Our Legends

Musannif follows the footprints of it's legendary writers who have remarkable contribution in the field of Urdu Screenwriting.

Anwar Maqsood

Anwar Maqsood is a Pakistani scriptwriter, television host, satirist, humorist, and infrequent actor. He is well known for his drama write-ups for Pakistan Television Corporation in the late 1970s and 1980s. Anwar Maqsood is often regarded as one of the leading Pakistani satirist/writer as well as highly respected in social and showbiz industry of Pakistan. He is often given credit for encouraging talented television actors like Bushra Ansari and Moin Akhter. He wrote various successful plays for television industry that will always be unforgettable for the audience. Anwar Maqsood also received many awards but here are a few important awards that he received from national levels. These awards are Hala-e-Imtiaz & Lifetime Achievement Honor at 4th Pakistan Media Awards.

Haseena Moin

Haseena Moin is a Pakistani dramatist, playwright and scriptwriter. She has written several plays for stage, radio and television, some of which have even gained international repute. She is the recipient of the Pride of Performance award for her services to the performing arts in Pakistan. She wrote Pakistan’s first original script ‘Kiran Kahani’ aired in the early-1970s. Before this PTV relied on novel-based scripts for dramas. She is considered to be the best playwright and dramatist Pakistan has ever witnessed.

Ashfaq Ahmed

Ashfaq Ahmed was a writer, playwright and broadcaster from Pakistan. He wrote several books in Urdu. His works included novels, short stories and plays for television and radio of Pakistan. He was awarded the President’s Pride of Performance and Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) awards for his services in the field of literature and broadcasting. Ashfaq Ahmed had authored over 30 books during his lifetime. His short story (afsana), Gaddarya (The Shepherd) earned him early fame in 1955. Another notable achievement was that he had established, out of his personal resources, the building of the Central Board for the Development of Urdu in Lahore.

Bano Qudsia

Bano Qudsia, also known as Bano Aapa, was a Pakistani novelist, playwright and spiritualist. She wrote literature in Urdu, producing novels, dramas plays and short stories. Qudsia is best recognized for her novel Raja Gidh. Qudsia also wrote for television and stage in both Urdu and Punjabi languages. Her play Aadhi Baat has been called “a classic play”. In 1983, Qudsia was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) by the Government of Pakistan. In 2010, the Pakistani government awarded her the Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence) for her services in literature. In 2012, the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) awarded Qudsia the Kamal-e-Fun Award, which is a lifetime achievement award. In 2016, the GCU’s Old Ravians Union (GCU-ORU) at its annual reunion conferred on her a lifetime achievement award. The same year, the Pakistan Life Care Foundation (PLCF) also awarded the lifetime achievement award to Qudsia.

Seema Ghazal

Seema Ghazal is a renowned story writer, poet, novelist, and drama writer of Urdu. She authored some excellent Urdu horror Novels and dozens of super hit tv dramas that gained high viewership. She is a poet and penned many ghazals and poems published in her poetry book. After writing some Urdu horror novels, She turned her attention to television. She wrote some tv dramas for leading private tv channels, which got much viewership. Her serials Mehandi, Chandni Raatain, Hum Se Juda Na Hona, Manzilain, and Ana, ranked as great work.

Umera Ahmed

Umera Ahmed is a Pakistani author and screenwriter. She has received various awards including Best Writer Award in Lux Style Award for the drama serial Meri Zaat Zara-e-Benishan. Though she enjoyed success and recognition from the very start of her career, it was her 2004 bestselling novel, Pir-e-Kamil that launched her as one of the most successful and influential writers of this era in Pakistan. This novel is also responsible for making her a household name not only in Pakistan, but overseas too, wherever Urdu is spoken. In 2005, she also won her first best writer award for her serial Wujood-e-Laraib, an original screenplay for Indus Vision . In 2006, she won the TV One popular Choice award for The Best Young Talent in Scriptwriting. her novel-turned-drama serial Meri Zaat Zarra e Be Nishan proved to be the most popular drama serial of the year and earned her another best writer Lux Style Award in 2011. Her 2013 project, another novel-turned-drama serial Zindagi Gulzar Hai, topped the charts with each passing episode and the finale of the drama set new rating records when it earned a whopping 9.5 TRP.

Kader Khan

Kader Khan was an Indian-Canadian film actor, screenwriter, comedian, and director. He was also a prolific screenwriter for Bollywood films in the period 1970s to 1999 and wrote dialogues for 200 films. Khan graduated from Ismail Yusuf College affiliated to Bombay University. Before entering the film industry in the early 1970s, he taught at M. H. Saboo Siddik College of Engineering, Mumbai, as a professor of Civil Engineering.

Gulzar

Gulzar is an Oscar-winning Indian film director, lyricist and poet. He got his first break as a lyricist in Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963). A few of his films as a writer include Do Dooni Chaar (1968), Khamoshi (1970), and Safar (1970) Anand (1971), Guddi (1971), Bawarchi (1972), Namak Haraam (1973). His television film Mirza Ghalib (1988) was much acclaimed and appreciated in larger circles of viewers.

Khalil-Ur-Rehman Qamar

Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar is a well-known Pakistani playwright, novelist, poet, actor, film director and film producer. He started his carrer with TV drama Dastak Aur Darwaza and later produced a film Qarz (1997) and he himself was the writer. He wrote many film scripts with Babar Kashmiri, but his dialogue cought the attention of the cinema viewers. He was the dialogue-writer of Ghar Kab Aao Gay (2000 film), Tere Piyar Mein, Mukhra Chan Varga, Nikki Jai Haan but he got fame from his TV serial Boota from Toba Tek Singh (1999) due to the originality of the script and introducing ‘Gulabi Urdu’-speaking in TV dramas.

Javed Siddiqui

Javed Siddiqui is a Hindi and Urdu screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright from India. He has written over 50 storylines, screenplays and dialogues. During his career, Siddiqui has collaborated with some of India’s most prominent filmmakers, from independent directors like Satyajit Ray and Shyam Benegal to commercial directors like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai. He has become an integral part of Indian cinema, in both commercial and art cinema fields.

Rajinder Singh Bedi

Rajinder Singh Bedi was an Indian Urdu writer of the progressive writers’ movement and a playwright, who later worked in Hindi cinema as a film director, screenwriter and dialogue writer. As a screenwriter and dialogue writer, he is best known for Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films Abhimaan, Anupama and Satyakam; and Bimal Roy’s Madhumati. Bedi is considered one of the leading 20th century progressive writers of Urdu fiction, and one of the most prominent Urdu fiction writers. He is most known for ‘disturbing’ Partition of India tales.