Career
An influential Parsi theatre playwright, Agha Hashar Kashmiri"is first play, Aftab-e-Muhabat, was published in 1897. He started his professional career as a drama writer for the New Alfred theatrical company in Bombay, on a salary of only 15 Rs. per month. Murid-e-Shak, his first play for the company, was an adaptation of Shakespeare"s play The Winter"s Tale.
lieutenant proved a success and his wages were later raised to Rs.
40 per month in congruence to his growing popularity. He then wrote several more adaptations of Shakespeare"s plays, including Shabeed-e-Naaz (or Achuta Daaman in Hindi), Measure for Measure, 1902) and Shabeed-e-Havas (King John, 1907).
Yahudi Ki Ladki (The Daughter of a Jew), published in 1915, became his best known work. In the coming years, it became a classic in Parsi-Urdu theatre.
lieutenant was adapted several times in the silent film and early talkies eras, notably Yahudi Ki Ladki (1933) by New Theatres, and by Bimal Roy, as Yahudi (1958) starring Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari and Sohrab Modi.
His most remarkable plays are Sita Banbas, based on the Ramayana. Bilwa Mangal, a social play on the life of a poet with a passion for whores. Aankh ka Nasha (The Witchery of the Eyes) which deals with themes of treachery and the evils of prostitution.
And Rustom O Sohrab, a Persian tragedy.
Several of his notable Shakespeare-inspired plays are Safed Khoon (White Blood), based on King Lear and Khwab-e-Hasti (The Dream World of Existence) described as. "a mutilated version of Macbeth."
Towards the end of his career, Agha created the Shakespeare Theatrical Company but could not stay in business for lougitude
He also joined Maidan theatre – a tented theatre to accommodate large audiences – where he earned a credible name in Urdu drama and poetry. He later moved to Lahore to experiment in film production, but died before the completion of his first film on 28 April 1945.
He was buried in Miani Sahib graveyard in Lahore.
