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Shakeel Badayuni (August 3, 1916 - April 20, 1970) was an accomplished Urdu poet, lyricist and songwriter of the 1950s and 1960s.

Shakeel Badayuni was born on August 3, 1916 in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh. His father, Mohammed Jamaal Ahmed Sokhta Qadiri wanted him to study hard to have a good career, thus he arranged Arabic, Urdu, Persian, and Hindi tuition for Shakeel at home. His inclination towards poetry was not hereditary like other shayars. One of his distant relatives, Zia-ul-Qadiri Badayuni was a religious shayar. Shakeel was influenced by him and the contemporary environment of Badayun led him to Sher-o-Shayari.

When he joined Aligarh Muslim University in 1936, he started participating in inter-college, inter-university mushairas and won frequently. In 1940, at the age of 24, he married Salma, who was a distant relative of his and they had been living in a common house since childhood, however, the parda system was vogue in their family and they were not close. After completing his B.A., he moved to Dehli as a supply officer, but continued participating in mushairas, earning fame nation-wide. Those were the days of shayars who wrote about the downtrodden sections of society, their upliftment, the betterment of society and all. But Shakeel had an altogether different taste - his poetry was more often not romantic and close to heart. Shakeel used to say:

Main Shakeel Dil Ka Hoon Tajurma,
Ki Mohabbaton Ka Hoon Raazdaan,
Mujhe Fakr Hai Meri Shayari,
Zindagi Se Juda Nahin

Shakeel moved to Bombay in 1944 to write songs for films. He met film producer A.R. Kardar and music composer Naushad, who asked him to sum up his poetic skills in one line. Shakeel wrote, Hum Dil Ka Afsana Duniya Ke Suna Denge, Har Dil Main Mohabbat Ki Ek Laga Denge.... Naushad immediately signed him up for Kardar's film Dard (1947). The songs of Dard proved to be very successful especially Uma Devi (Tun Tun)'s Afsana Likh Rahi Hoon. Only a few are so lucky that they attain success in their first film, but Shakeel, no doubt, deserved success which started with Dard and continued on over the years. Shakeel wrote for approximately 89 films and 99% of his films had music composed by Naushad and the rest was composed by Ravi and Hemant Kumar.

Together, he and Naushad became one of the most sought after composer/lyricist duos in the industry. Among the stupendous scores they churned out together, are those of Baiju Bawra (1952), Mother India (1957), and Mughal-e-Azam (1960), that stand out. Other films they scored together include Dulari (1949), Shabab (1954), Ganga Jamuna (1961), and Mere Mehboob (1963). Although Badayuni worked most extensively with Naushad, he also collaborated with Ravi and Hemant Kumar as well. His most notable film with the former is Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), while Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) is his biggest hit with the latter. The title song from Chaudhvin Ka Chand, rendered by Mohammed Rafi, won Badayuni the Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1963.

Apart from film songs, Shakeel also wrote many all time great ghazals which are still given voice by singers like Pankaj Udhaas and others. Shakeel shared a close friendship with Naushad, Ravi and Ghulam Mohammed, with whom he enjoyed his life to the fullest. Unlike other shayaars, he wasn't an alcoholic. Shakeel Badayuni succumbed to diabetes complications at the age of 53 on April 20, 1970, leaving behind, his wife, a son and a daughter. His friends, Naushad, Ahmed Zakaria, and Rangoonwala formed a trust called Yaad-e-Shakeel after his death and this trust is the source of some income to his bereaved family.

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