Irshad Kamil has always had a way with words. The Hindi film lyricist, born in 1971 in Malerkotla in Punjab, wrote poetry in school and penned love letters on behalf of friends in college. Armed with not only a journalism degree but also a PhD in Hindi poetry, Kamil worked for English and Hindi newspapers in Chandigarh before moving to Mumbai to work as a writer for television soaps. But he finally started doing what he always wanted to do in the early 2000s after meeting Bollywood composer Sandesh Shandilya, who enlisted him to write the lyrics to his tunes for the 2004 film Chameli. Shandilya introduced Kamil to director Imtiaz Ali, with whom he’s gone on to work on every film the director’s made since his 2005 debut Socha Na Tha. The industry at large took notice of Kamil’s talent in 2007 when Ali’s Jab We Met and its accompanying soundtrack by Pritam became huge hits. Kamil has collaborated with most of the major music directors in Bollywood since, but his best and most-beloved verses are widely regarded to have been from Ali’s projects, for which he won all three of his Filmfare Awards for best lyricist: He took home the trophy for “Aaj Din Chadheya” from Pritam’s Love Aaj Kal (2010), “Nadaan Parinde” from A.R. Rahman’s Rockstar (2011) and “Agar Tum Saath Ho” from Rahman’s Tamasha (2016). And the wordsmith—who authored the books Ek Mahina Nazmon Ka (2015) and Kaali Aurat Ka Khwab—has also explored putting out compositions independently with the Ink Band, an ensemble he’s described as a poetry group.