Gulzar

Kabhi toot gaya, kabhi toda gaya

[Chor Machaye Shor, 1974]

Words are funny things, under mediocre writers they are ephemeral and colloquial, under strong pen wielders they surcharge the emotions, and under magicians like Gulzar they are annoyingly beautiful. Like flushes of unrestrained brilliance, they shake you up from within, leaving you with a sweet lullaby-like hangover, creating the urge to feel those lines again and again.

Kuch Adhkhule Kore Panne, Meri Zindagi

Sampuran Singh ?Gulzar? was born in 1936, near Sialkot, in erstwhile united India. Having witnessed partition early in his life, which left a vast impact on the impressionable teenage mind, Gulzar?s work has always been soaked in a humane empathy where drama is often circumstantial and words mean much more than what they are supposed to mean. He started off as an assistant to the mercurial legendary director, Bimal Roy, helping him finalizing the screenplay and occasionally doubling up as lyricist. Bimal Roy gave him his first break as lyricist as Gulzar wrote ?Ganga aayo kahan se? in Kabuliwala(1961).

Gulzar struggled for meaningful work as the breed of intellectual film makers like Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt passed away in a span of year and Hindi movie making got reduced to colourful razzmatazz. In between he carved out eclectic songs for Bandini, Khamoshi, and Do Dooni Chaar and finally under N C Sippy directed his first feature, ?Mere Apne?(1971). ?Parichay? happened next and whilst making Parichay, he happened to work with an eccentric, westernized music composer called Rahul Dev Burman and funnily, they went on to change each other?s lives.

?Parichay?, loosely inspired from ?Sound of Music?, was about music entering the lives of a bunch of naughty kids and a tight-lipped colonel. Gulzar remembers fondly how Pancham called him at mid-night to announce the creation of ?Beeti na beetai raina?, they would drove around for hours at night creating tunes. Next in line was ?Koshish? - an empathic tale of a deaf-and-dumb couple (played brilliantly by Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri) for which he won a national award (Sanjay Bhanushali was inspired to create ?Khamoshi? which is essentially Koshish part two).

Another jewel in Gulzar?s repertoire is the presence of Sanjeev Kumar, undoubtedly the master of emoting, attempted with nonchalance. He could infuse the pain and subtle chronic humor of pain in ways which probably blended best with Gulzar?s cinema. From a loving musician father in ?Parichay? to an estranged husband in ?Aandhi? to the rustic truck driver of ?Namkeen? , Gulzar wove suits of complex characters and Sanjeev Kumar fitted as nonchalantly as ever.

Aandhi, in my view was a bold attempt, few film makers could dare a direct take on Mrs G; but few were probably expecting the brilliance with which ?Aandhi? was done. In spite of a faulty-accented Suchitra Sen (endearingly beautiful despite being in her forties at that time), ?Aandhi? was a like a well executed symphony, making strong political comments despite not being overtly loud about it.

Ek Puraana Mausam Lauta, Yaado ko Sanjoye Hue

?Mausam? in my opinion is his zenith, the peaking of his mature storytelling. His different ways of looking at the man-woman relationship bordering on incest, was novel yet was done with extreme sensitivity. Unlike mainstream peers like Yash Chopra, who had more musical and lyrical approach of building stories, Gulzar let silence and poignant expressions do justice to his work. Equally enchanting were his songs set on tune by the great Madan Mohan.

?Aankho pe kheech kar tere aanchal ke saaye ko

Dil dhoondta ta hai phir wohi fursat ke raat din?

Gulzar was equally brilliant with kids, be it ?Kitab? with the famous Masterjee song (supposedly done by Pancham with only desks and benches) or ?Lakdi ki kathi? of ?Masoom?. He also had a knack of extracting powerful performances from non-actors like Jeetendra and Hema Malini in ?Kinara? and ?Khusboo? (strictly my views!).

Gulzar helped extracting the best of Pancham, and also helped in experimenting with unheard voices, like that of the bass-guitarist under Pancham, Bhupender. From ?Raina beeti jaaye? to ?Naam ghum jaayega? to ?Thodi si zameen? the combination is spell binding (not to forget the support of the nightingale). Even recently with ?Sunset Point? or with ?Satya?, Bhupinder-Gulzar combo has worked wonders:

?Yu laga tha jaise ek gungunata aab-e-shar dekha tha

Ye mujhe kya ho gaya?

[Felt as if I saw a humming stream; since then you stay in my dreams, talking a lot and giggling. I keep asking your name from those who don?t know you; what has happened to me? ]

Aasman Ek Budhe Baba, Samay ko Roke Hue

Gulzar perhaps is the quintessential wise old man of our cinema, recreating magic out of innocuous looking normal words. His word usage surprises one with impetuous arrogance, and yet chuckles into the heart because of their warmth. Who else can create a fictitious character called ?Zindagi? and make us instantly fall in love with it (?Ae Zindagi gale laga le?, Sadma). Who else can create weepy couches out of ailing hearts (?Geela man shayad bistar ke paas pada tha?, Ijazat).

Among Indian lyricists Gulzar, probably is a class apart, because he?s a complete artist, a perfectionist who believes in creating his own definitions. Probably Shailendra or Sahir would closely follow with their aura but when it comes to art in its entity, Gulzar would barely have any rivals. Ending with the maestro?s words:

?Thodi si zameen, thoda aasman

Tinko ka bas yahi aashiyan?

[A bit of the earth, and a bit of the sky, is all what spans the existence of specks]