Veteran Dogri writer and filmmaker Ved Rahi died at his residence in Thane, Maharashtra on 1 November 2026. He was 93. Rahi won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1983 for his Dogri short story collection Aale and received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship in 2024, the highest honour of the academy.
Who Was Ved Rahi?
Ved Rahi was a Dogri, Hindi and Urdu writer, novelist, poet and filmmaker from Jammu. He was born on 22 May 1933 in Jammu, which was then part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
He was the son of Lala Mulk Raj Saraf, who started Ranbir in 1924, the first newspaper of the princely state. Saraf is often described as the father of journalism in Jammu and Kashmir. Growing up in this environment, Rahi started writing in Urdu when he was 12 or 13 years old. He later wrote in Hindi and in his mother tongue Dogri, and continued to write in all three languages for about six decades.
Rahi began his career in Jammu. He worked as a script writer with All India Radio Jammu from 1955 to 1958. He then worked from 1958 to 1961 as editor of Yojana, a Hindi monthly of the state information department. He later moved to Mumbai, where he worked as assistant film writer and director to Ramanand Sagar.
He died on the morning of 1 November 2026 at his home in Thane district. His last rites were held at the Kopari cremation ground in Thane on the same day. He is survived by his two daughters, Geetanjali and Poonam. The Sahitya Akademi, the national academy of letters in New Delhi, and the Dogri Sanstha Jammu paid tribute to him and recalled his role in modern Dogri literature.
What Is Aale, the Collection That Won the Sahitya Akademi Award?
Aale is a collection of Dogri short stories by Ved Rahi. A short story collection is a book that brings together many short fictional narratives by a single author. Aale brought Rahi wide recognition and won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Dogri in 1983.
The Sahitya Akademi Award is given every year for the most outstanding book published in each language recognised by the Akademi. It is considered the second highest literary award in India after the Jnanpith Award. The Akademi now recognises 24 languages, including English and Rajasthani along with the 22 languages listed in the Constitution. The award for Dogri began in 1970. The first winner was Narendra Khajuria for Nila Ambar Kale Badal.
Rahi wrote more than a dozen books. His novels include Kaale Hatthe, Garbh Joon, Lal Ded, Haad Bedi Te Pattan and Andhi Surang. His other books include the short story collections Ek Tha Chitrakaar, Ek Tha Raja and Maut, the poetry collection Battotar, and Soch, a novel based on his experiences in literature, culture and films. He also wrote Ik Journalist di Aatamkatha, a biography of his father Mulk Raj Saraf.
His works travelled across languages. Aale was translated into Kashmiri as Lakhakar Yin Vaapas, and his novel Lal Ded, based on the life of the Kashmir saint poet Lal Ded, appeared in two Sindhi translations. These translations also received translation prizes.
Apart from the 1983 award, Rahi received the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages Award in 1971. He later received the Maharashtra Gaurav Award, the Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan Award for 2011 and the Kusumagraj Rashtriya Sahitya Puraskar in 2019. The Kusumagraj award is instituted by the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University and named after Marathi poet V. V. Shirwadkar, who wrote under the pen name Kusumagraj.
What Is the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Conferred on Ved Rahi?
The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, called Mahattar Sadasyata in Hindi, is the highest honour given by the Sahitya Akademi. It is conferred only on living writers of acknowledged merit for lasting contribution to Indian literature. Fellows are often described as the Immortals of Indian literature. At any given time, the number of fellows cannot exceed 21.
Ved Rahi was elected for the Fellowship in 2024. The General Council of the Akademi selected four new fellows that year. They were Chandrashekhar Kambar for Kannada, Ajeet Cour for Punjabi, Pran Kishore Kaul for Kashmiri and Ved Rahi for Dogri. The citation honoured Rahi for his eminence as a Dogri writer and scholar.
