SM Mehdi was a playwright, author, journalist and critic. As a young man he was drawn to the Communist party, and was a student leader in Kanpur and Lucknow. He worked with the Urdu cell of the Communist party in Mumbai with Sajjad Zaheer. He wrote several well received plays and went on to translate dramas into Urdu. He was a scholar who loved to share his knowledge with the many people who came to him seeking help.
In later years he wrote TV shows that are still popular, and scripted shows on India’s composite culture. He was a devotee of Ghalib and Iqbal. He passed away in Aligarh in January 2015 at the age of 94. The video is from the TV series Mamujaan ki Diary, originally aired on DD Urdu.
Syed Mohammad Mehdi on Kaifi Azmi