Exclusive: Gulzar Remembers Dilip Kumar, His Khoobsurat Urdu and His 'O Yaara!'

Gulzar talks to us about his memories of the legendary Dilip Kumar

It's well known how a remark from the late Dilip Kumar made Lata Mangeshkar determined to learn Urdu when she was just starting off as a playback singer in the 1940s. Dilip saab was very particular about the use of Urdu both in terms of diction and delivery, and who better than veteran filmmaker, writer and poet Gulzar to tell us about Dilip saab's affinity to Urdu.

"I knew Dilip saab quite closely, I was an assistant on his film Sunghursh in 1968, he was a senior. Urdu unki zabaan thi. His medium was Urdu - Pashto, Persian. He was a Pathan from Peshawar, so his mother tongue was Pashto, he knew Farsi as well, Farsi is Persian. Unki Urdu bahut khoobsurat thi, Urdu ka talafuz bahut sahi tha. He came from a family that traditionally spoke Urdu in day-to-day life, either Urdu or Pashto, which is also a very beautiful language," recalls Gulzar.

Dilip Kumar started his stint in films as a scriptwriter for Bombay Talkies, so he was well-versed in writing dialogues and scenes in Urdu. He continued to do that even as an actor. "Dilip saab used to write very well in Urdu as well. He used to write his dialogues in Urdu to memorise them. He used to add to his own lines as well, it was well-known that Dilip saab used to write his scenes himself, to memorise them and he was fond of writing as well," says Gulzar.

'Dilip saab Loved Reciting Nazeer Akbarabadi'

The 86-year-old writer and poet also remembers Dilip saab's fondness for poet Nazeer Akbarabadi. "I have heard him quote Nazeer Akbarabadi's nazms several times. He used to recite them beautifully. Somewhere this has been a tradition with the whole of Punjab and the North West Frontier. He used to quote from several poets but Nazeer Akbarabadi was a constant in Dilip saab's recitations. He used to be passionate about reading Akbarabadi's poems. During the making of Sunghursh, we were together, I was the writer and assistant, we were shooting in Bangalore. At that time I listened to several poetry recitations by Dilip saab and many of them were Nazeer Akbarabadi's writings."

Gulzar also reminds us that Dilip saab ki zabaan hamare culture ki zabaan hai, "Indian cinema ki zabaan bhi toh Urdu hai. Even after Independence for 25-30 years the same language continued, then the flavour of Hindi was added to it. What we call Hindustani today is a mix of Urdu and Hindi. For example, when we say izzat, we don't say ijjat, we pronounce it as izzat. Similarly, we say zyada not jyada, so the sounds of Urdu have been added to Hindi and it has made it beautiful. Also, there are sounds from Hindi which have become a part of Urdu, for example, if I say "bada gunnvati aadmi hai" the word "gunn" is from Hindi, from Sanskrit. Urdu zabaan Hindustan ki zabaan hai, Hindustan mein hi bani hai. Iski script zaroor Persianised hai, lekin zabaan jo hai woh typical Hindustani hai. Dilip saab ki zabaan hamare culture se mili hui zabaan hai, hamare hi culture ki zabaan hai."

On Dilip Kumar's Cold War with Vyjayanthimala

During our conversation, Gulzar chuckles and remembers an episode between Dilip saab and Vyjayanthimala on the sets of HS Rawail's Sunghursh.

"I remember, I was writing Sunghursh for HS Rawail, and Dilip saab used to speak typical Pathani Punjabi. He used to call me with a typical Pathani expression like, "O yaara... O yaara...!" or "O yaara... ik gall sunn" he used to speak in Punjabi like that. During those days, he and Vyjayanthimala were not on talking terms, they had had a fight. But when they did romantic scenes together, no one got to know that they were having a cold war. Since I was the writer and assistant on the film he used to tell me, "O yaara, oo kudi nu kehde zara dekh le", he meant - 'I am rehearsing, so ask her (Vyjayanthimala) to see my movements'. At that time they didn't speak to each other, kutti thi dono ki."

Gulzar On Dilip Kumar's Special Appearance In 'Koshish'

I remind Gulzar that Dilip Kumar had made a friendly appearance in his film Koshish starring Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri. It's a scene in which Sanjeev and Jaya (who play deaf and mute) dial random numbers from a public telephone and one of the calls happen to reach Dilip Kumar's home.

"I wanted a shot in which Dilip Kumar picks up the phone, that Sanjeev Kumar dials randomly. So I requested Dilip saab, and told him that I am making a film on a deaf and mute couple, at that time we used to say 'deaf and mute' only. Dilip saab agreed, he was shooting at Raj Kamal studios for Bairaag at the time, so he asked me to come there. Asit Sen was the director of Bairaag, so I asked him for permission to get my camera and take one shot of Dilip Kumar. But Dilip saab said, you just come on your own and told Asit Sen to shoot the scene on his camera and give me the footage after developing it. Dilip saab said - 'why do you want to lug a camera around all the way for just one shot?' So Asit da also agreed, I knew both of them very well," remembers Gulzar on how Dilip saab's cameo came about.

When Dilip Kumar Shot for Gulzar Again

Koshish wasn't the last time Dilip Kumar shot for Gulzar. The thespian agreed to do a public service video that Gulzar was making for an institute for the deaf without any qualms.

"I made a promotional film for an institute of the deaf which used to be here in Mumbai. For that I requested Dilip saab to give me 4 hours for a shoot. At that time he used to work for an association for the blind. It was very very graceful of him to give us his time and work for that video for the institute of the deaf. He brought 3 or 4 dresses from his home because he didn't know what the set was like. He told me - 'I have got 3 or 4 different colours, see what suits you best'. He spent almost the entire day shooting for the promotional film. He was a great man."

A great man with a gentle heart indeed.