Sharad Joshi

Sharad Joshi was a Hindi poet, writer, satirist and a dialogue and scriptwriter in Hindi films and television. Many people enjoy the humor in his satirical essays, plays, television writings and dialogues for films. He was born in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) and moved to Indore for his education, finishing his B.A. from Holkar College. After graduation, he wrote satirical pieces for newspapers and radio in Indore. It was in late 1950s, when he was writing for newspapers and radio in Indore; that he met and married theatre Irfana Siddiqi. Later Joshi moved to Bhopal from Indore. When Naya Daur (1957) was being shot in Bhopal, Joshi had gone to the sets where for the first ever time he saw what a film script looked like. Starting from 70s, he wrote for films, mainly as a dialogue writer. He relocated to Mumbai in mid 1980s, with his family joining him after sometime. Apart from writing the well known comedy series Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Sharad Joshi also wrote Vikram Aur Vetal, Sinhasan Battisi, Pyaale Mai Toofan (which had 12 minute episodes), Guldasta, Dane Anaar Ke and the Hindi translation of Malgudi days for TV. In 2009, Sharad Joshi's stories were picked up by SAB TV to be converted into a show named Lapataganj. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1990.