Gulzar (born Sampooran Singh Kalra; 18 August 1934) is an Indian

Urdu poet Urdu poetry ( ) is a tradition of poetry and has many different forms. Today, it is an important part of the culture of India and Pakistan. According to Naseer Turabi, there are five major poets of Urdu: Mir Taqi Mir (d. 1810), Mirza Ghalib (d. ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

known for his works in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. He is regarded as one of greatest

Urdu poets The following is a List of Urdu-language poets. 13th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century * Mirza Muhammad Rafi, ''Sauda'' (1713–1780) * Siraj Aurangabadi, ''Siraj'' (1715–1763) * Mohammad Meer Soz Dehlvi ...

of this era. He started his career with music director

S.D. Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. He was a member of the Tripura royal family, but his father was excluded from the throne. He started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He late ...

as a lyricist in the 1963 film '' Bandini'' and worked with many music directors including R. D. Burman,

Salil Chowdhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali, Hindi cinema, Hindi and Malayalam films, Malayalam films. ...

Vishal Bhardwaj Vishal Bhardwaj (born 4 August 1965) is an Indian filmmaker, music composer, and playback singer. He is known for his work in Hindi cinema, and is the recipient of nine National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. Bhardwaj made his debut as a mu ...

and

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967), also known by the initialism ARR, is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and philanthropist known for his works in Indian cinem ...

. Gulzar also writes poetry, dialogues and scripts. He directed films such as ''

Aandhi ''Aandhi'' () is a 1975 Indian political drama film starring Sanjeev Kumar and Suchitra Sen, and directed by Gulzar. At the time it was alleged that the film was based on the life of the then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her relationship wit ...

'' and '' Mausam'' during the 1970s and the TV series ''

Mirza Ghalib Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (27 December 179715 February 1869), commonly known as Mirza Ghalib, was an Indian poet. Widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in the Urdu language, he also produced a significant body of work in Persian. Ghali ...

'' in the 1980s. He also directed ''

Kirdaar Kirdaar is an Indian television series aired on DD National directed by Gulzar. It ran between 1993 and 1994, based on short stories written by different writers in different languages, mainly Urdu, Hindi and Bengali language, Bengali writers. Th ...

'' in 1993. He has won 5 Indian

National Film Awards The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...

; including 2 Best Lyrics, one Best Screenplay, one Second Best Feature Film (director), and one Best Popular Film (director); 22

Filmfare Awards The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...

; one

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

; and one

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award - Hindi in 2002, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

in 2004, the third-highest civilian award in India, and the

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest Film award, award in the field of cinema, given by the Government of India and presented annually at the National Film Awards. The recipient is honoured for their "outstanding contribution to the ...

in 2013, the highest award in Indian cinema. In April 2013, Gulzar was appointed as the Chancellor of the Assam University. In 2024, Gulzar was awarded the

Jnanpith The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian w ...

, India's highest literary award.

Early life

Gulzar was born in a Sikh family as Sampooran Singh Kalra, to Makhan Singh Kalra and Sujan Kaur, in

Dina DINA may refer to: * Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the Chilean secret police under the Pinochet regime * DINA S.A., a Mexican truck and bus manufacturer See also * Dina (disambiguation) * * DINO * DIN (disambiguation) DIN or Din or ...

Jhelum District Jhelum District () is a district, located partially on the Pothohar Plateau and in Indus Plain, in Punjab, Pakistan. Jhelum is one of the oldest districts of Punjab. It was established on 23 March 1849. Jhelum is known for providing many sold ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(present-day

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

). In school, he had read translations of the works of

Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

which he recounted as one of his life's many turning points. Due to the partition, his family split and he had to stop his studies and come to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

(then called Bombay) to support his family. Sampooran took up many small jobs in Mumbai to eke out a living, including one at a garage at ''Vichare motors'' on Bellasis road (

). There he used to touch up accident-damaged cars by mixing shades of paint. He'd say, "I had a knack for colours". His father rebuked him for being a writer initially. He took the pen name Gulzar Deenvi and later simply Gulzar. In an interview with Rajyasabha TV, he recounted enjoying his work as a painter as it allowed him a lot of time to simultaneously read, write, attend college and be involved with the PWA (Progressive Writers Association).

