Javed Siddiqi (13 January 1942) is a Hindi and Urdu screenwriter, dialogue writer and playwright from India. He has written over 50 storylines, screenplays and dialogues. During his career, Siddiqi has collaborated with some of India's most prominent filmmakers, from independent directors like Satyajit Ray and Shyam Benegal to commercial directors like Yash Chopra and Subhash Ghai. He has become an integral part of Indian cinema, in both commercial and art cinema fields. Siddiqi has won two Filmfare Awards, two Star Screen Awards, and one BFJA Award. In 2010, he announced his association with Tumbhi where he would review artists and their artwork. Cinema and television After having graduated in Urdu Literature from Rampur, Javed Siddiqi moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1959, where he worked as a professional journalist for various Urdu dailies like Khilafat Daily and Inquilaab. Soon after that, he went on to lead his own newspaper, Urdu Reporter. He started his career as a dialogue writer in Satyajit Ray's Shatranj Ke Khilari in 1977. Since then, he has been highly regarded for his works in different genres of film making, including art films of parallel cinema, like Umrao Jaan, Mammo, Fiza, Zubeidaa and Tehzeeb; as well as commercial hits, such as Baazigar, Darr, Yeh Dillagi, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Raja Hindustani, Pardes, Chori Chori Chupke Chupke and Koi... Mil Gaya. He has also written scripts for serials like Shyam Benegal's Bharat Ek Khoj, Ramesh Sippy's Kismet, Yash Chopra's Waqt and others. Theatre Siddiqi has been very successful in the field of theatre as well. From serving IPTA as a National Vice-President, he later contributed to the origin and functioning of the Marathi IPTA as well, and has been associated with it as a national member. His play Tumhari Amrita, an adaptation of A R Gurney's classic American play Love Letters attained cult success. It had only two actors (Shabana Azmi and Farooque Shaikh) reading out letters to each other with neither change of set or costume. It ran for 21 years until Farooque Shaikh's death on December 28, 2013, and is one of the longest running plays in India. Since its debut at Prithvi Theatre on February 27, 1992, the play has been performed all over the world, including a special performance at the United Nations, the first Indian play to do so. This was followed by Saalgirah, starring actress Kirron Kher, a play dealing with