Wahiduddin Ziauddin Ahmed (1916 – 15 April 2007)[1] was a Pakistani filmmaker, known primarily for his work in the 1940s. After thepartition of India, Ahmed continued to make movies in Pakistan but was able to make only two films.
W.Z. Ahmed was born inGujarat in 1916.[1] He was active as a film-maker inpre-Partition India, being an established personality in the film industry inBombay andPune.[2] Apart from hisShalimar Pictures in Pune, he also ran a studio inMadras.[1] He wrote the dialogues for the 1940 movieKumkum the Dancer.[3] Between 1942 and 1947, he produced and directedEk Raat (1942),Man Ki Jeet (1944),Prem Sangeet,Prithaviraj-Samyukta andMeera Bai (1947). Some noted poets and writers of theProgressive Writers' Association were employed by Shalimar Pictures studio includingJosh Malihabadi,Krishan Chander,Ramanand Sagar,Akhtar ul Iman andSaghar Nizami.[1][4][5][6] W.Z. Ahmed's last movie produced in India, which depicted Hindu devoteeMeera Bai, was met with ferocious criticism alongcommunal lines inFilmindia whose editorBaburao Patel stated that 'Muslim "Meerabai" grossly slanders Hinduism!'.[5]
After theindependence of Pakistan in 1947, Ahmed was a prominent cultural personality in Pakistan for a few years, although his cinematic career did not develop well in Pakistan.[2] He established W.Z. Studios inLahore.[1]
W.Z. Ahmed made only two movies in Pakistan,Roohi (1954) andWaada (1957). Film songs ofWaada (1957) were written by a noted Pakistani film lyricist Saifuddin Saif and its popular music was byRashid Attre.[1][7] NotablyRoohi was the first film to be banned in independent Pakistan.[1][8] It was charged with inciting 'class hatred'.[1] Nevertheless, the ban onRoohi was lifted in 1954.[1]
In 1954, W.Z. Ahmed played a prominent role in campaign against imports of Indian films.[1] He was arrested during the agitation but released later.[1]
W.Z. Ahmed's ninth movie,Wafa Ki Ada, was never completed nor released.[1]
His father had been a prominent police officer in Gujarat,British India.[1] His brothers includedZ.A. Ahmed (a prominent communist politician inUttar Pradesh) and Zafaruddin Ahmed (Deputy Inspector of Police inKarachi).[9] W.Z. Ahmed's first wife was Safia Hidayattullah. He later married Shahida, who had acted in one of his films in Bombay. His only son Fariduddin Ahmed better known as Farid Ahmed, also was a talented filmmaker in Pakistan. He married notedPakistani television actressSamina Ahmad. Farid Ahmed died an early death in 1993.[1][2]
W.Z. Ahmed died on 15 April 2007 at age 91. He is buried at Bagh-i-Rehmat graveyard inLahore, Pakistan.[1]