Ahmed Wasi

Ahmed Wasi (born 1942) is not an anonymous name in the field of Urdu literature and Hindi film music. He has been associated with the Hindi film music in two ways. One is that he is himself a lyricist and second that being a radio announcer he was always in touch with the film songs.

Early years

Ahmed Wasi was born in Sitapur on 8 October 1942. After his graduation from Lucknow university he pursued few short term courses simultaneously started his studies in law.

Entry in the limelight

It was in 1963 that he happened to join the Vividh Bharti service of All India Radio. With the proficiency in Urdu literature and his keen interest in Hindi music he was soon ruling the airwaves as an announcer making a position for himself amidst legends like Ameen Sayani and Gopal Sharma.

Entry into the musical world

Meanwhile he continued to write nazms and ghazals in various Urdu magazines and was soon spotted for his talent by Murli Manohar Swaroop. Then began a parallel career for Ahmed Wasi, which was perhaps his ambition. Many of the LPs released then by HMV had his ghazals in the voices of many stalwarts.His ghazal “shaakh se toot ke girne ki sazaa do mujhko - ek patta hi to hooN kyon Na hawa do mujhko” made waves overnight and turned Raj Kumar Rizvi into a new ghazal phenomena.

Bollywood and beyond

Then came 1973, Ali Raza was directing a movie “Pran Jaye par vachan Na Jaye”. Music director O.P. Nayyar contacted him for writing a cabaret song for the movie. The song penned was “Aa Ke Dard Jawaan hai”, rendered in the most erotic voice by Asha Bhosle.

It was in 1979 that he worked with O. P. Nayyar for “Heera moti” starring Shatrugan Sinha, Reena Roy, and Danny. This phase of his career was much rewarding with songs like “shaam Rangeen huee hai” from the film “Qanoon Aur Mujrim” and “ Mere Sharik e Safar“ for the film “Vali E Azam”.It was during this phase of his life that his collection of poems in Urdu “Behta Paani “ was awarded by UP state Urdu academy in 1983.

However, with the falling quality of the film and ghazal music Ahmed Wasi adopted exile for himself catering to few requirements and concentrating on his career as Radio Announcer and writing poetry.Then came his second collection of poems “Baadalon ke shaher”(1996) which was in Hindi and was equally well received by the patrons of poetry.

Later, during a program he happened to meet Music Director Khayyam who recognized the poetic genius of Ahmed Wasi and offered him a song in “Ek hi Manzil”. This combination has worked to date on many projects and one such success story was “Asha Aur Khaiyyam”.

His ghazal " Dard Thehre to " is one of the earliest ghazals to be composed in the Pop Music getting much better response from the young generation. But he insists the Ghazal has to liked in its pure form by the youths and has therefore conducted workshops on Ghazal for the youth.

His latest collection of poetry entitled “Jugnu Mere Saath Saath” published in 2004 is still in demand among the Urdu poetry lovers.

Recently he has written script for a short documentary on Naushad called Naushad ki Awaaz which was screened at Ravindra Natya Mandir.( mumbai mirror, Monday, September 04, 2006).

His upcoming works include Yatra , "Banaras-1918 a Love story", and " Bewda". His songs for the film Yatra has got him great reviews from most of the media which can be apprehended from the net.

Television an Addition

During his radio career he has been associated with a variety of progammes highlighting his versatality. He was among the earliest compares for "Hello Farmaish" a dial in request show on vividh bharati. After His Radio service Ahmed Wasi was offered different profiles in different TV Programmes. He has equally faired in this medium by writing the title track for serials like Jab Apne Hue Paraye & Na-khuda. He has also hosted an episode of Doordarshan production highlighting the importance of Urdu in today's world. Also he has been a Judge in the ETV Urdu's hunt for budding poetic talent.

Published books

* "Behta Paani" (Urdu) 1983
* "Baadalon ke shehar" (Hindi) 1996
* "Jugnu Mere Saath Saath" (Urdu) 2004
* "Titliyaan" (Urdu) 2007 Collection of poems for children
* " kavita ahmed wasin chya"- poems translated into marathi