Manoj Muntashir Wiki, Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Real Name	Manoj Shukla [1]India Today
Nickname	Manu [2]India.com
Profession(s)	Lyricist, Poet, Screenwriter
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 173 cm in meters- 1.73 m in feet & inches- 5’ 8”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Debut	As a Lyricist Film: U, Bomsi n Me (2005) (he wrote four tracks of the film) As a Scriptwriter TV: Kaun Banega Crorepati(2005) Film: Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) (Hindi Version)
Awards, Honours, Achievements	• Zee Cine Awards - Jury's Choice Award for Best Lyrics for the film 'Kesari' (2020) • Yash Bharati Award by the Uttar Pradesh Government (2016) • Uttar Pradesh Gaurav Samman for Best Lyricist (2016) • Arab Indo Bollywood Awards for Best Lyrics for the song ‘Galliyan’ from the film 'Ek Villain' (2015) • Indian Telly Awards for Best Script (Non-Fiction) for the show 'India’s Got Talent' (2014) Mirchi Music Awards • Listeners' Choice Award for Best Song for 'Phir Bhi Tumko Chaahunga' from the film 'Half Girlfriend' (2014) • Listeners' Choice Album of the Year for the film 'Ek Villain' (2015) • Listeners' Choice Award for Album of the Year for the film 'Kabir Singh' (2019) • Critics' Award for Album of the Year for the film 'Kesari' (2019) IIFA Awards • Best Lyrics for the song ‘Galliyan’ from the film 'Ek Villain' (2015) • Best Lyrics for the song ‘Tere Rashke Qamar’ from the film 'Baadshaaho' (2015) The Indian Icon Film Awards • Best Lyrics for the song ‘Galliyan’ from the film 'Ek Villain' in 2015 • Best Lyrics for the song 'Tere Sang Yara' from the film 'Rustom' in 2016 Hungama Surfers Choice Awards • Best Lyrics for the song ‘Galliyan’ from the film 'Ek Villain' (2015) • Best Song for ‘Galliyan’ from the film ''Ek Villain' (2015) (shared with Ankit Tiwari and Mithoon)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	27 February 1976 (Friday)
Age (as of 2023)	47 Years
Birthplace	Gauriganj, Amethi District, Uttar Pradesh
Zodiac sign	Pisces
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Gauriganj, Amethi District, Uttar Pradesh
School	• A Convent School in Gauriganj • HAL School Korwa in Amethi (1994)
College/University	University of Allahabad
Educational Qualification	Bachelor of Science (1999) [3]Facebook
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Brahmin [4]DNA India
Hobbies	Reading, Writing, Traveling
Controversies	• In 2020, the song 'Teri Mitti' from the film "Kesari" (2019) was nominated along with 'Apna Time Aayega' from the film 'Gully Boy' (2019) for Filmfare Awards in the Best Lyrics category. Amongst all the nominations in the category, 'Apna Time Aayega' won, which upset Manoj and he decided to boycott all the award shows. Announcing his dismay through his social media accounts, he wrote that he won't be able to write a better song than 'Teri Mitti' and they (Filmfare) failed to honour the songs, which reached the soul of Indians. He further added that he won't attend any awards shows till his last breath as it would be a great disrespect to his art if he continued to care for such award shows. • In June 2023, following the release of the Bollywood film Adipurush, he was heavily criticised on social media for using pedestrian language in the film. Netizens trolled him for controversial lines in the film including 'marega bete,' 'bua ka bagicha hai kya,' and 'jalegi tere baap ki.' On 19 June 2023, he received a security cover from Mumbai Police after citing a threat to his life. [5]Hindustan Times
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Family
Wife/Spouse	Neelam Muntashir (Writer)
Children	Son- Aaru Daughter- none
Parents	Father- Name not known (Farmer) Mother- Name not known (School Teacher)
Siblings	None
Favourites
Dessert	Jalebi
Actor	Shah Rukh Khan
Singer	Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Film	Titanic (1997)
Lyricist(s)	Shailendra, Santosh Anand
Music Composer	Khayyam
Poet(s)	Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Mirza Ghalib
Poem(s)	'Kabhi Kabhi Mere Dil Mein' by Sahir Ludhianvi, 'Parchhaiyan' by Sahir Ludhianvi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Manoj Muntashir

• Manoj Muntashir is an Indian lyricist, poet, and screenwriter. He has written the popular Bollywood songs: Galliyan, Tere Sang Yaara, Kaun Tujhe, and Teri Mitti.

• He began writing poetry in his hometown during his school days. He began reciting his poetry after his friends took him to a ‘Mushaira.’

• After Manoj’s father left his job around 1985, his mother took charge of the house expenses and started working as a teacher at a school with Rs. 500 per month as her salary. Out of the salary, her mother spent Rs. 300 in his tuitions and spent the rest of the amount on the household.

• His mother was very doting towards him. She used to say-
  

  Honge bahot log duniya me, mere Manu jaisa koi nahi hai (There might be many people in the world, but there’s no one like her Manu)”

  This used to embarrass Manoj as he used to think that he was an ordinary boy with no special skills.

