Rajinder Singh Bedi (1 September 1915 – 1984) 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 Rajat Bedi an Manek Bedi.

As a screenwriter and dialogue writer, he is best known for Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films , Anupama and Satyakam; and Bimal Roy's Madhumati. As a director he is known for  Dastak (1970), starring Sanjeev Kumar and Rehana Sultan and Phagun (1973), 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.

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.

Biography

Early life
Bedi was born in village Dhallewali in Sialkot district, Punjab, now in Pakistan, to Hira Singh Bedi and Seva Dai. 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.

Career

His first collection of short stories, Daan-O-Daam (The Catch), featuring his prominent story "Garam Coat" (Warm Coat) was published in 1940. In 1942, he published his second collection of short stories, Grehan (The Eclipse).

In 1943, 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 1947, 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 1965. The book was later translated into Hindi, Kashmiri and Bengali.

His later collections of short stories were Kokh Jali and Apne Dukh Mujhe Dedo and a collection of plays, Saat Khel.

Films
After the partition of India in 1947, he moved to Bombay, and started working with D. D. Kashyap and got his first screen credit for dialogue, in the 1949 film Badi Bahen, although he received greater recognition for his second film Daag, a 1952 film.

In 1954, he joined with Amar Kumar, Balraj Sahni, Geeta Bali and others to create a new company called Cine Cooperative. In 1955, 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.

Their second film, Rangoli (1962), starring Kishore Kumar, Vyjayantimala, and Durga Khote, was also directed by Amar Kumar.

He continued to display his range in dialogue writing styles in many classic Hindi films, starting with Sohrab Modi's Mirza Ghalib (1954), Bimal Roy's Devdas (1955), and Madhumati (1958); Amar Kumar and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's films, Anuradha (1960), Anupama (1966), Satyakam (1969) and  (1973).

He made his directorial debut with Hindi classic Dastak (1970), starring Sanjeev Kumar and Rehana Sultan, with music by Madan Mohan, and in the following decade he directed three more films: Phagun (1973), Nawab Sahib (1978) and Aankhin Dekhi (1978).

His novella Ek Chadar Maili Si was made into a film in Pakistan, Mutthi Bhar Chawal (1978) and later in India, as Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986).

His son Narender Bedi was also a film director and the maker of films including Jawani Diwani (1972), Benaam (1974), Rafoo Chakkar (1975), and Sanam Teri Kasam (1982). He died in 1982, a few years after Bedi's wife. Thereafter, Bedi's health consistently deteriorated. He suffered paralysis in 1982 and died in Bombay two years later.

His short story 'Lajwanti' was made into a telefilm, by Neena Gupta in 2006.

Legacy
In his memory, the Government of Punjab has started a "Rajinder Singh Bedi Award" in the field of Urdu Literature.

Filmography
 Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986) – Story
 Aankhon Dekhi (1978) – Director
 Mutthi Bhar Chawal (1978) – Story
 Nawab Sahib (1978) – Director
 Phagun (1973) – Director, producer
 Abhimaan (1973) – Dialogue
 Grahan (1972) – Story
 Dastak (1970)- Direction, screenwriter
 Satyakam (1969) – Dialogue
 Mere Hamdam Mere Dost (1968) – Screenwriter
 Baharon Ke Sapne (1967) – Dialogue
 Anupama (1966) – Dialogue
 Mere Sanam (1965) – Screenwriter, Dialogue
 Rangoli (1962) – Dialogue, screenwriter, Producer
 Aas Ka Panchhi (1961) – Screenwriter
 Mem-Didi (1961) - Screenwriter
 Anuradha (1960) – Dialogue
 Bombai Ka Baboo (1960) – Dialogue
 Madhumati (1958)- Dialogue
 Musafir (1957) _ Dialogue
 Basant Bahar (1956) – Dialogue
 Milap (1955) – Dialogue
 Garam Coat (1955)  – Dialogue, screenwriter, producer
 Devdas (1955) – Dialogue
 Mirza Ghalib (1954)- Dialogue
 Daag (1952) – Dialogue
 Aaram  - Dialogue (1951)
 Badi Bahen (1949) – Dialogue

Awards

Films
 1956 Filmfare Best Story Award: Garam Coat (1955)
 1959 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award: Madhumati (1958)
 1971 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award:Satyakam (1969)

Literary awards
 1965 Sahitya Akademi Award Urdu :Ek Chadar Maili Si ('I Take This Woman')
 1978 Ghalib Award – Urdu Drama.

Bibliography
 I Take This Woman. Penguin India. .
 Rajinder Singh Bedi: Selected Short Stories (In English). New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi, 1989.
 Give Me Your Sorrows trans. Leonard, Karen, Indian Literature, Delhi, 1968.
 Grahan (Urdu). Maktaba Jamia, 1992.
 Garam Kot (Urdu). Sang-e-Meel Publications.
 Majmua Rajindar Singh Bedi. Sang-e-Meel Publications.
 Sat Khel. Maktaba Jamia, 1982.
 Dastak. Hind Pocket Book, 1971.
 The Penguin Book of Classic Urdu Stories. Penguin, 2006. .
 Lajwanti, Land of five rivers. Orient Paperbacks Delhi, 1956.

Work on Rajinder Singh Bedi
 Rajinder Singh Bedi: Shakhsiyat aur Fan by Jagdish Chander Wadhawan, 1999, Educational Publishing House, . 
Rajinder Singh Bedi: A Study, by Varis Hussain Alvi. 2006.
 Rajinder Singh Bedi Sounds and Whispers: Reflections on the Literary Scene, 1984–86, by Abulkhair Kashfi, Syed Abu Ahmad Akif. Asasa Books, 1991. Chapter 25 – "Rajinder Singh Bedi:The Last Pillar Of Modem Urdu Short Story", page 111.
 Progressive Filmmaker: Films of Rajinder Singh Bedi – Annual of Urdu Studies
 India Partitioned: The Other Face of Freedom, edited by Mushirul Hasan. New Delhi, Roli Books, 1995
 Shadow Lives: Writings on Widowhood, edited by Uma Chakravarti and Preeti Gill. Kali for Women, New Delhi. 2002.

See also
 Urdu literature

References

External links
 
 Lajwanti – a short story by Rajinder Singh Bedi
 Japanese students stage Urdu drama:- Nakl-i-Makaani
 'A Woman' by Rajinder Singh Bedi
 Prabodh and Maitriya, an article by Rajinder Singh Bedi
 Reclaiming the Past: Rediscovery of the Primary Self in Two Novellas by Rajinder Singh Bedi and Qurratulain Hyder. Byer, Corinna, 2001 – The Annual of Urdu Studies.

1915 births
1984 deaths
Urdu-language writers from India
Indian male dramatists and playwrights
Indian male screenwriters
Film directors from Punjab, India
Hindi-language film directors
Filmfare Awards winners
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu
People from Sialkot District
Indian Sikhs
Punjabi people
All India Radio people
20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights
Screenwriters from Punjab, India
20th-century Indian film directors
Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education
Recipients of Ghalib Award
Urdu-language short story writers
Novelists from Punjab, India
20th-century Indian male writers
20th-century Indian screenwriters