In January this year, the authorised biography ‘Gulzar Saab: Hazara Rahein Mud Ke Dekhin…’ of legendary filmmaker, lyricist and poet was launched in Mumbai
Our Bureau
Mumbai/Srinagar
Legendary lyricist and poet Gulzar will be honoured with the Jnanpith Award. According to the selection committee, the 58th Jnanpith Award for the year 2023 has been awarded to Swami Rambhadracharya for Sanskrit and Shri Gulzar for Urdu.
Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar, has penned several memorable and iconic songs in Hindi cinema. He started his career as a lyricist with the film ‘Kabuliwala’, starring Balraj Sahni. He has penned songs and scripts in numerous films, and also directed several acclaimed feature films including ‘Maachis’, ‘Aandhi’, ‘Mausam’, ‘Khushboo’, ‘Parichay’ and ‘Koshish’.
He has earlier received the Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu in 2002, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, and at least five National Film awards for his works.
On this, Gulzar expressed gratitude to his fans in a video message. He said, “I would like to thank all those people who chose me for the Jnanpith Award and also those people who listen to my poetry and Shayari in the Urdu language.”
He added, “I was thinking that maybe it is because of the film and music, people are not aware of listening to poetry and Shayari. But, when the announcement of the Jnanpith Award came, I felt that people were still interested in listening to Urdu poetry and Shayari. I felt so happy.”
He started his career as a lyricist with the film ‘Kabuliwala’, starring Balraj Sahni.
In January this year, the authorised biography ‘Gulzar Saab: Hazara Rahein Mud Ke Dekhin…’ of legendary filmmaker, lyricist and poet Gulzar was launched in Mumbai. The book is written by National Award-winning author Yatindra Mishra and published by Vani Prakashan Group.
Swarna Kamal awardee, poet, writer and music scholar Yatindra Mishra has compiled his interactions over 15 years with Gulzar in the book. Publisher Arun Maheshwari of the sixty years old Vani Prakashan Group believes that this book will become a collectible for generations.
“Gulzar Saab: Hazara Rahein Mud Ke Dekhin… will open alleys of learnings and stories about the master craftsman Gulzar saab. Yatindra has done a commendable work in delicately compiling his interactions with the legend,” he averred. The CEO of the group, Aditi Maheshwari believes that this book will contribute poetic continuity to the legendry generation of Gulzar to the younger ones. There will be a lot to learn from this book.
The book is a critical biography of Gulzar by Yatindra Mishra. Through a decade and a half year of interactions with Gulzar, the author has gathered stories, reminiscences and understanding that transforms into a book. The book analyses the films, poems, songs and screenplay as well as the dialogues written by India’s much-loved writer in detail. It details some films through the screenplays and dialogues and his own directorial techniques.
His unique phraseology and song writing technique is explored and explained sometimes in comparison with the work of other writers, lyricists and poets. An extensive dialogue with Gulzar forms a significant portion of the book. The research and conversations and the author’s own knowledge of music make this a unique tool into understanding and appreciating Gulzar.
Gulzar’s many famous books have been published by Vani Prakashan Group (Vani Prakashan and Bharatiya Jnanpith) and many have been bestsellers. ‘Kuch To Kahiye…’ (Hindi and Urdu), ‘Yaar Julahe… Gulzar’ (Hindi and Urdu), ‘Pluto’ (Hindi and Urdu), ‘Dyori’ (Hindi and Urdu), ‘Kusumagraj Ki Chuni Suni Nazmen’, ‘Pandrah Panch Pachahattar’, ‘Jeena Yahaan…’, ‘Manzarnama in 2 volumes’ (Hindi and Urdu), ‘Guchha’ (box edition) and ‘Pasya Panne’. He has had a beautiful relationship of trust and creativity with the publishing house for more than two decades.
