अख़्तर चुग़ताई

Akhtar Chughtai was a lyricist active in Hindi cinema in the early 1940s. His earliest traceable credit is Wapas (1943), scored by Rai Chand Boral, for which he wrote songs — including "Manwa Kaahe Phir Tadpaaye" — sharing lyric duties with Pandit Bhushan and Munshi Zakir Hussain. The following year he co-wrote, with Manohar Sehrai, the songs of Panchhi (1944), directed by Barkat Mehra with music by Pandit Amarnath. That soundtrack included "Panchhi Meethe Bol Na Bol", "Aye Dil Mujhe Ab Le Chal", "Ismein Kya Sharmana Piya" and "Woh Aai Badariya Kali", rendered by singers such as Zohrabai Ambalewali and Zeenat Begum. Beyond these film credits, reliable biographical details about him — including his dates and place of birth — have not survived in accessible records.