Google paid tribute to the great Indian Urdu poet and lyricist, Kaifi Azmi, by dedicating a doodle on his 101st birth anniversary on Tuesday. The Doodle features Azmi, wearing a white kurta, while reciting a poem. One of the most renowned poets of 20th century India, Kaifi Azmi was born on January 14, 1919 in Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh and started writing poetry at an early age. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s Quit India freedom movement of 1942, he left for Mumbai to write for an Urdu newspaper.
Kaifi later became a member of Progressive Writers’ Movement of India and is credited for bringing Urdu literature to Indian cinema. His greatest feat as a writer in cinema was 1970’s ‘Heer Raanjha’ where the entire dialogue of the film was penned in verse.
He is also the father of veteran actress Shabana Azmi. Awarded with both Sahitya Akademi and National award, he died on May 10, 2002 at the age of 83.
Shabana Azmi shared the Google Doodle post on Instagram and wrote, "And the Kaifi Azmi birth centenary celebrations come to a close with a google doodle . Thank you to all those who came together to make it such a satisfying year."
Kaifi’s other film credits include writing dialogues for MS Sathyu’s ‘Garam Hawa’ (1973), ‘Manthan’ (1976) and penning iconic songs like Pakeezah’s soundtrack ‘Chalte Chalte’, ‘Koi Yeh Kaise Bataye’ from Arth, ‘Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil’ and his own poem ‘Aurat’.
