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The gentle revolutionary
From a "mora
gora ang lai le" to "beedi jalai le",
poet, lyricist, scriptwriter, author and filmmaker Gulzar has
never been bound by conventions. Shoma A.
Chatterji on this literary genius, who was recently given
the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to cinema at
the 11th Osians-Cinefan Film Festival 2009
He used to publish a book for children every year to celebrate his daughter Bosky’s birthday when she was growing up |
Poet,
lyricist, scriptwriter, author and filmmaker Gulzar has been
given the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to
cinema by the 11th Osians-Cinefan Film Festival 2009. The
tribute focuses on Gulzar’s creativity and contribution to
entertainment that goes beyond cultural, linguistic and other
boundaries.
Gulzar won the
Sahitya Akademi Award for his contribution to literature some
years ago. This was perhaps his first-ever award away from the
world of cinema where the award did not link his creations to
his preoccupation with the celluloid universe. Those who are not
familiar with Gulzar might have found this surprising but for
those who have known him personally, it did not. They took it as
long overdue for this low-profile literary genius of Hindi
literature for one and for Hindi cinema for another.
The number of
National Awards and Filmfare Awards he won, not to forget the
Oscar for his lyrics in Slumdog Millionaire, is
legendary. But they sit light on his shoulders.
At 73, the
lines on his handsome face are a bit pronounced. His famous
one-day stubble is generously sprinkled with his favourite
colour, white. When asked how he manages to keep his kurta-pyjama
so spotlessly white, he smiles and says everything is possible
if you have the will.
That old age
has not touched his creativity is eveident from the the fact
that he can still compose a youthful Oscar-winning song like
"Jai Ho" for Slumdog Millionaire or a
lilting "chhaiyan chhaiyan" for Mani Ratnam’s
Dil Se, filled with the spirit of youth.
Gulzar dedicated his book of short stories to
Raakhee who he calls “the longest short story of my life” |
The song "chappa
chappa charkha chale" in Maachis underscores the
pathos of a zest for life because death is just round the
corner, the dance beautifully choreographed to fit into the
orchestration of the entire film, which plays itself out like a
symphony on love.
His directorial
roster has films on the pathos of living and on the triumph of
human survival such as Mere Apne, Achanak, Aandhi, Koshish,
Khushboo, Kinara, Meeraa, Parichay, Angoor, Kitaab, Namkeen,
Lekin, Libaas and Maachis. He has also made
television serials like Mirza Ghalib and Kirdaar,
besides creating biographical documentaries of outstanding
merit. He has composed several volumes of poetry and used to
publish a book for children every year to celebrate his daughter
Bosky’s birthday when she was growing up.
"Humne
dekhi hai un aankhon ki mehakti khushboo,
haath se chhoo ke ise rishton ka ilzaam na do."
These lyrics define their creator — Gulzar — in many
ways. One can easily label this quiet and gentleman a ‘revolutionary’.
How?
Rina Singh who
has translated his selected poems into English (1994), defines
this literary genius as such, "The Indian film world which
he has chosen as his milieu is such that it calls for a very
tough hide indeed. His poetry reveals that he has not only
failed to develop such a hide but has remained more thin-skinned
than most people."
While Gulzar’s
close friend Bhooshan Banmali, in the inside jacket of Silences
says, "A poet is a conch-shell that gives voice to the
emotions. A lyricist sings of dreams. A visionary is a painter
who plays with rainbows. A thinker ponders upon human
relationships like a monk who holds counsel with the trees of
the forest. A rare blend of all these is Gulzar. Noteworthy
about his creativity is his extremely good taste — both in his
written words as a lyricist, a poet, a dialogue writer of
outstanding merit, and in the visuals he conjures up as a
filmmaker of growing eminence."
His first
directorial film Mere Apne was the Hindi remake of Tapan
Sinha’s Apon Jon (Bengali.) The film established Gulzar
as a director of merit.
Gulzar’s
journey through cinema has been fruitful in ways more enriching
than the link with the box office coffers. They brought him
excellent reviews and prestigious awards. They also created a
new genre in Indian cinema — the genre of the lyrical romance
where love is underplayed, understated, expressed through a lot
of poetry and lyrical music, and therefore, intense. Be it the
triangular romantic tragedy of Ijaazat, the two lovers
doomed to death against the backdrop of a terror-ridden sky in Maachis,
or, the more mature retrospection of the couple in Aandhi,
Gulzar has gone through it all without raising slogans, without
permitting his characters to degenerate to undignified behaviour.
His insight into the psyche of the child came across brilliantly
in Kitaab, adapted from a Samaresh Basu novel and also in
Parichay, loosely adapted from The Sound of Music.
