Agha Jani Kashmiri

Agha Jani Kashmiri was born on 16 October 1908, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. In part, he was inspired by his first cousin, Nawab Kashmiri, also of Lucknow, the best-known character actor in early Indian cinema, with hits such as Yahudi ki Ladki (Daughter of the Jew), in which Nawab played an elderly Jew. Subsequently, Aghajani returned to Calcutta, did some small roles and a few lead roles, two of them opposite Begum Akhtar. Three of the movies he acted in were Miss Manorama and Anokhi Ada and Bhabhi - all three films in the 1930s. ==Screenwriting==

Given his literary upbringing in Urdu – he was a pupil of the famous Urdu poet Arzoo Lackhnavi and was schooled in Urdu literature – Kashmeri joined the film studio Bombay Talkies, learned screenplay writing with Himansu Rai, and wrote his first movie in the early 1930s. It was directed by German director Franz Osten, who worked in Bombay Talkies at the time. The movie, named Vachan (1938), proved successful and Kashmeri went on to write more than 50 movies. ==Personal life==

In Bombay (now Mumbai) he and his wife lived with their sons Zuhair Kashmeri and Sarwar Kashmeri. He wrote for Bollywood producer-directors including Subodh Mukherjee, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Sunil Dutt, Mehboob Khan, Himanshu Rai of Bombay Talkies, Franz Osten, Pramod Chakravorty; and actors Ashok Kumar, Veena, Devika Rani, Noor Jehan, Suraiya, Sadhana, Saira Banu, Joy Mukherjee, Shammi Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Nimmi. ==Death and legacy==

Agha Jani Kashmiri died on 27 March 1998. His son Zuhair Kashmeri is a journalist in Canada. ==Filmography==

The following is a partial filmography: • Naya Zamana (1971) (writer) • Parwana (1971) (dialogue and screenplay) • Tumse Achha Kaun Hai (1969) (dialogue) • Taqdeer (1943) (screenplay/dialogue) • Najma (1943) (screenplay/dialogue) • (1946) (writer) • Humayun (1945) (writer) • Lal Haveli (1945) (dialogue) • Vachan (1938) (screenplay) ==References==