Shakeel moved to
Bombay in 1944, to write songs for films. He met film producer,
A.R. Kardar and music composer,
Naushad Ali, who asked him to sum up his poetic skills in one line. Shakeel wrote,
Hum Dard Ka Afsana Duniya Ko Suna Denge, Har Dil Main Mohabbat Ki Ek Aag Laga Dengey. Naushad immediately retained him 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 deserved success which started with
Dard and continued on over the years. Together, he and Naushad became one of the most sought after composer/lyricist duos in the industry. Among the scores they churned out together, are those of
Deedar (1951),
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 Shakeel Badayuni worked most extensively with Naushad, he also collaborated with Ravi and Hemant Kumar. His lyrics for the song
Husnwale Tera Jawab Nahin and Ravi's music score both won
Filmfare Awards for the hit film
Gharana. His other notable film with Ravi is
Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960), while
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) is his biggest hit with Hemant Kumar. The title song from
Chaudhvin Ka Chand, rendered by
Mohammed Rafi, won Badayuni the
Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist in 1961. Shakeel penned numbers for around 89 films. In addition, he wrote many popular
ghazals sung by
Begum Akhtar, which are still sung by vocalists like
Pankaj Udhas and others. The Indian government had honoured him with the title
Geet Kar-e-Azam. ;Association with Naushad Shakeel shared a close friendship with Naushad, Ravi, and Naushad's former assistant,
Ghulam Mohammed, with whom he enjoyed his life to the fullest. Naushad used Shakeel as the lyricist for his tunes for most of his films for a period of 24 years.
Baiju Bawra, which was a milestone in both of their careers, was supposed to go to
Kavi Pradeep.
Vijay Bhatt, the director of the movie was insistent on using Kavi Pradeep as the lyricist, since the film was supposed to have many devotional songs. Naushad requested Vijay Bhatt to hear the lyrics written by Shakeel. Vijay Bhatt agreed. When Shakeel Badayuni was diagnosed with tuberculosis, he was put up in a sanatorium in Panchgani for treatment.
Naushad knowing that his financial condition was not good, took 3 films to him, getting the lyrics written in the sanatorium, and got him a payment of nearly 10 times more than his normal fees. ;Association with Ravi Shakeel also wrote a substantial chunk of songs for music director
Ravi Sharma. Prominent amongst them were
Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960),
Gharana (1961),
Ghunghat,
Grahasti (1963),
Nartaki (1963), as well as
Phool Aur Patthar and
Do Badan (both released in 1966). ;Association with Hemant Kumar Shakeel wrote for
Hemant Kumar for movies like
Bees Saal Baad (1962),
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962),
Bin Badal Barsaat. ;Association with S.D. Burman Shakeel penned lyrics for the tunes of S.D. Burman for movies Kaise Kahoon & Benazir. ;Others C.Ramachandra – Zindagi Aur Maut, Wahan Ke Log. Roshan – Bedaag, Noorjahan. ==Personal life==