Indian author, director and screenwriter
Rajinder Singh Bedi (1 September – 11 November ) 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 and he is grandfather to Rajat Bedi and Manek Bedi.
As a screenwriter and dialogue writer, he is best known for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films Abhimaan, Anupama and Satyakam; and Bimal Roy's Madhumati. As a director he is known for Dastak (), starring Sanjeev Kumar and Rehana Sultan and Phagun (), starring Dharmendra, Waheeda Rehman, Jaya Bhaduri and Vijay Arora. He wrote his scripts in Urdu, like a number of other prominent screenwriters at the time.[3]
Bedi is considered one of the leading 20th century progressive writers of Urdu fiction, and one of the most prominent Urdu fiction writers.[4][5] He is most known for 'disturbing' Partition of India tales.[6]
Bedi was born in village Dhallewali in Sialkot district, Punjab, now in Pakistan, to Hira Singh Bedi and Seva Dai.[1] He spent his early years in Lahore, where he received his education in Urdu, as it was common to most Punjabi families, though he never graduated from a college.[7]
His first collection of short stories, Daan-O-Daam (The Catch), featuring his prominent story "Garam Coat" (Warm Coat) was published in [8] In , he published his second collection of short stories, Grehan (The Eclipse).[9]
In , he joined Maheshwari Films, a small Lahore film studio, although after one and half years he returned to All India Radio and was posted to Jammu, where he worked until , and became the Director of Jammu and Kashmir Broadcasting Service. By the time of Partition Rajinder Singh Bedi had published numerous more short stories, and had made a name for himself as a prolific writer. His Urdu novel, Ek Chadar Maili Si, translated into English as I Take This Woman, by Khushwant Singh received the Sahitya Akademi Award in [10] The book was later translated into Hindi, Kashmiri and Bengali.[citation needed]
His later collections of short stories were Kokh Jali and Apne Dukh Mujhe Dedo and a collection of plays, Saat Khel.[11]
After the partition of India in , he moved to Bombay, and started working with D. D. Kashyap and got his first screen credit for dialogue, in the film Badi Bahen, although he received greater recognition for his second film Daag, a film.[12]
In , he joined with Amar Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Geeta Bali and others to create a new company called Cine Cooperative. In , it produced its first film, Garam Coat. Based on Bedi's short story Garam Coat, starring Balraj Sahni and Nirupa Roy, and directed by Aman Kumar, the film gave Bedi the chance to write an entire screenplay.[citation needed]
Their second film, Rangoli (), starring Kishore Kumar, Vyjayantimala, and Durga Khote, was also directed by Amar Kumar.[13]
He continued to display his range in dialogue writing styles in many classic Hindi films, starting with Sohrab Modi's Mirza Ghalib (), Bimal Roy's Devdas (), and Madhumati (); Amar Kumar and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films, Anuradha (), Anupama (), Satyakam () and Abhimaan ().
He made his directorial debut with Hindi classic Dastak (), starring Sanjeev Kumar and Rehana Sultan, with music by Madan Mohan, and in the following decade he directed three more films: Phagun (), Nawab Sahib () and Aankhin Dekhi ().[citation needed]
His novella Ek Chadar Maili Si was made into a film in Pakistan, Mutthi Bhar Chawal ()[14] and later in India, as Ek Chadar Maili Si ().[15]
His son Narender Bedi was also a film director and the maker of films including Jawani Diwani (), Benaam (), Rafoo Chakkar (), and Sanam Teri Kasam (). He died in , a few years after Bedi's wife. Thereafter, Bedi's health consistently deteriorated. He suffered paralysis in and died in Bombay two years later.[1]
His short story 'Lajwanti' was made into a telefilm, by Neena Gupta in [16]
In his memory, the Government of Punjab has started a "Rajinder Singh Bedi Award" in the field of Urdu Literature.[17]