ROCHESTER, NY.- The George Eastman Museum is now the permanent home of the papers and creative archive of Agha Jani Kashmiri (1908–1998), one of India’s most celebrated story, screenplay, and dialogue writers, whose work shaped the golden era of Indian cinema from the 1930s through the 1970s.

Born in Lucknow, India, a city renowned for its rich artistic and literary traditions, Agha Jani Kashmiri (later known as Aghajani Kashmeri) brought to his writing the elegance, wit, and cultural refinement that defined Lucknow’s heritage. Over a prolific career spanning more than five decades, he wrote or co-wrote the screenplays and dialogue for over 55 films, including such classics as Kismet (1943), Chandralekha (1948), Amar (1954), Chori Chori (1956), Junglee (1961), Mujhe Jeene Do (1963), Love in Tokyo (1966), Khilona (1970), and Parwana (1971). Many of these became enduring hits, helping to define the language, rhythm, and sophistication of Indian cinema’s wildly creative decades.

The donation, made by his son and daughter-in-law, Sarwar Kashmeri and Carlotta Cattani-Kashmeri, includes original screenplays, correspondence, interviews, press reviews, and production contracts spanning his long career.

The Agha Jani Kashmiri Archive fills a crucial gap in the Eastman Museum’s renowned holdings related to cinema, including the largest collection of South Asian films outside of India. Remarkably, the very first Indian feature acquired by the museum, in 1952, Chandralekha was written by Agha Jani Kashmiri himself.

“The George Eastman Museum was the first United States institution to start collecting South Asian films, and is strongly committed to the preservation of this rich cinematic heritage,” said Dr. Peter Bagrov, senior curator, Moving Image Department, George Eastman Museum. “Agha Jani Kashmiri was a brilliant writer, responsible for some of the most important works in the history of Indian cinema, and his papers will be an invaluable resource for scholars and cinephiles.”

Under the museum’s stewardship, the materials will be archivally conserved and digitized, allowing the collection to remain accessible at no cost to researchers, students, and historians worldwide.

Sarwar Kashmeri said, “It is deeply meaningful for our family that my father’s life’s work will be preserved at the George Eastman Museum, where it will inspire new scholarship and celebrate his lasting impact on the world of cinema.”

The addition of the Agha Jani Kashmiri Archive continues the George Eastman Museum’s commitment to preserving motion pictures and related materials and to advancing the understanding and appreciation of the artists, cultures, and stories of cinema since its invention.