Wajahat Mirza

Wajahat Hussain Mirza Changezi (; 20 April 1908 – 4 August 1990) was an Indian screenwriter and film director who penned the dialogues of some of the most successful films in India during the 1950s and 1960s, best known for Mughal-e-Azam and the Academy Award nominee, Mother India (1957).

Awards Mirza won Filmfare Best Dialogue Award twice, in 1960 for Mughal-e-Azam,

He also won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards for Ganga Jamuna.

Early life and career He was born in Islampur, a small town 89 kilometers from Lucknow. While studying at Government Jubilee Inter College, Lucknow, Mirza became acquainted with cinematographer Krishan Gopal of Calcutta, and worked as his assistant. He later co-produced with singer Midgan Kumar a movie called Anokhi Mohabbat ("Crazy Love") in Bombay. He also directed the 1945 hit film Prabhu Ka Ghar starring Khursheed Bano, Trilok Kapoor and Sulochana Chatterjee. Mirza later became a dialogue and screenplay writer and was also one of the first Indians to be nominated for an Oscar for the movie Mother India (1957), based upon a story by Babubhai Mehta. He later moved to Pakistan and spent his final years there before his death.

Filmography As director 1942 - Swaminath 1942 - Jawani 1944 - Shahenshah Babar 1945 - Prabhu Ka Ghar 1950 - Nishana

As writer 1933 - Yahudi Ki Ladki (dialogue writer) 1934 - Anokhi Mohabbat (dialogue & screenplay) 1938 - Hum Tum Aur Woh (dialogue writer, lyrics) 1938 - Teen Sau Din Ke Baad (dialogue writer) 1958 - Yahudi (dialogue writer) 1960 - Kohinoor (dialogue writer) 1960 - Mughal-E-Azam (dialogue writer) 1967 - Palki (dialogue writer) 1969 - Chanda Aur Bijli (dialogue writer) 1969 - Shatranj (dialogue writer) 1970 - Umang (dialogue writer) 1972 - Yeh Gulistan Hamara (dialogue & screenplay) 1973 - Heera (dialogue & screenplay) 1974 - Dukh Sukh (dialogue writer) 1978 - Daaku Aur Jawan (dialogue writer) 1978 - Ganga Ki Saugandh (dialogue writer) 1986 - Love And God (dialogue writer)