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Sagar Sarhadi: An Anguished Refugee Litterateur but “Silsila” of Romanticism


Eminent litterateur and a ‘poetic’ filmmaker Sagar Sarhadi, was unarguably one of the finest storytellers in the Hindi film industry. His writings were mellow, mordant and modern. His plays brimmed with the angst he felt and convictions that were born out of his beliefs. He wrote films rich in lyricism with their literary flair. His perception of love was unique and yet so inured in tradition. Romance that he wove in his stories had a relatable feel. He breathed life into the emotional roller coasters of Bollywood like Kabhie Kabhie, Silsila and Chandni etc. He had a talent for plumbing the depths of the human heart to create indelible characters. He scripted complex women characters, brought alive by protagonists Rakhi, Smita Patil, Rekha and Shabana Azmi. He yearned for respect to women and disliked their “grotesque presentation” on screen. The iconic dialogues, he wrote for Bazaar, give goose bumps even today. Sarhadi was not swayed by the trappings of showbiz and remained unspoiled like the lotus in a dirty pond. A great conversationalist, Sarhdi could relate to elderly citizens as well as denim-clad youngsters by sharing their dreams, aspirations and frustrations. The holocaust of the Partition, ensured he remain an ‘emotional’ refugee through life.

Sagar Sarhadi was born as Ganga Sagar Talwar to a liquor contractor Than Singh Talwar on May 11, 1933 in the scenic town of Baffa, Abbottabad (now in Pakistan). At six, he lost his mother Prem Dai, who was suffering from TB. He was passionate about cinema since early childhood. During partition, his family was driven out of Baffa. They escaped in a truck first to Srinagar and then to Delhi. After spending his schooling years in Mori gate Delhi, he moved to Mumbai, where his elder brother had a job. In Mumbai, it was a subhuman existence. He lived in a single room in Sion Koliwada, he used to walk three kilometres in the salt fields to relieve himself. His Bhabhi would cook under a leaking roof, her ankles deep in water, the stove kept on the bed.

He enrolled in Khalsa College, Mumbai where Gulzar was his senior. To immerse himself in English, he migrated to St Xavier’s College in his final year. He taught at an educational institute for a pittance. He even considered becoming a taxi driver. But on the very first day, he hit a pole while reversing. Then he took up part-time employment at a typing institute. That didn’t go too well either. Finally, he found work of translating English commercials into Urdu with Bomas, a British advertising company. But the rebel and the writer in Sarhadi didn’t allow him to settle into the well-paying job. He quit two years later to focus on reading and writing.


It was the Partition that prompted him to first pick up the pen. The angst of being uprooted from his hometown and forced to live first in a refugee camp and later in crowded rooms, deeply influenced his writing. Like Manto he carried an ocean of pain and love in his pen. He carried the fond memories of his native land, the Urdu name for which is “Suba Sarhad” in his nom de plume. It was with this name that he emerged as a talented writer of short fiction and a playwright.

His passion brought him to Red Flag Hall on Grant Road, which housed the Progressive Writer’s Association. He was nurtured and associated with literary luminaries like Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ismat Chugtai, Kishen Chander, KA Abbas, Sardar Jafri, Kaifi Azmi and Sajjad Zaheer. He was lucky to grow under their tall shadows and learnt the nuances of writing. The life of comrade and playwright Gursharan Singh influenced him to a great extent. Sajjad Zaheer inspired him to write stories and also got his first story published in an Urdu newspaper.

Sarhadi was a powerful voice which had the guts to show a mirror to society. His plays were thought provoking and he wanted to rip aside social hypocrisy. Some of his earlier works were ‘Taibloo’ and ‘Mirza Sahibaan’. Along the course, his Urdu plays like Bhagat Singh Ki Waapsi, Khyaal Ki Dastak, Raj Durbar and Tanhayee won much applause. His plays on Bhagat Singh and Ashfakullah were performed by Mumbai IPTA and other groups many times. He did plays with his theatre group “Curtain”, in which Sanjeev Kumar and Rajesh Khanna used to perform. He wished to make a film on the play ‘Ram Leela’ but it could not materialize. His popular publications included ‘Jeev Janaawar’, ‘Masiha’ and a novel on social themes “Awazon Ka Mausam”.


Realising that it would be impossible to earn a living as an Urdu writer, he eventually found his way into cinema when he received his first break with V.R. Naidu’s ‘Patni’ (1970). Teaming up with Kapil Kumar, he then wrote the dialogues of Basu Bhattacharya acclaimed movie Anubhav (1971) followed by two low-budget films Savera (1972) and Alingan (1974).  Yash Chopra was awestruck by Sarhadi’s deft direction and soulful terse dialogues in his play “Mirza Sahiban” and offered him to write screenplay and dialogues for his next film and that’s how Kabhie Kabhie (1976) happened. This multi-starrer movie with Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee, Shashi Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh, proved to be a blockbuster winning as many as 24 awards. Sarhadi won the Filmfare award for its classic romantic dialogues. As a screenplay writer, his name appeared in the credits, before that of lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and music composer Khayyam. Sahir was upset that the name of someone so junior preceded his. But Yash Chopra did not waver. After Kabhi Kabhie, Yash treated him to a five-star holiday in London.


