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Writer's pictureElvira Fernandez

Gulzar Saab – the Master Wordsmith

guloñ ko sunñā zarā tum sadā.eñ bhejī haiñ

guloñ ke haath bahut sī duā.eñ bhejī haiñ

jo āftāb kabhī bhī ġhurūb hotā nahīñ

hamārā dil hai usī kī shuā.eñ bhejī haiñ


The man who wrote these lines is an Indian lyricist, poet, author, screenwriter, and film director. As in 2019, he has won a total of 36 awards and honours, including 5 National Film Awards, 22 Filmfare Awards, 1 Academy Award for Best Original Song (2008), 1 Grammy Award (2010), 2002 Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu, Padma Bhushan (2004), and 2013 Dadasaheb Phalke Award.



It is said that his way of perceiving the ordinary is extraordinary. He’s known for his flair to pen the unusual. I’m not making much sense? Let me give you an example... ‘Humne Dekhi Hai Un Aankhon Ki Mehekti Khushboo’ is a song he wrote for the Bollywood movie Khamoshi, which became very popular. One can’t help but wonder how can one see the fragrance of the eyes? But his lyrics are justified and Ganesh Anantharaman in his book Bollywood Melodies describes his lyrics, with the purposeful mixing of the senses, to be ‘daringly defiant’. The master wordsmith himself describes his art through these words, “Zaayaka alag sa hai mere lafzo ka...ke koi samajh nahin paata, koi bhula nahin paata.”



I’m sure you all must have at some time or the other sang the song - ‘Humko Mann Ki Shakti Dena’ during prayer time at School. Well... well... this song too is penned by this living legend! He wrote this song for the popular 1971 Bollywood film, ‘Guddi’.


Please forgive me; I seem to have overlooked the fact that I haven’t yet mentioned his name. Though I’m very sure many of you have already guessed and very rightly so, I’m talking about the great Sampooran Singh Kalra whom we all know as Gulzar or Gulzar Saab! Born in a Sikh family on 18th August 1934 at Punjab in Pakistan, he and his family moved to Mumbai in India at the time of the partition. During the early years he worked at a garage touching up damaged cars by mixing shades of paint. In his interviews he recounts enjoying the work as he got time to pursue reading, writing, attending college and being involved in PWA (Progressive Writers Association).



Gulzar Saab has worked with almost all the top music directors in Bollywood, such as, R.D. Burman, S.D. Burman, Shankar Jaikishan, Hemant Kumar, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Madan Mohan, Rajesh Roshan and Anu Malik. His collaboration with A.R. Rahman in the 2007 Hollywood film Slumdog Millionaire won him the Academy Award for Best Original Song for ‘Jai Ho’ at the 81st Academy Awards. The song received international acclaim and won him a Grammy Award (shared with Rahman) in the category of Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.


If you aren’t a Gulzar fan yet but are curious about him you can try listening to songs from films like Anand (1971), Maachis (1996), Dil Se... (1998), Bunty aur Babli (2005), Omakara (2006), Guru (2007), or Kaminey(2009) ... to name a few.



He is also a director par excellence and has proved that with beautifully directed Bollywood films such as – Parichay, Koshish, Aandhi, Angoor, Maachis, Hu Tu Tu... His films often told stories of human relationships entangled in social issues. Some of his most memorable songs for me are – ‘Musafir Hoon Yaaron’ (Parichay) and ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi’ (Aandhi). In 1988, Gulzar directed a television serial for Doordarshan - Mirza Ghalib named after the great poet Ghalib, starring Naseeruddin Shah . Later he also directed Tahreer Munshi Premchand Ki based on the novels of Premchand for Doordarshan. Episodes from another serial Kirdaar based on stories by various authors and directed by Gulzar Saab are available on Youtube. These helped soothe my nerves during the early days of the Pandemic. A few stories which have stayed with me from Kirdaar are – Culture, Alaan and Haath peele kar do. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget the story Rehman Ke Joote and the amazing character portrayal by seasoned actors like Om Puri and Sureka Sikri.



Gulzar has written lyrics and even dialogues for several of Doordarshan’s series including Jungle Book and Alice in Wonderland. More recently, he has written and lent his voice for the children’s audiobook series Karadi Tales.


His wife is the versatile actress Raakhee and his daughter Meghna is a famous director with movies like Talvar, Raazi and Chhapaak to her credit. Gulzar Sahab has penned the lyrics for Chhapaak which has Deepika Padukone in the lead role and is inspired by the true story of an acid attack survivor, Laxmi Agarwal.


If you would like to read his works get yourself a copy of Pluto, Raat Pashmine Ki, Pukhraj or Green Poems. You can also read his debut novel, ‘Two’ released in English which was originally written in Urdu.

It’s difficult to stop talking about Gulzar but I will have to before I overwhelm you all. I would like to end with a shayari from him:


Hazaaro uljhane raaho mein, aur koshishe behisaab

Isi ka naam hai zindagi, chalte rahiye janaab!



Image Courtesy: amazon, twitter




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Hi!

I’m Elvira Fernandez, an English Lecturer and an avid reader of all kinds of literature, but Children’s Literature, Fantasy and Romance top my list. 

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