Asif Karim, better known as K Asif, is a prominent Indian film producer, director and screenwriter and is one of the better known personalities in the history of Hindi cinema. He was born on 14 June 1922 in Uttar Pradesh. He went to Mumbai in order to pursue a career in film. It was also where his brother-in-law, the renowned actor, director and producer Nazir Ahmed Khan worked.

K Asif made a highly successful directorial debut with Phool (1944). But his magnum opus came with the epic Mughal-e-Azam (1960) of which he was director and screenwriter. This film immortalised him among the greats of Indian cinema, despite the fact that his filmography was hardly prolific. It won him the Filmfare Award for the Best Movie and even the President’s Silver Medal for the Best Feature Film in Hindi.

He was also producer of the film Hulchul (1951), which was yet another successful venture for the film maker.

His only other project as director was Love And God (1986) which remained incomplete, due to the death of many personalities involved with it, including himself in 1971. However, the film was still released with the available portions by K Asif's wife Akhtar Asif.

K Asif breathed his last on 9 March 1971 while he was only 48 years old. He was married to Akhtar Asif and Nigar Sultana.