Career

Lyricist

It was during his interactions in the PWA Sunday meetings that Shailendra and

Bimal Roy Bimal Roy (12 July 1909 – 7 January 1966) was an Indian film director. He is particularly noted for his realistic and socialistic films such as , '' Parineeta'', ''Biraj Bahu'', '' Devdas'', '' Madhumati'', '' Sujata'', '' Parakh'' and '' Ba ...

encouraged him to join films. Gulzar began his career under film directors

and

Hrishikesh Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee (30 September 1922 – 27 August 2006) was an Indian film director, editor and writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Indian cinema. Popularly known as ''Hrishi-da'', he directed 42 films during his car ...

. His book ''Ravi Paar'' has a narrative of Bimal Roy and the agony of creation. He started his career as a songwriter with the music director for the movie '' Bandini'' (1963). In films, he found an environment associated with literature in the group he worked with, including Bimal Roy, most of whose films were based on literary works. Shailendra, who has penned the rest of the songs in the movie requested Gulzar to write the song "Mora Gora Ang Layle", sung by

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

. Directed and produced by

, the 1968 film '' Aashirwad'' had dialogues and lyrics written by Gulzar. Song lyrics and poems written by Gulzar gave the poetic attribute and the "much-needed additional dimension" to

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

's role in the film. Ashok Kumar received the Best Actor at the Filmfare and at the National Film Awards for this role. Gulzar's lyrics, however, did not gain much attention until 1969's '' Khamoshi'', where his song "Humne Dekhi Hai Un Aankhon Ki Mehekti Khushboo" () became popular. In his book ''Bollywood Melodies, Ganesh Anantharaman'' describes Gulzar's lyrics, with the purposeful mixing of the senses, to be "daringly defiant". For the 1971 film '' Guddi'', he penned two songs, of which "Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena" was a prayer which is still sung in many schools in India. As a lyricist, Gulzar had a close association with the music director

Rahul Dev Burman Rahul Dev Burman (; 27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director and singer, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful music directors of the Hindi film music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman ...

. He has also worked with

Sachin Dev Burman Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. He was a member of the Tripura royal family, but his father was excluded from the throne. He started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He late ...

Shankar Jaikishan Sankar or Shankar is a Sanskrit word meaning "beneficent" or "giver of bliss" and may refer to: People * Shankar (name) **Ravi Shankar, Indian sitarist and composer **Shankar (actor), Indian actor ** Shankar (Tamil militant), Tamil rebel ** Shan ...

Hemant Kumar Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (16 June 1920 – 26 September 1989), known professionally as Hemanta Mukherjee and Hemant Kumar, was an Indian music director and a playback singer who primarily sang in Bengali and Hindi, along with several other India ...

Laxmikant–Pyarelal Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). In their career span stretching from 1963 to 1998, they composed music for about 750 movies, wo ...

Madan Mohan Madanamohana () is an epithet of the Hindu deity Krishna. It translates as, "he whose charm (''mohana'') bewilders even the god of love ('' madana'')". The epithet describes the powerful nature of the attraction for the deity from his devotees, e ...

Rajesh Roshan Rajesh Roshanlal Nagrath (born 24 May 1953) is an Indian music director and composer. He is the son of music director Roshan and brother of actor, producer, director Rakesh Roshan. Career Rajesh Roshan had a frequent successful collaboratio ...

, and

Anu Malik Anwar Sardar "Anu" Malik (born 2 November 1960) is an Indian music composer, singer, music arranger and score composer. He is the recipient of a National Film Award and three Filmfare Awards, who primarily composes music for the Hindi film ...

. Gulzar worked with

in ''

Anand Anand may refer to: People * Anand (name), a surname and given name (including a list of people with the name) * Anand (clan), a clan of an Indian caste * Anand (actor), Indian actor * Anand (Maoist), Indian communist * Anand (writer) (born 1936 ...

'' (1971) and ''

Mere Apne ''Mere Apne'' is a 1971 Indian Hindi-language film written and directed by Gulzar in his directorial debut and produced by Romu, Raj and N. C. Sippy. A remake of the 1968 Bengali film '' Apanjan'', it was the first movie of Vinod Khanna as Hero. ...

