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Kamal Amrohi Biography: Age, Career, Family and More

F4U Editorial Desk • Updated September 29, 2026 • 6 min read

Quick Info

Date of birth17 January 1918

Age75 Years (at time of death)

BirthplaceAmroha, United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India (now Uttar Pradesh, India)

ProfessionFilm Director, Screenwriter, Poet

NationalityIndian

Marital statusMarried

SpouseBilkis Bano; Mehmoodi; Meena Kumari; later Deep Kaur

FamilySons: Shandaar Amrohi, Tajdar Amrohi; Daughter: Rukhsar Amrohi

Kamal Amrohi Biography

Kamal Amrohi was an Indian film director, screenwriter and poet whose work shaped Hindi cinema across several decades. Born Syed Amir Haider Kamal Naqvi in

Early life and background

Syed Amir Haider Kamal Naqvi, widely known as Kamal Amrohi, was born on 17 January 1918 in Amroha, in what was then the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (now Uttar Pradesh). He completed college studies at Oriental College, Punjab University in Lahore and graduated in Persian and Urdu. Fluent in several languages including Urdu, Hindi, Persian and Arabic, he began his creative life as an Urdu short story writer and poet before moving into films.

As a young man he left home for Lahore at 16 and started writing for an Urdu magazine. Later he relocated to Bombay (Mumbai), where he connected with established film figures and moved into screenwriting. His early ambition was to turn stories into films, and his literary grounding informed much of his later filmmaking work.

Career

Kamal Amrohi’s film career began in the late 1930s as a story, dialogue and screenplay writer. Early credits include story and writing work on films such as Jailor (1938), Chhalia (1938), Pukar (1939), Prem Ki Jyot (1939) and Main Hari (1940). He made his directorial debut with Mahal (1949), a film that marked his transition from writer to director.

Over the following decades Amrohi worked in multiple creative roles across Indian cinema: director, screenwriter, dialogue writer, lyricist and producer. Notable directorial projects listed in his filmography include Daaera (1953), Pakeezah (1972), the unreleased Majnoon (1979) and Razia Sultan (1983). He produced films such as Daaera and Pakeezah, and contributed screenplays for Mahal (1949), Pakeezah (1972) and Razia Sultan (1983). His dialogue writing credits feature titles including Mazaaq (1943), Phool (1945), Saqi (1952), Mughal-E-Azam (1960) and Shankar Hussain (1977). He also wrote lyrics for Pakeezah and Shankar Hussain and later collaborated on a song for the Indo-Canadian film Such a Long Journey (1998).

Amrohi received industry recognition during his career: he won the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue in 1961 for Mughal-e-Azam and earned a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Director in 1972 for Pakeezah.

Studio ventures

In 1953 he established a production house, Kamal Pictures (also referred to as Mahal Films). Ambitious to build a full-scale filmmaking complex, Amrohi launched Kamal Amrohi Studios in 1958 on a 15-acre site in Jogeshwari East, Mumbai. The studio offered multiple sets, soundstages and post-production facilities and served as a creative centre for filmmakers and technicians. Financial pressures and changes in the industry led to the studio’s decline; after Amrohi’s death the property passed to his children and was later sold to a developer.

Personal life and relationships

Kamal Amrohi was married three times. His first wife was Bilkis Bano; his second was Mehmoodi, described as a cousin; and his third marriage was to actress Meena Kumari, solemnised privately on 14 February 1952. He had two sons, Shandaar Amrohi and Tajdar Amrohi, both of whom worked as film directors, and a daughter, Rukhsar Amrohi, who is an author.

Controversies and later years

Public accounts record friction and allegations within Amrohi’s marriage to Meena Kumari, including claims of domestic discord. Different sources report on episodes of separation and reconciliation; some relatives and associates disputed or refuted particular versions of those events. After Meena Kumari’s death Amrohi lived with his second wife Mehmoodi; following her death in 1982 he married his physician, Deep Kaur.

Amrohi continued to conceptualise film projects late in life. He had begun work on a screenplay titled Aakhri Mughal before his death. Filmmaker J P Dutta later considered reviving that project in the late 1990s, an effort that did not come to fruition.

Public profile

Kamal Amrohi was known for a commanding personal presence and for his devotion to certain collaborators, notably the singer Lata Mangeshkar, whom he frequently sought for playback work in his films. Observers of his career noted his long-standing influence on Hindi cinema.

He died in Mumbai on 11 February 1993 at the age of 75 and was buried at Rehmatabad Qabristan in Mumbai. In 2013 India Post issued a commemorative stamp in his name, and in 2022 a web series based on his relationship with Meena Kumari and the making of Pakeezah was announced by Saregama and his grandson Bilal Amrohi.

Latest updates

A web series exploring the love story between Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari, set against the backdrop of Pakeezah, was announced in February 2022. Beyond that announcement, several of Amrohi’s films and his studio legacy continue to be discussed in retrospectives of Hindi cinema.
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Recent Work

Pakeezah

Director, screenplay writer and producer of the 1972 film Pakeezah.

1972
Razia Sultan

Director and screenplay writer for the 1983 film Razia Sultan.

1983
Daaera

Director and producer of the 1953 film Daaera.

1953
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Career Highlights

  1. Directed Mahal (1949) and Pakeezah (1972)
  2. Won Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue for Mughal-e-Azam (1961)
  3. Founded Kamal Amrohi Studios and Kamal Pictures (Mahal Films)
  4. Worked across roles as director, screenwriter, dialogue writer and lyricist
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Frequently Asked Questions

When was Kamal Amrohi born?

17 January 1918

What is Kamal Amrohi known for?

Film Director, Screenwriter, Poet

What is Kamal Amrohi’s marital status?

Married

Who is Kamal Amrohi married to?

Bilkis Bano; Mehmoodi; Meena Kumari; later Deep Kaur