Kamal Amrohi was an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer, also remembered as a renowned Urdu and Hindi poet. He was perhaps the only film director who wrote his scripts in Urdu. An Urdu scholar, he began his career as a scriptwriter for Sohrab Modi and later wrote films for legendary directors such as Abdul Rashid Kardar and K. Asif. Amrohi eventually ventured into direction and delivered cult classics such as 'Mahal' and 'Pakeezah.' He had ruled the industry for over 5 decades and had directed and written some of Bollywood's classics, which were commercially successful, too. Amrohi was a perfectionist, known for making his actors express more with minimalist performances, a style that was quite different from the expressive acting that was more common back then. In addition to projecting social issues such as prostitution, reincarnation, and infidelity, in his films, he also had a fascination for the extravagance of the Mughal rulers. Even though Amrohi had directed four films in his career, 'Pakeezah' is still considered his best and is often regarded as a tribute to his beautiful estranged wife, Meena Kumari.
