Shak'', his first play for the company, was an adaptation of Shakespeare's play ''The Winter's Tale''. It proved to be a success and his wages were later raised to Rs. 40 per month due to his growing popularity.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}} In his works, Agha had experience introducing shorter songs and dialogues with idioms and poetic virtues in plays. He then wrote several more adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, including ''Shaheed-e-Naaz'' (or ''Achuta Daaman in Hindi)'', ''[[Measure for Measure]]'', 1902) and ''Shabeed-e-Havas'' (''[[King John (play)|King John]]'', 1907).

''[[Yahudi Ki Ladki]]'' (''The Daughter of a Jew''), published in 1913, became his best known work. In the coming years, it became a classic in [[Parsi theatre|Parsi]]-Urdu theatre. It was adapted several times in the silent film and early talkies eras, notably ''[[Yahudi Ki Ladki (1933 film)|Yahudi Ki Ladki]]'' (1933) by [[New Theatres]], [[Yahudi Ki Ladki (1957 film)|Yahudi Ki Ladki]] and by [[Bimal Roy]], as ''[[Yahudi]]'' (1958) starring [[Dilip Kumar]], [[Meena Kumari]] and [[Sohrab Modi]].<ref name="Rajadhyaksha2014">{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rF8ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1994-IA282|date=2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-135-94325-7|pages=1994}}</ref><ref name="Desai2013">{{cite book|author=Meghnad Desai|title=PAKEEZAH|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xgKNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT44|date=2013|publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India|isbn=978-93-5116-023-6|page=44}}</ref>

His most popular plays are ''[[Sita Banbas]]'', based on the [[Ramayana]]; ''[[Bilwa Mangal]]'', a social play on the life of a poet with a passion for whores; ''[[Aankh ka Nasha]]'' (''The Witchery of the Eyes'') which deals with themes of treachery and the evils of prostitution; and ''[[Rustom O Sohrab]]'', a Persian folk story and tragedy.<ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/65480/Bilwa-Mangal|title=Bilwa Mangal, a play by Agha Hashar Kashmiri|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|accessdate=5 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Hochman1984">{{cite book|last=Hochman|first=Stanley|title=McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama: An International Reference Work in 5 Volumes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zo5os6d0rvMC&pg=PA37|year=1984|publisher=VNR AG|isbn=978-0-07-079169-5|page=37}}</ref> Several of his notable Shakespeare-inspired plays are ''[[Safed Khoon]]'' (''White Blood''), based on ''[[King Lear]]'' and ''[[Khwab-e-Hasti]]'' (''The Dream World of Existence'') described as "a mutilated version of [[Macbeth]]."<ref name="Hochman1984"/><ref name="Gāragī1962">{{cite book|last=Gāragī|first=Balawanta|title=Theatre in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fexkAAAAMAAJ|year=1962|page=156|publisher=Theatre Arts Books}}</ref>

Towards the end of his career, Agha created the Shakespeare Theatrical Company but could not stay in business for long. He also joined Maidan Theatre.{{Citation needed|date= January 2020}}

Agha was married to Mukhtar Begum, a renowned classical singer from Calcutta and elder sister of [[Farida Khanum]]- a [[Pakistani]] singer.<ref name=poemhunter/>

==His ghazals featured in film and television==
*"Chori Kaheen Khule Na Naseem-e-Bahar Ki" Sung by [[Tina Sani]], a [[Pakistan Television]] production- originally sung by Mukhtar Begum (Agha Hashar Kashmiri's wife) in 1938<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6QVLoT_eHM, [[Ghazal]] by Agha Hashar Kashmiri, sung by [[Tina Sani]] on YouTube, Retrieved 6 May 2016</ref>
*"Ghair Ki Baaton Ka Aakhir Eitbaar Aa Hee Gaya" Sung by [[Naseem Begum]], music by [[Khalil Ahmed]] in 1965 [[Pakistani]] film [[Kaneez (1965 film)|Kaneez]]<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLLrxiX-q2k, [[Ghazal]] by Agha Hashar Kashmiri, sung by [[Naseem Begum]] on YouTube, Retrieved 6 May 2016</ref>
*Another popular ghazal by Agha Hashar Kashmiri is "Mere aur hain iraday" that was recently paid a rich tribute by [[Ali Sethi]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00RyzA0Yedc here]

==Death and legacy==
Kashmiri died on 1 April 1935 in [[Lahore]], British India. He is mentioned in some detail in the literary memoirs of the late [[Hakim Ahmad Shuja]],<ref>Hakim A. Shuja, ''Lahore ka Chelsea'' , Lahore, 1969, pp 83-87</ref> with whom he collaborated on several dramatic projects.

His 70th death anniversary was observed in [[Karachi]] in 2005 at an event organized by the [[National Academy of Performing Arts]] at the [[Arts Council of Pakistan]] in Karachi. [[Zia Mohyeddin]], chief of the 'National Academy of Performing Arts' and other speakers paid tributes to him. Anwar Sajjad said," Whenever the history of [[theater]] in the subcontinent is written, Agha Hashar Kashmiri will certainly hold an important place in it".<ref name=Dawn/>

==Writings==
Kashmiri's plays include:<ref name="Samiuddin2007">{{cite book|last=Samiuddin|first=Abida|title=Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Urdu Literature (2 Vols. Set)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-otQriwQ9z4C&pg=PA337|year=2007|publisher=Global Vision Publishing Ho|isbn=978-81-8220-191-0|page=337}}</ref>
* ''[[Aankh ka Nasha]]''
* ''[[Asir-e-Hirs]]''
* ''[[Bhagirath Ganga]]''
* ''[[Dil to Pyas]]''
* ''[[Khwab-e-Hasti]]''
* ''[[Madhur Murli]]''
* ''[[Rustom O Sohrab]]''
* ''[[Safed Khoon]]''
* ''[[Said-e-Hawas]]''
* ''[[Sita Banbas]]''
* ''[[Turki Hur]]''
* ''[[Yahudi Ki Ladki]]''

==See also==
* [[Agha Hasan Amanat]]
* [[Hakim Ahmad Shuja]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kashmiri, Agha Hashar}}
[[Category:Plays by Agha Hashar Kashmiri]]
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:Urdu-language poets from India]]
[[Category:Poets from Lahore]]
[[Category:Kashmiri writers]]
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Urdu theatre]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian male writers]]
[[Category:Burials at Miani Sahib Graveyard]]
[[Category:Writers from Varanasi]]
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Poets from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male writers]]

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Agha Hashar Kashmiri