11 IPTA was launched on May 1943 in Bombay with Joshi as president and Anil de Silva as general secretary with the aim of using the stage and other traditional arts to portray the problems facing the country. Joshi had earlier begun the practice of gathering the country’s prominent writers, journalists, artists, economists, historians, film and stage actors to rally around the party organ, National Front, and later People’s War and People’s Age. He commissioned Sunil Jana to take photographs of the Bengal famine and document people’s movements in different parts of the country, such as in Telangana. Joshi understood, and capitalized on, the need to use culture as a living tool. While the catalyst for IPTA was the Bengal famine, it continued to be active long after the PWA declined.

12 This film is significant for several reasons: Directed by K.A. Abbas and based on a story by Abbas himself, it starred Amitabh Bachchan who made his debut in the Hindi film industry with this film. Saat Hindustani won the Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration and fetched Kaifi his first National Film Award for Best Lyrics.

To Shaukat

* Dedication to Awaara Sajdey

The Virginal Flower Girl

* A sweetly scented spikenard, to which the Persians compare the locks of a mistress

Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam

* Kagaz ke Phool, 1959

Zara Sii Aahat Hotii Hai

* Haqiqat, 1964

Yeh Nayan Darey Darey

* Kohra, 1964

Merey Chanda, Mere Nanhe

* Aakhri Khat, 1966

Kuchh Dil Ne Kaha

* Anupama, 1966

Dheerey-dheerey Machal Ai Dil-e Be-qaraar

* Anupama, 1966

Abhi Kya Sunogey Suna To Hasogey

* Satyakam, 1969

Maa Hai Mohabbat ka Naam

* Maa ka Aanchal, 1970

Aaj Socha To Aansu Bhar Aaye

* Hanste Zakhm, 1973

Betaab Dil Ki Tamanna Yehi Hai

* Hanste Zakhm, 1973

Hai Tere Saath Meri Wafa

* Hindustan ki Kasam, 1973

Har Taraf Ab Yahii Afsaney Hain

* Hindustan ki Kasam, 1973

Koi Yeh Kaise Bataye Ke Woh Tanha Kyun Hai

* Arth, 1982

Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar . . .

* Arth, 1982

Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahey Ho . . .

* Arth, 1982

Select Bibliography

Primary Sources

Interviews

Shabana Azmi

Javed Akhtar

Sumantra Ghosal

Secondary Sources

Published Books/Articles (English)

Ali, Ahmed. 1974. ‘The Progressive Writers’ Movement and Creative Writers in Urdu’, in Carlo Coppola (ed.), Marxist Influences and South Asian Literature. South Asia Series, Occasional Paper No. 23, Vol. I. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Ansari, Khizar Humayun. 1990. The Emergence of Socialist Thought among North Indian Muslims (1917-1947). Lahore: Book Traders.

Azmi, Kaifi. 2001. Selected Poems (translated by Pavan K. Varma). New Delhi: Viking.

Azmi, Shaukat. 2010. Kaifi & I (edited and translated by Nasreen Rehman). New Delhi: Zubaan.

Chandra, Bipan (ed.). 1983. The Indian Left: Critical Appraisals. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd.

Coppola, Carlo (ed.). 1974. Marxist Influences and South Asian Literature. East Lansing: Michigan State University.

Jalil, Rakhshanda. 2014. Liking Progress, Loving Change: A Literary History of the Progressive Writers’ Movement in Urdu. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Jalil, Rakhshanda. 2014. A Rebel and Her Cause: The Life and Work of Dr Rashid Jahan. New Delhi: Women Unlimited.