Gulzar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Gulzar

• He was born into a Sikh Family in British India.

• After India’s partition, he moved to Delhi.

• Before becoming a writer, he took up many odd jobs in Bombay (now, Mumbai) including a small work at a motor garage in Bombay where he used to create shades of paints to touch up the accidental cars.

• He was always fond of reading. In an interview, he narrated that once someone gave him a book titled “The Gardener” by Rabindranath Tagore and the impact of the book on him was such that he decided to become a writer.

  

• Initially, his father rebuked him for being a writer.

• He took the pen name “Gulzar Deenvi.” However, later he changed it to simply “Gulzar.”

• He started his Bollywood career with the film directors Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

• It was S. D. Burman who gave him a break as a songwriter for the film Bandini (1963).

• Most of the songs of Bandini (1963) were penned by Shailendra. However, he requested Gulzar to write the song “Mora Gora Ang Layle,” which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

• He became popular in the Film Industry after his song “Humne Dekhi Hai Un Aankhon Ki Mehekti Khushboo” from the film Khamoshi (1969).

• He penned two songs for the 1971 Bollywood film ‘Guddi’ one of which “Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena” was a prayer, which is still being recited in many schools in India.

• Gulzar was very close to the Bengali Culture since his childhood. In an interview, he revealed that his love for Bengali Culture was through Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee to whom he considered his gurus.

• In 1973, he got married to Rakhee. At the time of their marriage, both were at the peak of their careers.

• Gulzar was very close to the renowned Music Director R. D. Burman.

• Gulzar has a great interest in Lawn Tennis and whenever he gets time, he enjoys playing the game.

  

• He has worked with many renowned music directors such as S. D. Burman, Hemant Kumar, Shankar Jaikishan, Madan Mohan, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Anu Malik, Rajesh Roshan, A. R. Rahman, and Vishal Bhardwaj.

• To write “Ay Hairathe Aashiqui” for Mani Ratnam‘s 2007 Hindi film Guru, Gulzar took inspiration from Amir Khusrow’s “Ay Sarbathe Aashiqui.”

• His popular song “Chaiyya Chaiyya” from the film Dil Se.. is based on the Sufi folk song “Thaiyya Thaiyya” by poet Bulle Shah.

• Gulzar also penned down dialogues for many films like Anand, Ashirwad, Khamoshi, etc.

• He has also directed a number of films including Angoor (1982), which was based on Shakespeare’s play “The Comedy of Errors.”

• He also directed a few TV series including Mirza Ghalib (starring Naseeruddin Shah), Tahreer Munshi Premchand Ki (about the novels of Premchand), etc.

• Many of his popular songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar, and Asha Bhosle.

• The language of his poetry is basically in Urdu and Punjabi. However, he also writes in several dialects of Hindi such as Khariboli, Braj Bhasha, Marwari and Haryanvi.

• His poetries are in characteristic Triveni type of stanza.

• Gulzar’s poems have been published in 3 compilations- Raat Pashminey Ki, Chand Pukhraaj Ka, and Pandrah Paanch Pachattar.

• Gulzar wrote the anthem “Nazar Main Rehte Ho” for the peace campaign (Aman ki Asha) jointly started by India’s and Pakistan’s leading media houses. The song was recorded by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Shankar Mahadevan.

• Gulzar has also written Ghazals for Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh‘s albums Marasim (1999) and Koi Baat Chale (2006).

• He has written dialogues and lyrics for a number of TV series such as Alice in Wonderland, Guchche, Hello Zindagi, Potli Baba Ki, etc.

• He also penned the famous song “Chaddi Pahen Ke Phool Khila Hai” for ‘The Jungle Book.’

• Here’s a glimpse of Gulzar’s life and his poetry: