Effervescence of Gulzar!
Gulzar was bestowed with the Padma Bhushan in 2004 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002. In 2013, he was honored with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and has also been the recipient of various National and Filmfare Awards. In 2009, he won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for his song "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Billionaire.
He said "Music has a natural place in our lives. Right from the shloka you recite in your morning puja and the milkman who comes whistling on his cycle, to the fakir singing as he begs for alms and your mother humming around the kitchen. Music fills our spaces naturally. It will always be dear to us".
Gulzar's directorial debut "mere apne" was a fair indication of his vision as a creator. Starring Meena Kumari, Vinod Khanna, and Shatrughan Sinha in the lead roles, the movie was a remake of the National Award-winning Bengali film Apanjan. Gulzar's trademark style of filmmaking is to use flashback technique in his films, as he strongly believed that the present is a strong reflection of the past.
Gulzar saab said "My regret in life is I never directed Rajesh Khanna in any of my movies. There were 3 projects for which I wanted him to star but eventually Sanjeev Kumar did them. The only satisfaction is that I wrote dialogues for his films - Khamoshi, Anand, Mehboob Ki Mehndi, Andaz, Bawarchi and wrote the screenplay for Namak Haraam and wrote the story for Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein. All of them were critically acclaimed hit films except for Palkon Ki Chaon Mein and even that was critically acclaimed though a flop. He gave life to each of the dialogues written by me and brought life to those characters. He was very close friend of R.D.Burman and Kishore Kumar. I also never ever directed Amitabh Bachchan or my wife Rakhee in any of my films"
We, the audience had a catch in our voice watching the film "Koshish" even as we laughed with "Angoor" and rediscovered romance with "Aandhi".I have always felt that Aandhi is one of Gulzar’s best works with Sanjeev Kumar and the gorgeous Suchitra Sen being a perfect cast. Each time I watch it, I discover something and keep wondering at the brilliant story & the songs.
Parichay was the third film directed by Gulzar and it marked the beginning of a meliflous association with R.D. Burman, whereas in his first two films, Mere Apne and Koshish, the music was scored by Salil Choudhury and Madan Mohan respectively. In the nineties, his musical collaboration with A.R.Rehman resulted in the brilliant & popular song from Mani Ratnam’s Dil Se. It has been watched more than 80 million on YouTube and was voted the ninth popular song in the world of all time in a poll by the BBC.
"Woh yaar hai jo khushboo ki tarah
Jiski zubaan Urdu ki tarah"
Sukhwinder Singh and Sapna Awasthi sang it with the raw energy it demanded. In the mid-eighties, Mirza Ghalib an Indian Historical drama television drama series was written and produced by the poet Gulzar. The series was aired on Doordarshan National in 1988. Naseeruddin Shah played the role of Mirza Ghalib.
Gulzar saab was 76 years old when a burning desire to bring to the young their poetic heritage made him gather contemporary poetry in Indian languages in one volume. A decade later, what emerged was a labour of his love and passion — 'A Poem A Day’ is a massive 968-page book ostensibly “for anyone who likes poetry and is interested in the use of words and language”, as the author’s note says in the beginning. 365 poems, a poem for every day of the year — reflecting the ethos of a nation born some 70 years ago.
Gulzar has been a part of the cultural consciousness of the country through his nazms, ghazals, lyrics and films in a career spanning almost seven decades. In Nasreen Munni Kabir's book on Gulzar, titled 'In the Company of a Poet', Gulzar speaks about always being open to change. “You must always be open and receptive. The subconscious is constantly accepting, rejecting, turning and twisting everything you learn and absorb."
The beautiful, sensitive lens with which Gulzar views love and life makes him transform mere words into deep expressions and strike a chord in our hearts. Gulzar recently worked with his daughter Meghna Gulzar on her movie Chhapaak. The film starred Deepika Padukone in the lead as an acid attack survivor. He wrote the lyrics of the film's songs. It is the power of his pen that continues to keep everyone mesmerised as is evident in the heart-wrenching expression of the migrant worker’s struggles & plight during the covid pandemic.
"Mahamari lagi thi gharo ko bhaag liye the sabhi mazdoor, karigar. Machine bandh hone lag gai thi shahar ki saari unhi se hath paon chalte rehte the, vagarna zindagi to gaon hi me bo kar aye the,” writes Gulzar.Born as Sampooran Singh Kalra in Dina, Pakistan, he is famously known by his pen name....Gulzar!
Gulzar is a Persian word with its origin being Gul, which literally means rose and So Gulzar is a state of a Garden that is blossoming, and has a lot of flowers there. Oh, and by the way, Sampoorna means complete and Gulzar sahab continues to enthrall us completely with the mesmerizing power of his pen.