  

  Childhood Picture of Manoj Muntashir with his Mother

• Since his childhood, he liked reading and writing. While studying in middle school, he got a book of Mirza Ghalib titled ‘Diwan-e-Ghalib.’ It was difficult for him to read the book as he did not know Urdu. Manoj believed that he needed to know Urdu to write poems. One day, he brought a 2-rupees book from a nearby mosque; the book had Urdu translations in Hindi.

• His interest in writing poetry came through a book of Sahir Ludhianvi, which led him to pursue writing as his profession. According to Manoj,
  

  From childhood, I was registering the words most when I heard any film song, and soon Sahir Ludhianvi and Shailendra became my favourites”

• After his graduation in 1999, he moved to Mumbai with just Rs. 700 in his pocket to seek a job. In Mumbai, he was given the work of writing a Bhajan after he met Anup Jalota. He had never written a Bhajan before, but he took the work as he needed money. He was given a check of Rs. 3000 for the Bhajan he wrote for Anup; it was his first salary in Mumbai.

• Before he moved to Mumbai, he changed his last name to ‘Muntashir’ (a scattered soul). He took the moniker because he believed that no poet ever used that name and it was unique to him.

• Before moving to Mumbai, he worked for All India Radio Allahabad (Prayagraj) on a salary of Rs. 135 in 1997.

• In 2004, he was commissioned to pen down the songs for the film ‘Rang Rasiya,’ which was released in 2014, almost a decade later due to some problems.
  

• In 2005, he got his big break after Amitabh Bachchan offered him to write for the Indian reality TV game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC), which is based on the American reality show ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.’ After KBC, he wrote the scripts of the reality television shows: India’s Got Talent, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, and Indian Idol Junior.
  

  Manoj Muntashir with Amitabh Bachchan

• After working for a few years in television, he became a popular lyricist after he wrote the lyrics for some songs of ‘Humnasheen,’ the first ghazal album of Shreya Ghoshal, which topped the charts.
  

• He has written lyrics of the popular Bollywood songs: ‘Galliyan’ from the film ‘Ek Villain’ (2014), all tracks of the Hindi version of the film ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ (2015), all tracks of the film ‘Jai Gangaajal’ (2016), ‘Kuch To Hai’ from the film ‘Do Lafzon Ki Kahaani’ (2016), all tracks of the film ‘Rustom’ (2016), all tracks of the film ‘M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ (2016), ‘Phir Bhi Tumk Chaahunga’ from the film ‘Half Girlfriend’ (2017), all tracks of the Hindi version of the film ‘Baahubali 2: The Conclusion’ (2017), all tracks from ‘Baadshaho’ (2017), ‘Dekhte Dekhte’ from ‘Batti Gul Meter Chalu’ (2018), ‘Dil Meri Na Sune’ from the film ‘Genius’ (2018), ‘Kaise Hua’ from the film ‘Kabir Singh’ (2019), and ‘Teri Mitti’ from the film ‘Kesari’ (2019).

• In 2001, he went on a trip to Kashmir and wrote a Nazm titled ‘Galliyan’ while sitting on the banks of Dal Lake. Later, he recited that Nazm at Hard Rock Cafe Andheri, where Ankit Tiwari was also present. Ankit told about the Nazm to Mohit Suri, who later decided to add the Nazm to the soundtrack of the film ‘Ek Villain.’ Talking about it, Manoj said,
  

  I told him, it’s a nazm, which is not music-friendly. Specially the kind of music we have today doesn’t allow this kind of awkward and lengthy metre. But Mohit (Suri) wouldn’t listen. I was very skeptical considering the format of the poetry. He worked for several days relentlessly with Mithoon to get it composed. I bow to down to the genius of Mithoon who composed it even without changing one word from the original. Mohit and I both had tears when we first heard the composition”

• He has also written the singles for famous Bollywood and independent artists: Zindagi Aa Raha Hoon Main (2015) by Atif Aslam, Aa Bhi Ja Tu Kahin Se (2015) by Sonu Nigam, Maiya Teri Jai Jaikaar (2016) by Arijit Singh, Pyaar Manga Hai (2016) by Armaan Malik, Tumhe Dillagi (2016) by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Aap Se Mausiiquii (2016) (album ) by Himesh Reshammiya, Oh Humsafar by Tony Kakkar and Neha Kakkar, and Humnava Mere by Rocky-Shiv.

• He has also written the dialogues for the Hindi version of the South Indian and Hollywood films: Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017), Marvel’s Black Panther (2018), and Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (2019).

• In 2018, Manoj got his first book titled ‘Meri Fitrat Hai Mastana…’ which was published by Vani Prakashan.
  

• In an interview, he confessed that once he was given to choose between his marriage and profession, and he chose the latter. According to Manoj,
  

  The first time around wedding cards had been printed and May 13, 1997, was the wedding date, which I still clearly remember. Around April end, the brother of the bride came to meet me and asked what my future plans were. I told him that brother, I will be a lyricist. He said, that’s okay, but what work will you do? I told him that I won’t lie, but I want to write songs for the rest of my life. We went back and called off the wedding. Of course, I loved the girl. But the choice was between writing and marriage, and I chose writing.”