Gulzar, unique and a contradiction

Gulzar has freed the Urdu poem from its high-vertical Indo-Persian conferences and time-to-time collection. , Photo Credit: V. Surson

What can you give to a person who already has the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for Lifetime Achievement in 22 Filmfare Awards, Ek Gummy, An Oscar, and Indian Cinema? Answer: A Jnipith Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award in Indian Literature. It was given to Gulzar a few days ago. No person has come close to winning both these awards first, and it represents both specificity and contradiction of Gulzar.

Mainly known for the lyrics of his film, Gulzar has become part of the emotional landscape of Indians of many generations. But cinema in India is still considered to be normal and low-bloom and is a tainted. Gulzar’s cinematic celebrity has thus asserted his literary achievement as the Urdu poet of the supreme order. His Nagme (Song) has received it Nazmen (Poems), rather Rahu accepts the moon. Gulzar himself gives literature awards above cinema. As he once kept it, movies are like clouds that come and rain and then roll while literature has a permanent appearance, such as a blue sky up.

Gulzar is being presented with 58th Gyanpith Award at his residence in Mumbai on 22 May 2025: Getty images

Gulzar’s courageous originality as a poet begins with the fact that the composition is not the main form of his composition. Ghazal But Nazammore popular Ghazal The stand-alone is a series of couplets that is only connected by the clakey-clake rhyme-ward, a certain-ignorance-category. A NazamIn contrast, there is a poem on the same subject, which the poet search for some length. It is often quietly contemplated in tone.

Gulzar has often moved forward by sacrificing rhyme, which Faiz and Firaq also trusted for him NazmeCrossing another border, his unpublished poem often turns into a free poem, as he also leaves the meter in favor of the lines of uneven length. Another feature that her poem makes cosmopolitan and modern is her penchant for short imagist poems, where a widely developed image speaks for itself.

Love and burning cars

In the context of his subjects, Gulzar has freed the Urdu poetry from his high-vertical Indo-Persian conferences and timely collisions. Their subjects range from mundan to cosmic speculation in their subjects. Each morning, he says in one NazamHe is given an allowance of one day, but by evening, it slipped from his pocket or snatched by someone; The day is chopped like a chopped and chopped lamb.

But nature heals. Gulzar gave us a glimpse of the boats, in which the Pal has to be completely puffed up, as if his breath is holding. We look at the mountains with their peaks floating between the clouds, their legs are firmly applied in icy water, and there is a loud air about them. And even above there are cosmic bodies. This sun is a dwarf/ it cannot illuminate every crane of me,

Gulzar’s love poetry is also refreshed. Their lover is not half crazy teenagers, for whom they do not know what not; Rather, they are adults who have already experienced Bitwatch love with many unions and isolations. I broke a pair of dry branches from my past/ … You also produced some old and crumpled letters,

In the wide world, cars burning on the streets and ramping in gangs in rioters. Why don’t you show it eitherThe poet asks, In a Republic Day tableau?

Full spectrum

Apart from poems, Gulzar has also written more than one hundred short stories, a novel, books for children, and a screenplay for biopics on Meera and Ghalib. He created a tele-series on Premchand’s short stories, and translated two versions of Tagore’s poems into Urdu.

He has edited 954-Page Anthology-from Snag A poem a day – With both Hindi and English translations, 279 from 34 different languages ​​by modern poets 365 poems. It took him nine years to complete. He is a writer who is soaked in literature and is dedicated to all its forms.

Gulzar’s poems and poems are like twins born from the same womb, but then separated, widely to follow different life-lightning-like in many old Bollywood films Ram and ShyamLast year, a lucky but even in the hands, Gulzar’s more than 650 Nazme/ Poems were published in a bilingual Urdu/ Hindi-English version Bal-o cross, Fur and wings (With English translations by Rakhshanda Jalil), while his 500 film songs were collected under the title title Gangunai (With us).

Once traveling together with Gulzar, I whispered a sophisticated looking woman of a certain age at Goa Airport in a trembling tone for her partner: “Can’t believe that I am standing just 10 feet away from Gulzar. Saheb“There is hope that she could not only do some songs by Gulzar, but also read some of her. NazmeReal goods.

The author studied English at Delhi University.