The iconic success of Kabhie Kabhie, not only firmed up his position as a successful screenplay writer, but also paved way for many more love sagas. Yash Chopra made him a household name with hits like Noorie (1979), Silsila (1981) and Chandni (1989). The films those followed with the unmistakable Sarhadi touch included Doosara Aadmi, Faasle, Rang, Zindagi, Karmayogi and Karobaar. He wrote exuberant dialogues for superstars Shahrukh Khan’s debut ‘Deewana’ (1992) and Hrithik Roshan’s launch-vehicle ‘Kaho Na ….Pyaar Hai’ (2000). His short story “Raakha” (The Saviour) catapulted him to fame when it was made as film Noorie (1979).

Sarhadi was hailed as the master of romance but the writer in him yearned for something more meaningful. Restlessness and an irritation with the industry pushed him to don the director’s cap in the cult classic film Bazaar (1982). The film exposed the sordid practice of poor Muslim teenagers being married off to ageing Arabs for money. A staunch feminist, Sarhadi was dismayed at a Hyderabad Newspaper article titled “Parents marry off daughters to Arabs for money”. He visited Hyderabad and discovered how poor girls were tricked into marriage and then left by their husbands. He moved beyond romance and wrote a realistic social subject. He took some money from friends and ‘Bazaar’ was made in a shoestring budget of thirteen lakhs..


The film starring Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Sheikh, Smita Patil, Supriya Pathak, B.L. Chopra and Bharat Kapoor is considered to be a masterpiece with heart wrenching dialogues and soulful music. He culled out traditional poetry of classical poets: “Dekh Lo Aaj Humko’ was taken from a 200-year-old book ‘Zehre-E-Ishq’ by Mirza Shauq. “Dikhaye Diye Yun” by Mir Taqi Mir and “Phir Chhidi Baat” is written by Makhdoom. Bashar Nawaz’s lyrics ‘Karoge Yaad Toh Har Baat Yaad Aayegi... eventually became his sundown sonata. When ‘Bazaar’ was released, several pre-established boundaries were challenged. The film also struck a chord in Pakistan as this kind of exploitation was also rampant there. Alas, his wish to make a sequel of Bazaar remained un-fulfilled.


Capitalising on Bazaar’s success, Sarhadi produced ‘Lorie’ for his nephew Vijay Talwar. The film didn’t click at the box office. His next directorial venture was a film depicting flawed justice ‘Tere Shaher Mein’. The producer did not return the money of a Delhi financer and Sarhadi had to cough up the money by selling his flat. The film was never released, leaving Sarhadi in a financial crisis. His other films also met with same fate. In 1989, he made ‘Agla Mausam’ (Hindi), based on the turmoil in Punjab during the terrorism but it could not be completed. However, its Punjabi version “Wagde Pani” was duly censored but never got released. In 2004, Sarhadi approached Manmohan Shetty, with the idea of ‘Chausar’, a film revolving around a man driven by an amoral power structure to stake his wife. ‘Chausar’ starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Amruta Subhash, shot in 2004-2005 was finally released in 2018. However, these failures didn't deter Sarhadi in his resolve to create meaningful cinema. Instead, it was his vitality and humour that give strength to most strugglers like Vikas Shrivastav.

Sarhadi may have lost out on people, but he had not lost the capacity to dream till the end. He wanted to make a film on freedom fighter Ashfaqulla Khan and “Bazaar-2”, a love story of a journalist and a pick pocket. He used to say “I have lived it all... the pagalpan, the masti. Haraami hoon main. Phir jeeunga toh yehi haraamzaadi karoonga.” Battling a downward spiral in his life, Sarhadi directed a couple of television serials.

Though romanticism ran in his veins, but he remained and died a bachelor. That sense of being uprooted from his birth place never left him and the negativity coloured the way he viewed marriage. However, he lived a ‘rich’ life and had several affairs. One of them was a theatre actress, who left him under her family pressure. His short story, “Udaasi” was based on this oppression of women. Reminiscing about his life once he told this writer, “When I was young, I couldn’t afford marriage, and by the time I began doing well for myself, I discovered that the institution of marriage didn’t suit me”. Being alone and in penury was a high price that he paid for commitment to his craft and idealism.


Sagar Sarhadi was a learned articulate writer, who had a personal collection of large variety of books: fiction, non-fiction, drama, screenplay, poetry, psychology, philosophy. He was one of the finest Urdu playwrights in the country. In 2008, he was awarded the prestigious Ghalib Award for drama. He was feted with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Film Festival of Prayag (IFFP) in 2016. At the age of 82, Sarhadi was involved in a people's tribunal set up by Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan.

He breathed his last on 21 March, 2021 following age-related ailments, leaving behind a rich legacy of iconic cinematic masterpieces.

Karoge Yaad Toh Har Baat Yaad Aayegi…… (Bazaar)

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