Shakeel Badayuni Biography: Age, Birthday, Early Life, Career, Personal Life

Shakeel Badayuni Biography: Shakeel Badayuni (3 August 1916 – 20 April 1970) was an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, and composer for Hindi/Urdu cinema.

Shakeel Badayuni Biography

Early years

Shakeel Badayuni was born in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun. Mohammed Jamaal Ahmed Sokhtadiri, Shakeel’s father, wanted him to have a successful career, so he arranged for Shakeel to receive Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and Hindi tutoring at home. His interest in poetry was not inherited like that of other shayars. Zia-ul-Qadiri Badayuni, one of his distant relatives, was a religious shayar. He influenced Shakeel Masoodi, and the contemporary milieu of Badayun inspired him to write poetry.

As soon as he enrolled at Aligarh Muslim University in 1936, he began competing in inter-college and inter-university mushairas, which he frequently won. In 1940, he wed Salma, a distant relative who had shared a home with him since infancy; however, the purdah system was prevalent in their family, and they were not close. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he transferred to Delhi to work as a supply officer, but he continued to perform in mushairas, gaining widespread fame. Those were the days of shayars who wrote about the elevation of the oppressed, the improvement of society, and everything else. But Shakeel had an entirely different taste; his poetry was emotional and romantic.

Shakeel Badayuni Career

Shakeel relocated to Bombay in 1944 to compose film music. He encountered film producer A.R. Kardar and music composer Naushad Ali, who asked him to summarise his poetic abilities in a single line. Shakeel penned, Hum Dard Ka Afsana Duniya Ko Sunde, Har Dil Main Mohabbat Ki Ek Aag Degey. Naushad retained him promptly for Kardar’s 1947 film Dard. Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon by Uma Devi (Tun Tun) proved to be the most popular song from the film Dard. Shakeel’s success, which began with Dard and persisted over the years, was deserved, as only a select few achieve success with their debut film.

Together, he and Naushad became one of the industry’s most sought-after composer/lyricist duos. The compositions for Deedar (1951), Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), and Mughal-e-Azam (1960) stand out among those they composed together. In addition to Dulari (1949), Shabab (1954), Ganga Jamuna (1961), and Mere Mehboob (1963), they collaborated on the scores for Dulari (1949), Shabab (1954), and Ganga Jamuna (1961). Although Shakeel Badayuni collaborated with Naushad the most, he also worked with Ravi and Hemant Kumar. Both his lyrics for the song Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin and Ravi’s music score for the successful film Gharana won Filmfare Awards. Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) is his other notable film with Ravi, while Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) is his biggest success with Hemant Kumar. Mohammed Rafi’s rendition of the title song from Chaudhvin Ka Chand earned Badayuni the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1961.

Shakeel composed music for approximately 89 films. In addition, he composed a number of well-known ghazals rendered by Begum Akhtar, which are still performed by vocalists such as Pankaj Udhas and others.

The government of India awarded him the title Geet Kar-e-Azam.

Shakeel Badayuni Personal Life

Shakeel Badayuni died of complications from diabetes at the age of 53 on 20 April 1970 at Bombay Hospital. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and two daughters. One daughter, Najma, died shortly thereafter while still in college. Javed, his eldest son, and Zeeshan, his grandson, both work in the travel and tourism industry. His second son is named Tariq. After Shakeel’s demise, his friends Ahmed Zakaria and Rangoonwala established a trust called Yaad-e-Shakeel, which became a source of income for his bereaved family.

Shakeel enjoyed playing badminton, going on hunting excursions and picnics, and flying kites with his industry friends Naushad and Mohammed Rafi. Johnny Walker would occasionally join them in kite-flying competitions. Shakeel’s other close acquaintances in the entertainment industry included Dilip Kumar, Wajahat Mirza, Khumar Barabankvi, and Azm Bazidpuri.