Gulzar

The Indian writer , poet, lyricist & film maker turns 91 in four months. He made his debut as a lyricist with the soulful ‘Mora gora ang ‘ in Bimal Roy’s ‘Bandini” in 1963. Gulzar has been selected for the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor for his contribution to Urdu literature.

His book ..Caged…Memories have Names (Penguin) was released recently. Alaka Sahani met him recently at his residence at Pali Hill, Mumbai.

In ‘Kabuliwala’1961, as Bimal Roy’s assistant in production. He told Gulzar ‘not to waste’ his life at a garage. He worked his way up with Khamoshi 1971, Guddi 1971 & Anand 1971. His evocative imagery, unusual metaphors & deceptively simple lyrics have found an audience in every generation.

In Caged, he brings together poetry & reminiscences about people who left an impression on him. Some of his previous works such as Actually I met them : A Memoir ( penguin)& Dhoop Aane do (Amaryllis). He has worked with SD Burman & RD Burman. He says ‘I would’ve worked with RD ‘s son /daughter, if he had!”

Gulzar’s some of the best movies as a director featured actor Sanjeev Kumar. In ‘Parichay ‘1972 was the first time working with me. He was father to Jaya in the film. A week after the release, ‘Koshish’ 1972 Hari & Jaya played a hearing impaired couple, hit the theatres. I was worried about the audience’s response.

The producer NC Sippy allayed my fears & said that when the actor is good , the audience looks at the character !

Gulzar calls Sarat Chandra a ‘Gifted author’ who created compelling woman characters, adapted his ‘Pandit Moshai’to make ‘Khushboo ‘ in 1975. It starred Jeetendra & Hema Malini. Though the cinematic adaptations of Sarat Chandra’s ‘Devdas’ made the protagonist a pop cultural phenomenon, Gulzar believes it is the leading ladies – Paro & Chandramukhi- who have a more nuances arc.

Inspired by Shakespeare he twice adapted ‘Comedy of Errors’ , ‘Do Dooni Chaar’1968 which flopped & later improvised the script to make ‘Angoor’1982.Producer Yash Johar wondered why he was remaking a flop film.

For the last three decades he is into literature than film making. He is surrounded by books on his table. He definitely knows how to live a life. A 90 plus man working behind a camera.. he prefers to write & give us his thoughts!

Sparkling all the way!