Poet and lyricist Qateel Shifai continues to rule hearts of admirers
Entertainment
Shifai gave over 2500 songs to film industry
LAHORE (Web Desk) - The 22nd death anniversary of renowned Urdu poet and song writer Qateel Shifai is being observed today (Tuesday).
He was born on Dec 24, 1919 in Haripur. His real name was Muhammad Aurangzeb but he adopted Qateel Shifai as his pen name. The work of Qateel Shifai includes 20 collections of verse and over 2,500 songs for film industry.
Besides ghazals, Qateel also penned film songs for a long period of time. He was considered a blessed lyricist who took the genre of song writing to new heights.
The heart-touching and evergreen tunes were composed on his poetry and the legendary singers of his time sung those in their melodious voices.
Qateel’s name would be remembered in the literary history of India and Pakistan for a long time. His poetry collection “Mutriba” is considered a literary masterpiece which won many awards.
Qateel was undoubtedly among few poets of the 20th century who gained international recognition due to his creative work. Qateel gave life to the film industry by disseminating the message of love and deep philosophy of life through his songs.
His poetry has been translated into numerous languages including Hindi, Gujarati, English, Russian and Chinese.
His first ghazal was published in the weekly 'Star', edited by Qamar Jalalabadi in Lahore. In January 1947, Qateel was asked to pen the songs of a film by a Lahore-based producer. His first movie as lyricist was “Teri Yaad” which released in 1948.
He was given Pride of Performance Award, Adamjee Award, Naqoosh Award and Abasin Arts Council Award for his contribution in literature and film industry.
Qateel Shifai died on July 11, 2001 in Lahore.
