An accomplished filmmaker, lyricist and legendary writer, Gulzar Sahab, an awardee of Dadasahab Phalke Award and Oscar Award (Jai ho for Slumdog Millionaire), defines a new era of lyrics writing with no barrier of his age. On Gulzar Sahab 81th birthday let’s peep into his journey. His work outshines the film industry and lyrics still make us dwell on the more emotional aspects of life.
“Tujhse naraaz nahi zindagi hairaan hoon mei, hairaan hoon mei
Tere masoom sawalo se pareshaan hoon mei, pareshaan hoon mei”
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Gulzar Saab aka Sampoorna Singh Kalra was born in Dina, which now falls in Pakistan was born on August 18, 1936. He golden chance to enter the film industry came with the film Bandini (1963), made under Bimal Roy productions with mera gora rang le le, that still resides in our heart. His stories that are weaved in the threads of emotions and sensibilities depict a heart touching tale. Gulzar had proficiency in writing and music and he used to practice music at his neighbor’s house. Gulzar Saab is one eternal hero, who never gave up on pursuing his dream regardless f the challenges new technology posed. He recently said in conference, “My nascent work got uploaded on viral channels like youtube and facebook, where the polished outcome was not received with the required momentum.”
Gulzar Saab possess a unique talent of matching his potential with the current era in which he articulates his imagination in an interesting way. The bidi jalae le and fevicol se received overwhelming response by millions. He has a style that makes him distinct among others, where his imagination touches a chord with all ages. When it comes to an item song, kajra re still gets our feet tapping, and so his offbeat work is appreciated massively.
His latest work in Drishyam, where lyrics were penned by him for a few songs, achieved major success at the boxoffice. A man who is not subtle in interactions, has his writing do the talking for him.
An incident that puts light on this trait dates back to when Gulzar Saab received the DadaSahab Phalke Award in 2013, and the media came out asking him “Isn’t it too late for you getting this reward, and he retorted “Toh phir kab milna chahiye tha?” He is a hero with dimensions and breathes a seamless energy into whatever he does. There are no measures to evaluate the work of Gulzar Saab and our words will not do him justice. After all, its from Gulzar Saab that we learn an important lesson of life,
“Musafir hoon Yaarron, na ghar hai na thikana,
Mujhe bas chalte jaana, bas chalte jaana”
