Qateel Shifai is the pen name of Aurangzeb Khan. He was born in Haripur (present day Pakistan). Due to his father’s premature death, Qateel had leave studies and take up a job at a very young age. He struggled in odd jobs for many years till finally, in 1946, he landed the job of an assistant editor at the “Adab E Latif”. He was noticed when his first ghazal appeared in Qamar Jalalabadi’s Star magazine.

His career as a film lyricist took off in 1947 after he wrote his debut lines for the Pakistani film “Teri Yaad”. Over the years, wrote lyrics for many Indian and Pakistani film and won several awards. He also published several books of poems. Other than films, his ghazals were also very popular in non-film albums by the likes of Mehdi Hasaan and Jagjit Singh.

Some of his more popular ghazals in Hindi films include “Badalon Mein Chhup Raha Hai Chand Kyon”, “Tere Dar Pan Sanam”, “Shairana Si Hai Zindagi” (“Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee”, 1993) and “Sambhala Hai Maine” (“Naaraaz”, 1994).