On August I8 this year, writer, director Gulzar turned 90. A day earlier, I left a message on his phone to wish him. Gulzar has always been shy of people fussing over him on his birthday and as far as possible, always disappeared with his family to an undisclosed destination.
Initially, it felt a little strange that a celebrated artist like him didrn’t want to stay connected with his loved ones on his special day but the film industry is made up of all kinds of people—the socialites, the show-offs and the recluse— Gulzar falls in the last category, consistently low-profile and avoiding the spotlight. Part of it is his inherent nature and part of it probably impacted by the creative minds surrounding him at that time.
Gulzar was part of Bimal Roy Productions and it was here that he met the legendary composers D Burman and Salil Chowdhury and befriended filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee and soulmate R D Burman. Over a period, Gulzar emerged as a bankable lyricist-writer-director of his time. With success came security. He now had a home of his own, a bungalow on Pali Hill, married Raakhee and then came along their daughter, Gulzar's heartbeat, Meghana.
In the coming decades, Gulzar was the favourite of both the audience and the film fraternity. Superstars, be it Rajesh Khanna in Anand or Dharmendra in Chupke Chupke, mouthed his dialogues or sang his songs on screen. He worked with all generations of superstars. Sharmila Tagore-Sanjeev Kumar in Mausam; Jaya Bhaduri-Jeetendra in Parichay; Sanjeev Kumar-Jaya Bhaduri in Koshish; Hema Malini in Khushboo and Kinara; the empress of Bengal, Suchitra Sen in Aandhi and Tabu in Maachis and Hu Tu Tu.
In recent years, Gulzar has taken a backseat from filmmaking and is only focussed on writing lyrics. His songs reflect the ‘nav-rasas’ of life – there is beauty, romance, humour, pain, valour and wonderment. From S D Burman in Bandini, R D Burman in Aandhi and Ijaazat, followed by Vishal Bharadwaj in Maachis, A R Rahman in Dil Se and recently, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy in Sam Bahadur, Gulzar has adapted to diverse styles and changing times.
What is special about him is that he is constantly reinventing himself. He has flirted with theatre –Kharaashein, Libaas -- and no matter how busy his schedule, he systematically publishes a couple of books every year.
His daily routine for decades has been fairly monotonous – a game of table tennis at Khar Gymkhana in the mornings, undisturbed writing time at the desk, followed by a tea break and a long walk at the Joggers Park in the evenings. In my long career as a journalist, I have never seen him at premieres and mahurats. He is not attracted to fashion, brands and has worn the same style of clothes and shoes for decades. His wife Raakhee once told me that his tailor has never met him but has been sending clothes cut to the same measure, for decades. The same with his shoes and mojris. When the old fades out, the new stock is replaced organically.
Gulzar has a few close friends he enjoys spending time with and they say he has no distractions, barring work. For the rest, he is inaccessible and therefore there are many perceptions about him. Some describe him as aloof and standoffish but the fact is Gulzar is content and contained and most people confuse contentment for arrogance. Gulzar has never sought validation. What matters to him is selfexpression and he does that through his songs, his poetry, his books.
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