Wajahat Hussain Mirza Changezi (Hindi: वजाहत मिर्ज़ा; 20 April 1908 – 4 August 1990) was an Indian screenwriter and film director who penned the dialogues of some of the most successful films in India during the 1950s and 1960s, best known for Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and the Academy Award nominee, Mother India (1957).[1][2]
He was born in Islampur, a small town 89 kilometers from Lucknow. While studying at Government Jubilee Inter College, Lucknow, Mirza became acquainted with cinematographer Krishan Gopal of Calcutta, and worked as his assistant. He later co-produced with singer Midgan Kumar a movie called Anokhi Mohabbat ("Crazy Love") in Bombay. He also directed the 1945 hit film Prabhu Ka Ghar starring Khursheed Bano, Trilok Kapoor and Sulochana Chatterjee. Mirza later became a dialogue and screenplay writer and was also one of the first Indians to be nominated for an Oscar for the movie Mother India (1957), based upon a story by Babubhai Mehta.[4]