His tribute to
classical Indian dance as a beautiful and creative art form
defined itself without ornamentation in Kinara. His
homage to Sarat Chandra was brought to fruition in Khushboo,
an adaptation of Sarat Chandra’s Pandit Moshai, a film
that demonstrated just that once, the untapped histrionic talent
of Jeetendra. Meeraa underscored how history can evolve
into a form of poetic expression through cinema. Unfortunately,
however, Namkeen, based on a Samaresh Basu novel, one of
his best directorial films, was a flop though it was one of the
most tragic love stories brought to life in Hindi cinema. Hu-Tu-Tu
raised expectations that did not work because Gulzar is a living
metaphor of love and the film’s story was focussed on hate in
its varied layers and manifestations.
His films,
dialogues and songs have swung from the romantic lyricism of a
"Mora gora ang lai le" in Bandini to
that of Aandhi, Parichay and Kinara, to the
youthful moods of a Bunty Aur Babli (2005), Omkara (2006),
Kaminey and Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Asked to
name his personal favourites as director, he says, "Ijaazat
for its mood, Kitaab for its nostalgia — it had a lot
of my own childhood, Maachis for its theme and Namkeen
for its lovely relationship and well-etched screenplay."
His lyrics are
legendary for their ability to transcend the mundane and reach
the soul of love. His favourites are "Mera kuch samaan
tumhare paas pada hai (Ijaazat), "Roz akeli aaye
(Mere Apne), "Phir se aayee o badre (Namkeen).
Tagore became a
favourite with Gulzar, ever since he read Gardener,
translation of a short story by Tagore. "One single-minded
aim was to read Tagore in the original," Gulzar elaborates,
having learnt to read and write Bengali. "My love for
everything Bengali cuts across my life. I married Raakhee, a
Bengali, perhaps in the hope of picking up the subtle nuances of
the spoken language. I named my daughter Meghna, after a river
in Bengal, now in Bangladesh. I have read my favourite Bengali
writers and poets in the original."
Much of his poetry is a nostalgic trip to his childhood |
Among his
favourite poets, he names Tagore, Subhash Mukhopadhyay,
Jibananda Das, Romanian poet Marin Sorescu, Mirza Ghalib, Faiz
Ahmed Faiz and Ahmed Nadim Qasmi. The filmmakers he respects are
Satyajit Ray and Aparna Sen. He dedicated his book of short
stories, entitled Michelangelo and Other Stories (2002)
to Raakhee, who he calls "the longest short story of my
life."
About the social role of
cinema, Gulzar says, "Every film is a medium of expression
for its maker. In fact, any form of art has the responsibility
of promoting aesthetics and social values and to keep a critical
eye on society. To study and improve social relationships is the
role of any creative artiste through any medium - nationally and
internationally. Cinema is no exception. Filmmaking is not just
one art of expression. It is an assembly of arts. It is this
complex form that makes it more fascinating than other forms of
expression and perhaps, that is good enough reason for me to
make films," he sums up.
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Poetic
leanings
Gulzar’s cinematic career is traced back to Bimal Roy’s Bandini, where he was called to write “Mora gora ang lai le, mohe shaam rang dai de" |
 Born
Sampooran Singh in a Sikh family in Dina (now in Pakistan)
in 1936, he changed his name to Gulzar somewhere along the
way. Gulzar’s cinematic career is traced back to Bimal
Roy’s Bandini, when he was called to write the
lyrics of a Vaishnava composition because
Shailendra, the film’s original lyricist, had a tiff
with music director S.D. Burman. Burman da had
reservations about taking on the Urdu-educated young man
to infuse the Vaishnava spirit into the song. Gulzar rose
to the challenge and a beautiful song was born – "Mora
gora ang lai le, mohe shaam rang dai de, lip-synced by
Nutan in an award-winning performance.
He also created a new genre in the Indian cinema — the genre of the lyrical but intense romance — be it the romantic tragedy of Izaazat or the doomed lovers in Maachis |
Gulzar
gives credit for his love for Urdu and poetry to his Urdu
teacher in Delhi’s United Christian School where Urdu
was the medium of instruction till Independence. Much of
his poetry is a nostalgic trip to his childhood. He wanted
to take up literature but was not allowed to. His eldest
brother asked him to do C.A. He also worked in a motor
servicing garage in Mumbai. He met a lot of poet friends
in films through Progressive Writers’ Association by
becoming a member because his thirst for poetry survived
even in the dust and the grime of the garage. It was
triggered by the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA)
and friendships with Basu Bhattacharya, Salil Choudhury,
Debu Sen, Shailendra and Sukhbir, a prominent
Punjabi-Hindi poet."
— SAC |
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