'' (1971);

in '' Mausam'' (1975), and more recently with

in ''

Maachis ''Maachis'' () is a 1996 Indian Hindi-language period political thriller film written and directed by Gulzar. The film stars Chandrachur Singh, Om Puri, Tabu, and Jimmy Sheirgill. The film is set against the backdrop of the Sikh insurgency ...

'' (1996), '' Omkara'' (2006) and ''

Kaminey ''Kaminey'' () is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language action film written and directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and produced by Ronnie Screwvala under UTV Motion Pictures, featuring Shahid Kapoor in a dual role, alongside Priyanka Chopra and Amole Gupte in ...

'' (2009);

in '' Dil Se..'' (1998), ''

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

'' (2007), ''

Slumdog Millionaire ''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel ...

'' (2008) and '' Raavan'' (2010) and

Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy () is an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. They have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across five languages: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and English. Amongst ...

in ''

Bunty Aur Babli ''Bunty Aur Babli'' (transl. ''Bunty and Babli'') is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy film directed by Shaad Ali, written by Jaideep Sahni from a story by Aditya Chopra, and produced by Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film s ...

'' (2005). Gulzar took inspiration from

Amir Khusrow Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253 – 1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau, sometimes spelled as, Amir Khusrow or Amir Khusro, was an Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar, who lived during the period of the Delhi Sult ...

's "Ay Sarbathe Aashiqui" to pen "Ay Hairathe Aashiqui" for

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

's 2007 Hindi film ''

'', which had music composed by

. Another Ratnam-Rahman hit, "

Chaiyya Chaiyya "Chaiyya Chaiyya" () is an Indian pop-folk song, featured in the soundtrack of the Bollywood film '' Dil Se..'', released in 1998. Based on Sufi music and Urdu poetry, the single was derived from the lyrics of the song " Tere Ishq Nachaya", wri ...

" from ''Dil Se..'' also had lyrics written by Gulzar, based on the Sufi folk song "Thaiyya Thaiyya", with lyrics by poet

Bulleh Shah Sayyid Abdullāh Shāh Qādrī (; ), popularly known as Baba Bulleh Shah and vocatively as Bulleya, was a Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformer and Chishti Sufi poet, regarded the 'Father of Punjabi Enlightenment'; and one of the g ...

. For another collaboration with Rahman for

Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on the films ''Shallow Grave (1994 film), Shallow Grave'' (1994), ''Trainspotting (film), Trainspotting'' (1996) and its sequel ''T2 Tra ...

's 2007 Hollywood film ''

'', Rahman and Gulzar won the

for

Best Original Song The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best ...

for " Jai Ho" at the

81st Academy Awards The 81st Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2008 and took place on February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, beginning at 5:30 ...

. The song received international acclaim and won him a

(shared with Rahman) in the category of

Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media (including its previous names) is the Grammy Awards awarded to songs written for films, television, video games or other visual media. Alan Menken has won five awards (out of nine nominatio ...

. He also wrote a song for the Pakistani Drama ''

Shehryar Shehzadi Syed Ahmed Kamran is a Pakistani television director. Filmography Television Drama series directed by Kamran include: * ''Taluq'' (Geo TV) * ''Chand Parosa'' (Geo TV) * ''Chemistry'' (Geo TV) * ''Tere Ishq Main'' (Geo TV) * ''Mere Khuwaboo ...

'', and this song ''Teri Raza'', has been sung by

Rekha Bhardwaj Rekha Bhardwaj is an Indian singer and live performer. She has received two Filmfare and one National Awards. In addition to Hindi, she has also sung in Bengali, Marathi, Punjabi and Malayalam languages. Personal life Bhardwaj was born ...

and was composed by

Direction

After writing dialogues and screenplay for films such as ''Aashirwad'', ''Anand'' and ''Khamoshi'', Gulzar directed his first film ''

'' (1971). The film was a remake of

Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...

's Bengali film ''

Apanjan ''Apanjan'', or simply ''Aponjon'' (English: ''One's own people)'' is a 1968 Indian Bengali language socio-political drama film directed by Tapan Sinha. The film is produced by R.K Kapoor under the banner of K.L Kapoor Productions and is based o ...

'' (1969).

Meena Kumari Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano; 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films. Known as "The Tragedy Queen", she is regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinem ...

played the lead role of Anandi Devi, an old widow caught in between the local fights of unemployed and tormented youngsters. Anandi Devi's death in one of the fights makes them realise the futility of violence. The film was rated "Above Average" at the box office. He then directed '' Parichay'' and ''

Koshish ''Koshish'' () is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama movie starring Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri, written and directed by Gulzar. The movie depicts a deaf and mute couple and their conflicts, pain and struggle to carve out a niche for ...

''. ''Parichay'' was based on a Bengali novel, ''Rangeen Uttarain'' by Raj Kumar Maitra and inspired from the Hollywood film ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

''. He wrote the story of ''Koshish'' based on the struggle faced by a deaf-dumb couple wherein

Sanjeev Kumar Sanjeev Kumar (born Harihar Jethalal Jariwala; 9 July 1938 – 6 November 1985) was an Indian actor. Considered as one of the greatest actors of Indian Cinema, he is well remembered for his versatility and genuine portrayal of his characters. ...

won

National Film Award for Best Actor The National Film Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film indus ...

. In 1973, he directed '' Achanak'', inspired by the 1958 murder case

KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra ''Commander K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra'' was a 1959 Indian court case where Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, a Naval Commander, was tried for the murder of Prem Ahuja, his wife's lover. Commander Nanavati, accused under section 302, was ...

, and the story writer

Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the ( Golden Palm Gr ...

earned a

Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...

nomination for Best Story. Later he directed ''

'', based on the Hindi novel "Kaali Aandhi" by Kamleshwar. Along with various wins and nominations, the film also won

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie The Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film is awarded during annual Filmfare Awards, given by the Filmfare magazine. The awards are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films in India. The yearly awards started in 1954. M ...

. Although the film was believed to be based on the life of former Indian Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

, the film was based on life of

Tarkeshwari Sinha Tarkeshwari Sinha (26 December 1926 – 14 August 2007) was an Indian politician and independence activist from Bihar. Among the first female politicians of the country, she took active role in the Quit India Movement. At the age of 26, she w ...

. In the 1975's emergency, the film was banned from theatres. His next film '' Khushboo'' was based on

Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicised as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee; 15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938) was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. He generally wrote about the lives of Bengali family and societ ...

's ''Pandit Mashay''. His '' Mausam'', which won the National Award for 2nd Best Feature Film, Filmfare Best Movie and Filmfare Best Director awards, along with other six Filmfare nominations, was loosely based on the story ''"Weather"'', from the novel, '' The Judas Tree'', by

A.J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (Cronogue) (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981) was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is '' The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish physician who serves in a Welsh mining village before achieving succes ...

. His 1982 film '' Angoor'' was based on

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's play ''

The Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play ...

''. His films told stories of human relationships entangled in social issues. '' Libaas'' was a story of an extra-marital affair of an urban couple. Due to its objectionable subject, the film never got released in India. ''Mausam'' pictured a story of a father who tries to improve the life of his prostitute-daughter. In ''

'', a young Punjabi boy engages in terrorism to fight a bad situation only to realise its temporary nature. ''

Hu Tu Tu ''Hu Tu Tu'' is a 1999 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Gulzar, starring Nana Patekar, Sunil Shetty, Tabu and Suhasini Mulay. Plot The story opens with the kidnapping of Panna Barve, the daughter of Chief Minister Malti Barve. T ...

'' dealt with corruption in India and how a man decides to fight it. Gulzar uses "flashback" in the narration of his stories very effectively (''Aandhi, Mausam, Ijaazat, Machis, Hu Tu Tu''). He also has mutual partnerships with various actors and other crew. The Gulzar –

partnership resulted in some fine films (''Koshish, Aandhi, Mausam, Angoor, Namkeen'') which represent Sanjeev Kumar's finest work as an actor. Actors like

Jeetendra Jeetendra (born Ravi Kapoor ; 7 April 1942) is an Indian actor who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. He is noted for his acting, style and dance. He has worked in more than Je ...

