Kamleshwar was a prominent 20th-century Hindi writer, and scriptwriter for Hindi cinema and television. Among his most well-known work are the films Aandhi, Mausam, Chhoti Si Baat and Rang Birangi. He was awarded the 2003 Sahitya Akademi Award for his Hindi novel Kitne Pakistan, and also the Padma Bhushan in 2005. He was born in UP. He published his first story, Comrade in 1948. His first published novel was ‘Badnam gali’ while he was a student. He took Master's degree in Hindi literature from Allahabad University. He started his career as a proof reader and later became editor of 'Vihan', literary magazine. He has also worked as editor of Hindi magazines like 'Nayi Kahaniyan' (1963–66), 'Sarika' (1967–78), 'Katha Yatra' (1978–79), 'Ganga' (1984–88) and weeklies, 'lngit' (1961–63) and 'Shree Varsha' (1979–80) and has revived Hindi magazine, Sarika. He has also edited columns of Hindi dailies, 'Dainik Jagaran' (1990–1992), and 'Dainik Bhaskar' (1996–2002).