K. Asif

K. Asif, born Asif Karim (14 June 1922 – 9 March 1971), was an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who is famous for his work on the Hindi/Urdu epic motion picture, Mughal-e-Azam (1960).

K. Asif
Born
Asif Karim

(1922-06-14)14 June 1922
Etawah, United Provinces, British India
Died9 March 1971(1971-03-09) (aged 48)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
OccupationFilm director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active1945 - 1971
Spouse(s)Akhtar Asif, sister of Dilip Kumar
Sitara Devi, dancer
Nigar Sultana, the actress
ChildrenAkbar Asif
Shabana Asif
Shoukat Asif
Muniza Asif
Tabeer K Asif Quraishi
Zooni K Asif
Heena Kausar (by Nigar Sultana)

Early life

Born Asif Karim (آصِف کرِیم) in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India to parents Dr. Fazal Karim and Bibi Ghulam Fatima. Asif went to Bombay and later took the name K. Asif. He became a successful director.

Career

His directorial debut, Phool (1945), did very well at the box-office. In 1944, Asif planned to make a film called Mughal-e-Azam based on the life and times of Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great's court dancer, based on a Urdu novel 'Anarkali' written by Syed Imtiaz Ali Taj, with Chandramohan in the male lead and the then upcoming actress Nargis in the female lead. However, in 1946, before the production of the film could begin, the male lead, Chandramohan, died. At that time, Asif temporarily shelved the film until further notice. He produced the film Hulchul and released it in 1951.

At that time, Asif recast Mughal-e-Azam with Dilip Kumar in the male lead and Madhubala in the female lead and began the production of the film in the same year. In 1960, after twelve years in production, Mughal-e-Azam was released and became a huge hit at packed cinema houses across India.

After the release and success of Mughal-e-Azam, Asif planned yet another motion picture called Love and God, his first directorial venture to be made completely in color, and began production. The film was to star Guru Dutt in the male lead and Nimmi in the female lead. However, in 1964, when lead actor Guru Dutt died, shooting came to a halt. Asif recast Sanjeev Kumar in the male lead and resumed production of the film. During the production of the film, K. Asif died on 9 March 1971 at the age of 48/49 and the film was abandoned. In 1986, Asif's senior widow, Akhtar Asif, (younger sister of Dilip Kumar) released the film in an incomplete form.

Personal life

K. Asif married three times. His first wife, Akhtar Asif, was the younger sister of actor Dilip Kumar. It was an arranged marriage. Some of her children were still very young when Asif died in 1971 aged 48, and she had to raise them single-handedly. She ensured the release of Asif's last, incomplete film, "Love and God," which was released in 1986, fifteen years after his death.

Asif's second wife was the singer and actress Sitara Devi. The marriage ended in divorce after a short while.

K. Asif's third marriage was with actress Nigar Sultana, who played an important role in Asif's magnum opus, Mughal-e-Azam. Nigar Sultana had previously been married to the actor S.M. Yousuf. That marriage had been childless, and had ended in divorce when Yousuf moved to Pakistan some years after the partition of India, while Nigar preferred to stay in India. Asif and Nigar Sultana had one daughter, actress Heena Kausar.[1]

Filmography

Director
  • Phool (1945)
  • Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
  • Sastaa Khoon, Mehanga Paani (1986) (incomplete)
  • Love And God (1986) (incomplete)

Producer
  • Hulchul (1951)
  • Mughal-e-Azam (1960)
  • Kamashashtra

Screenwriter
  • Mughal-e-Azam (1960) (screenplay)

Awards

Bibliography
  • K. Asif; Nasreen Munni Kabir; Suhail Akhtar (2007). The immortal dialogue of K. Asif's Mughal-e-azam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-568496-4.
gollark: Think *outside* the flat box.
gollark: It's difficult with flat space time, but you aren't limited to that.
gollark: Apiomemetically speaking, I favour "plastic cup" technology for practicality.
gollark: Idea: asynchronous heavforth.
gollark: lyric badhis purging of <#614050573167362079> made me sadlyric badhis poor management during his long reign drove me mad

References
  1. Heena (Hina) Kausar
  2. Awards IMDb.
  3. "8th National Film Awards". International Film Festival of India. Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.