Anjum Rajabali

Anjum Rajabali Biography

Anjum Rajabali is a well-known and successful screenwriter associated with Bollywood. He is best known for scripting Drohkaal (1994), China Gate (1998), Ghulam (1998), Kachche Dhaage (1999), Pukar (2000), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Naina (2005) and Raajneeti (2010). Currently he is working on a biopic project titled Saare Jahaan Se Achha starring Shah Rukh Khan, which depicts the story of Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma. He is actively involved with various writers’ rights initiatives in India including amendments in the Copyright Act in favour of writers. He has scripted many political thrillers for Prakash Jha and has exclusively worked for him in the recent past. He is also a seasoned actor, who has appeared in a few movies.

Anjum hails from Talaja, Gujarat. He was born on 7 August 1958. He began his career as a screenwriter in the first half of 1990s. Drohkaal (1994) was his debut film, in which he was an associate scriptwriter. In 1998 he wrote two action thriller projects – Ghulam starring Aamir Khan and multi-budget China Gate starring Amrish Puri. China Gate was panned by critics while Ghulam became a super hit. In the following years he co-scripted Pukar (2000), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and Kachche Dhaage (1999), which helped him to establish in the industry. He also wrote dialogues for films.

He worked as a script consultant on Prakash Jha’s Apaharan in 2005. After that he co-scripted a series of films - Raajneeti (2010), Aarakshan (2011), Chakravyuh(2012) and Satyagraha (2013) for the director which remained successful at box office. Most of them belonged to political thriller categories. He currently serves as Honorary Head of Screenplay Writing at the Film and Television Institute of India and also Head of Screenwriting at Whistling Woods. As a film actor he has appeared in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love, Gajini, Turning 30, Time Machine etc.

Published: January 14, 2019

Updated: January 14, 2019