(''Parichay, Khushboo, Kinara''),

Vinod Khanna Vinod Khanna (6 October 1946 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, film producer, and politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Hindi cinema. Recognised as a style and fashion icon, he wa ...

(''Achanak, Meera, Lekin'') and

Hema Malini Hema Malini Dharmendra Deol (born 16 October 1948; ) is an Indian actress, director, producer, and politician who is currently serving as a member of the Lok Sabha from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), representing Mathura constituency since 2 ...

(''Khushboo, Kinara, Meera'') worked with Gulzar to gain respectability as artists and delivered some of their best and most introspective works in film.

R D Burman Rahul Dev Burman (; 27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director and singer, who is considered to be one of the greatest and most successful music directors of the Hindi film music industry. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman ...

composed songs for almost all the movies directed by him in the 1970s and the 1980s (''Parichay, Khushboo, Aandhi, Angoor, Ijaazat, Libaas''). Many of their popular songs were sung by

Kishore Kumar Kishore Kumar (born Abhas Kumar Ganguly; ; 4 August 1929 – 13 October 1987) was an Indian playback singer, musician and actor. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest, most influential and dynamic singers in the history of modern India ...

and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

. These include "Musafir Hoon Yaron" (''Parichay''), "Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi" (''Aandhi''), and " Mera Kuch Samaan" (''Ijaazat''). In 1988, Gulzar directed an

eponym An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

ous television serial ''

'', starring

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He was notable in Indian parallel cinema and has starred in various international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfa ...

and broadcast on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

. Later he also directed ''Tahreer Munshi Premchand Ki'' about the novels of

Premchand Dhanpat Rai Srivastava (31 July 1880 – 8 October 1936), better known as Munshi Premchand based on his pen name Premchand (), was an Indian writer famous for his modern Hindustani language, Hindustani literature. Premchand was a pioneer ...

Poetry

Gulzar primarily writes in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

; besides several other languages such as

Braj Bhasha Braj is a language within the Indo-Aryan language family spoken in the Braj region in Western Uttar Pradesh centered on Mathura. Along with Awadhi, it was one of the two predominant literary languages of North-Central India before gradually ...

, Khariboli,

Haryanvi Haryanvi (हरियाणवी or हरयाणवी) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Indian state of Haryana and the territory of Delhi. Haryanvi is considered to be part of the dialect group of Western Hindi, which a ...

and

Marwari Marwari may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India, largely in the Thar Desert ** Marwari people, an Indian ethnic group originating in the Marwar region ** Marwari language, the language of the Marwari ...

. His poetry is in the Triveni type of stanza. His poems are published in three compilations; ''Chand Pukhraaj Ka'', ''Raat Pashminey Ki'' and ''Pandrah Paanch Pachattar''. His short stories are published in ''Raavi-paar'' (also known as ''Dustkhat'' in Pakistan) and ''Dhuan'' (smoke). For the peace campaign '' Aman ki Asha'', jointly started by India's and Pakistan's leading media houses, Gulzar wrote the anthem "Nazar Main Rehte Ho", which was recorded by

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. In 2023, he was awarded an honorary doctorate (''honoris causa'' degree) by Birmingham Ci ...

and

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born 9 December 1974) is a Pakistani Punjabi singer, primarily Qawwali, a form of Sufi devotional music. Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid singers in Pakistan. He is the nephew of Nusrat Fateh Ali Kha ...

. Gulzar has written ghazals for Ghazal Maestro

Jagjit Singh Jagjit Singh (born Jagmohan Singh Dhiman; 8 February 1941 – 10 October 2011) was an Indian composer, singer and musician. He composed and sang in List of languages by number of native speakers in India, numerous languages and is credite ...

's albums "Marasim" (1999) and "Koi Baat Chale" (2006).

Other contributions

Gulzar has written lyrics and dialogues for several

TV series including ''

Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

'', ''

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'', '' Hello Zindagi'', ''Guchche'' and ''

Potli Baba Ki ''Potli Baba Ki'' (literally ''Baba's Bag'', can be inferred as ''Baba's Tales'') (1991) is an Indian children's puppet television series aired in India in 1991 on Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned ente ...

