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Known the world over by his film Umrao Jaan, the name
of Muzaffar Ali to all those who know him, spells a quest for beauty and
excellence, humanity and aesthetics. His is therefore one of the first
names that comes to mind when Lucknow is mentioned in any part of India
and the world.
Today he is instrumental in spearheading a movement in upgrading the arts, craft and culture of this fabled city with a keen sense of detailing and style, making it known to the entire world in the name of Kotwara. His house in Qaiser Bagh the centre of all happening, amidst neglect and apathy is a throbbing nucleus of design and a living museum of art and craft. The talent of the city gravitates here for inspiration. For a visitor to Lucknow a visit to Kotwara House can help change his perception of the city.
Born on 21st October 1944, Muzaffar Ali is the present Raja of Kotwara, one of the oldest living civilizations in the largest district of Awadh. His father Raja Sajid Husain, MLA from Kotwara from 1936 to 1952, was also the Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh State Assembly for one term. He died in 1991 as Chairman of the Indian Humanist Union, Lucknow.
Muzaffar Ali grew up amidst an environment of turmoil and change. Partition and abolition of the Zamindari, both had an emotional and psychological impact on the milieu in which he grew.
He studied in La Martinere College, Lucknow. While he underwent the upheavals of the changing social situation, he began getting involved in painting as a child. In 1966 he graduated from Aligarh Muslim University in Geology, Botany and Chemistry. The impact of the thought provoking poetry of its time in the early sixties made an indelible impact on his mind. Poets like Rahi Masoom Raza, Javed Kamal, Khalilurahman Azmi and Shahryar of Aligarh and national poets like Mahkdoom Mohiuddin and Faiz formed his romantic, revolutionary and philosophical psyche.
He began his early working career in Calcutta in 1966 with Clarion Mc Cann Advertising Services, in which Satyajit Ray used to work as an Art Director. Muzaffar Ali was introduced to Calcutta by a close friend, the famous poet Subhas Mukhopadhya and it was here that his mind opened to the idea of using film as a medium of social comment and artistic expression. The same medium of films, which had conveyed an ethos of cultural degradation, began to be seen as a tool of cultural emancipation. In 1968 he had his one man show of paintings at the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta .
