1919 (Sultanpur) – 2000 (Mumbai) • The Lyricist
"The only lyricist to ever be honored with the Dada Saheb Phalke Award. Majrooh was a towering figure in Bollywood who refused to lower his literary standards for commercial cinema. A staunch progressive, he was actually imprisoned for a year and a half for writing a poem criticizing Jawaharlal Nehru, refusing to apologize. His ghazals and film songs remain absolute masterclasses in Urdu lyricism."