'' with

. He has more recently written and narrated for the children's audiobook series '' Karadi Tales''. Gulzar is also associated with Aarushi, Eklavya foundation, an NGO based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh working in the field of education. He has written stories and poetry for the magazine Chakmak. Gulzar has also worked in Bollywood movies like

, Omkara and many more.

Academic

In April 2013, Gulzar was appointed as the Chancellor of the

Assam University Assam University is a central public university located at Silchar, Assam, India. It was founded in the year 1994 by the provisions of an act enacted by the Parliament of India. Former Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha is the Chancellor, the Gover ...

Personal life

Gulzar is married to actress

Raakhee Raakhee Gulzar ( Majumdar) (; born 15 August 1947), professionally known as Raakhee, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi and Bengali films. One of the leading and most popular actresses of the 1970s and early 1980s, Raakhee is a ...

. The couple has a daughter,

Meghna Gulzar Meghna Gulzar is an Indian writer, director and producer. She is best known for directing critically acclaimed films; '' Talvar'' (2015) and '' Raazi'' (2018). Born to Gulzar and actress Raakhee, Gulzar joined her father as an assistant to ...

. Meghna Gulzar grew up with her mother and father and, after completing her graduation in filmmaking from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, went on to become a director of films such as '' Filhaal'', ''

Just Married ''Just Married'' is a 2003 romantic comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Sam Harper, and stars Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy as a young newlywed couple from different social classes who take their honeymoon to Europe, where obs ...

'', ''

Dus Kahaniyaan ''Dus Kahaniyaan'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language anthology film featuring ten different stories directed by a host of six directors: Sanjay Gupta, Apoorva Lakhia, Meghna Gulzar, Rohit Roy, Hansal Mehta and Jasmeet Dhodhi. The film feature ...

'',

Talvar ''Madan's Talwar'', later known as ''The Talvar'', was an early-20th-century Indian Nationalist periodical published from Berlin. Originally named after Madan Lal Dhingra, one of the heroes of the Indian independence movement who had been execu ...

, ''

Raazi ''Raazi'' () is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language spy thriller film directed by Meghna Gulzar and produced by Vineet Jain, Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta under the banners of Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions. It stars Al ...

'', ''

Sam Bahadur Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw (3 April 1914 – 27 June 2008), also known as Sam Bahadur ("the Brave") was an Indian Army general officer who was the Chief of the army staff during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, and ...

'' and Chhapaak (for which Gulzar wrote the lyrics) and authored the biography of her father Gulzar, in 2004.

Awards and nominations

As on 2019, Gulzar has won a total of 36 awards and honours, including 5

, 22

, Rashtriya Kishore Kumar Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh for 1999-2000, 1

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the Film industry, motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who h ...

(2008), 1

(2010), 2002 Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu,

(2004), and 2013

. He received the

Jnanpith Award The Jnanpith Award is the oldest and the highest Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their "outstanding contribution towards literature". Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian ...

in 2024.

Works

; Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ; Audiobooks * * ; English novel ''Two'' is Gulzar's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

released in English. It examines the status of refugees after partition. ''Two'' was originally written in Urdu. ; Comics Gulzar served as the Script Consultant for the '' Supremo'' comic book series by Pammi Bakshi. ; Theatre ''Chakkar Chalaaye Ghanchakkar''

Biographies

Books

* * * *

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gulzar 1934 births 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century pseudonymous writers Best Lyrics National Film Award winners Best Original Screenplay National Film Award winners Best Original Song Academy Award–winning songwriters Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients Directors who won the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment National Film Award Recipients of the Gangadhar National Award Film directors from Punjab, India Filmfare Awards winners Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award winners Film producers from Punjab, India Grammy Award winners Hindi-language film directors Hindi-language lyricists Hindi-language poets Indian Academy Award winners Indian male screenwriters Punjabi Sikhs Living people People from Jhelum District Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Urdu Urdu-language poets Urdu-language short story writers Urdu-language writers from India People from Punjab Province (British India)