Kamna Chandra

Kamna Chandra Biography

Kamna Chandra is a story teller of radio plays as well as Bollywood films. She wrote the stories of acclaimed and successful Bollywood films - ‘Prem Rog’, ‘Chandni’ and ‘1942: A Love Story’ in the 1980s and 1990s, and has been credited to their script writing and dialogues also. Her acclaimed radio play of Qarib Qarib Singlle was made into a Bollywood film by her daughter Tanuja Chandra and was opened to rave reviews. Famous film director Vidhu Vinod Chopra is her son-in-law for whom she wrote the story of 1942: A Love Story. Noted writer Vikram Chandra who successfully wrote many web series and film critic Anupama Chopra are also her children.

Kamna Chandra hails from Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh. She started writing since her childhood days in the early 1940s and has been writing till now. Now she is busy with writing a film script, and wants Shah Rukh Khan to do the lead role. She was born into a family of intellectuals who preferred to teach girl kids, and she has two sisters and one brother. She completed her graduation in 1953 and the exam results came out on her marriage day. Her husband is a business executive.  She lost her father at a younger age, and he was only 42 then.

She marked her Bollywood debut as a story writer for Prem Rog in 1982, for which she earned a Filmfare nomination for best original story. The film was directed by Raj Kapoor. The film was a blockbuster. ‘Chandni’ and ‘1942: A Love Story’, ‘Qarib Qarib Singlle’ etc are her film works later. She also wrote the stories of many Doordarshan serials including Trishna (1985) and Kashish (1993). She has been writing radio shows since 1960s.

Published: May 03, 2019

Updated: May 03, 2019