Saifuddin Saif

Saifuddin Saif (20 March 1922 – 12 July 1993) was a Pakistani lyricist, poet, film producer-director, and the founder of Rehnuma Films, a film studio in Lahore, in 1954.^[1]

Saifuddin Saif
Native name	سیف الدین سیف
Born	Saifuddin (1922-03-20)March 20, 1922 Amritsar, British India
Died	July 12, 1993(1993-07-12) (aged 70) Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Resting place	near Model Town, Lahore cemetery
Occupation	Lyricist Poet Film producer Director
Language	Urdu, Punjabi
Nationality	Pakistani
Alma mater	Govt. M.A.O. College Lahore
Subject	Politics, Entertainment
Literary movement	Progressive Writers' Movement
Years active	1948 – 1993
Notable awards	Two Nigar Awards (1957) Best Film Saat Lakh (1957) Best Script/Story Writer for film Saat Lakh (1957)

He was involved in writing poems and lyrics before and after the Partition. However, most of his films written before partition remained unreleased due to political instability in the subcontinent.^[2][3] He was best known for his film Kartar Singh (1959), and is also credited for writing lyrics for Pakistan's historical and first-ever feature film Teri Yaad, which helped him to appear among the prominent writers.^[4]

As a poet, he wrote eleven ghazals and four nazms on various subjects, including fifteen on friendship, fifteen on social issues, one on hope, and a poetry collection titled Kham-e-Kakul, also known as Khan-e-Kamal (amazing ruler).^[4]

Early life and education

Saifuddin was born on 20 March 1922 in the household of Khawaja Meraj Din and was raised in Amritsar in British India.^[1][5][4] He received his education from the Govt. M.A.O. College Lahore, but left midway after he was barred from taking part in board exams over joining political activism of the Khaksar Movement, a social movement aimed at freeing India from the British Raj.^[2][1]

Career

Saif started his career as a lyricist, but his childhood was originally associated with poetry writings and after leaving the college, he pursued poetry as a career.^[1] He migrated to Pakistan following the partition and settled in Lahore where he initially worked as a dialogue writer and lyricist in the cinema of Pakistan. He later established Rahnuma Films, a full-fledged filmmaking production in 1954.^[4] He also wrote lyrics for films before partition, but none of the films was released. After his migration to Pakistan, all the films he had worked on were released, and he was subsequently considered one of the prominent filmmakers of Pakistan.^[2]

His first film as a lyricist was Hichkolay (1949),^[5] and later wrote songs for Amanat in 1950 and Naveli in 1952. His films Ghulam and Mehbooba (both in 1953) are generally recognized as commercially successful. After his commercial success, he established his film company called Rahnuma Films. He also worked as a producer, director and scriptwriter in Raat Ki Baat and Saat Lakh (1957), and Lollywood's historical film Kartar Singh (1959), which is claimed to have covered real events and bloodshed of the 1947 partition.^[6][7]

He wrote the song "Payal Main Geet Hain Chham Chham Ke" for the film Gumnaam (1954) and also songs for the film Qatil (1955).^[8]

couplet by Saifuddin Saif

Dekha to phir vaheen thay chalay thay jahan se hum,
Kashti kay saath saath kinaray chalay gaye.

Translation: We found ourselves exactly where we had started our journey,
The coast kept moving as did the boat.^[9]

Besides film lyrics, he primarily used to write poems which were sung by the prominent Pakistani singers, including Noor Jehan, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and Mahdi Hasan. Saif wrote a book titled Khan-e-Kamal, comprising a collection of gazals.^[2]

Work

Key

†	Remarks denote a short description of the work where available.

#	Title	Year	Type/Credited as	Remarks
1	Teri Yaad[1][4]	1948	Lyricist
2	Hichkoley[1][5][4]	1949	Lyricist
3	Amanat[4]	1950	Lyricist
4	Naveli[1][4]	1952	Lyricist
5	Ghulam[4]	1953	Lyricist
6	Mehbooba[5][4]	1953	Lyricist
7	Raat Kee Baat[5][4]	1954	Writer, producer-director[2]	The film flopped under the Rehnuma Films banner[5]
8	Gumnaam[1][5]	1954	Song-writer
9	Qatil[8]	1955	Song-writer
10	Saat Lakh[4][1][5]	1957	Writer, producer-director[2]	It was Pakistan's first film that won Nigar Awards[10][5]
11	Kartar Singh[4][1][5]	1959	Writer, producer-director[2][4]	After the success of film Kartar Singh, he became one of the most sought-after producer/directors in Pakistan[2]
12	Roopmati Baaz Bahadur	1960	lyricist
13	Darwaza[1]	1962	producer-director
14	Madr-e-Watan[1]	1966	Producer-director[11]
15	Kham-e-Kakul[4]	1992	Poetry	Also known as Khan-e-Kamal

Awards and recognition

• Nigar Award for Saifuddin Saif as Best Script/Story Writer for film Saat Lakh (1957)^[12][1][5]
• Nigar Award for Best Film Saat Lakh (1957)^[12][1]

Bibliography

• Saif, Saifuddin (1992). Kham-e-Kakul. al Hamd Publications. Retrieved 3 July 2020.

Death

Saifuddin Saif died on 12 July 1993 in Lahore, Pakistan at age 70 and is buried near Model Town, Lahore cemetery.^[2][1][4] His life is covered in a MPhil thesis book titled Shair-e-Kujkulah by Robina Shaista.^[13]