The honour was presented on 13 December 2024 at his residence in Thane. Akademi president Madhav Kaushik, secretary K. Sreenivasarao and General Council member Narendra B. Pathak presented a copper plaque and an angavastram, a traditional shawl. The presentation was held at his home because of his age and health. He was then 91.
The Fellowship is different from the annual Sahitya Akademi Award. The Award honours a single book published in recent years. The Fellowship honours a lifetime of work.
Dogri Language Is Spoken in Which State?
Dogri is spoken mainly in the Jammu region of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the mother tongue of the Dogra people of the Duggar region, with speakers also in adjoining parts of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The 2011 Census counted about 2.6 million speakers of Dogri in India.
Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language of the Western Pahari group. Like Punjabi, it is tonal, which means the pitch of a word can change its meaning. It is closely related to Kangri and other hill dialects. Within Jammu, it is spoken every day in districts such as Jammu, Kathua, Samba, Udhampur and Reasi.
| Fact about Dogri | Detail |
|---|---|
| Main region | Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir |
| Other areas | Kangra, Chamba and nearby areas of Himachal Pradesh, Pathankot and Gurdaspur in Punjab |
| Speakers in India | About 2.6 million as per the 2011 Census |
| Language family | Indo-Aryan, Western Pahari group |
Script, Recognition and Official Status
Dogri was traditionally written in Takri, also called Dogra Akkhar. The Dogra ruler Ranbir Singh made it the official script of the state during his reign from 1857 to 1885. Today Devanagari is the principal standard script, while Nastaliq is also used in some contexts.
Dogri received institutional support in stages. The Dogri Sanstha, founded in 1944, led an early movement that drew many writers from Hindi and Urdu to Dogri. On 2 August 1969, the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi recognised Dogri as an independent modern literary language. The University of Jammu started a Dogri department in 1983 and teaches the language at the postgraduate level.
National recognition came on 22 December 2003. By the 92nd Constitutional Amendment, Dogri was added to the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution along with Bodo, Maithili and Santali. In September 2020, Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, which made Dogri one of the five official languages of the Union Territory along with Hindi, Urdu, English and Kashmiri.
Ved Rahi’s Work in Hindi Cinema and Television
Ved Rahi wrote stories, screenplays and dialogues for about 25 Hindi feature films. His credits include Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, Pavitra Paapi, Paraya Dhan, Aap Aaye Bahaar Aayi, Be-Imaan, Mome Ki Gudiya, Sanyasi, Charas and Bezubaan. He also worked on documentaries and short films.
He directed five films. His directorial works include Prem Parbat, Kali Ghata and Veer Savarkar. Kali Ghata, released in 1980, starred Shashi Kapoor and Rekha. Rahi produced the film himself. Veer Savarkar, released in 2001, is a biopic on revolutionary Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. It was largely funded by public donations and ran for a silver jubilee in Mumbai and Pune. He also made the Dogri film Bobo Kaddu Aug.
Rahi reached a wide audience through Doordarshan. He directed Gul Gulshan Gulfam, which was first telecast in 1987. The serial told the story of a Kashmiri family that runs three houseboats named Gul, Gulshan and Gulfam. It was written by Kashmiri writer Pran Kishore Kaul. The show ran for 45 episodes and won Rahi the Uptron Award for best direction in 1992. He also directed the television serials Meerabai, Zindagi, Rishte, Ehsaas and episodes of Katha Sagar.
Key Takeaways
- Ved Rahi died on 1 November 2026 at his residence in Thane, Maharashtra at the age of 93.
- His Dogri short story collection Aale won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Dogri in 1983.
- Rahi received the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship (Mahattar Sadasyata) in 2024, the highest honour of the Akademi limited to 21 living fellows.
- He was born on 22 May 1933 in Jammu as the son of Mulk Raj Saraf, who started Ranbir in 1924, the first newspaper of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.
- Dogri is spoken mainly in the Jammu region and was added to the Eighth Schedule on 22 December 2003 by the 92nd Constitutional Amendment.
