Jan Nisar Akhtar (Urdu: جان نثار اختر‎; 18 February 1914 – 19 August 1976) was an important 20th century Indian poet of Urdu ghazals and nazms, and a part of the Progressive Writers' Movement, who was also a lyricist for Bollywood.In a career spanning four-decade during which he worked with music composers including C. Ramchandra, O.P. Nayyar, N Dutta and Khayyam, he wrote 151 songs.