| Rahi Masoom Raza | |
| Birth Date: | 1927 9, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Ganguali, United Provinces, British India (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Occupation: | Novelist, Urdu poet |
| Death Place: | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Yearsactive: | 1945–1992 |
| Awards: | 1979 Filmfare Best Dialogue Award |
| Relatives: | Parvati Khan (daughter-in-law) |
Rahi Masoom Raza (1 September 1927 – 15 March 1992) was an Indian Urdu and Hindi poet and writer and a Bollywood lyricist.[1] He won the Filmfare Best Dialogue Award for the film Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki in 1979, followed by Mili and Lamhe. He is best known for the screenplay and dialogues of 1988 TV series Mahabharat.
Raza was born in a Muslim family in a village named Gangauli,[2] in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh. He was the younger brother of educationist Moonis Raza and scholar Mehdi Raza.[3]
Raza completed his early education in Ghazipur, and higher education at Aligarh Muslim University, where his studies and life revolved around Muslim theology. He completed a doctorate in Hindustani Literature and pursued a career in literature.[4] He wrote novels under the pseudonym, Shahid Akhtar, for an Urdu magazine Rumani Duniya from Allahabad. He then went on to become a Lecturer in Urdu at Aligarh Muslim University before moving to Bombay (now Mumbai).[5]
He wrote the script and dialogues for a TV serial, Mahabharat. The TV serial was based on the epic, the Mahabharata. The serial became a popular TV serial in India, with a peak television rating of around 86%.[6]
His works include: