Mirza Ghalib is such a legend that even the theatre groups, films and TV industries have paid tribute to this Urdu poet. Many plays, films and TV serials are based on Ghalib.

Indian Cinema paid its tribute to this carefree legend of Urdu poetry through a black and white film named Mirza Ghalib in which Bharat Bhushan played Ghalib and Suraiya played his courtesan lover, Chaudvin. The music of this film was composed by Ghulam Mohammed and his compositions of some of the famous ghazals of Ghalib’s are the evergreen ghazals and likely to remain everlasting favorites.

Indian films veteran Gulzar also produced a TV serial titled Mirza Ghalib. It was telecasted on DD National, a government controlled TV channel, and was quite well-accepted and appreciated by viewers. In that serial, Indian famous film actor Naseeruddin Shah played Ghalib. The ghazals were sung by a famous ghazal-singers couple Jagjit Singh and Chitra singh.

Similarly Pakistan Cinema has also made a film on Ghalib and paid its tribute to the legendary poet through another film by the same name Mirza Ghalib. This film was directed and produced by M.M. Billoo Mehra for S.K. Pictures. The music was composed by Tassaduq Hussain. In the film  Pakistan film superstar Sudhir played Ghalib and Madam Noor Jehan played his courtesan lover, Chaudvin. The film was released on November 24, 1961 and reached average status at the box-office. However, the music of the film remains memorable in Pakistan even today.

Like wise various theatre groups have also staged various plays related to the life of this master of funny Urdu poetry.