Gulzar, A Poet and Thinker Always in Search Of The Right Word

What makes Gulzar uniquely quirky even at 82 is his tireless search for the right words.

Humne dekhi hain in aankhon ki mehekti khushboo
Haath se chhoo ke issein rishton ka ilzaam na do
Sirf ehsaas hain yeh rooh se mehsoos karo
Pyaar ko pyaar hi rehne do koi naam do…

I was in class 10 and on a lark I gave my mother my slam book to fill. You know those little books with sections of ‘your favourite this and your favourite that’ that we’d give our friends to fill as a memoir? In the section ‘What is love’ my mother wrote these lines. They weren’t unfamiliar, this song is a family favourite, but reading them written by mother somehow made an indelible impact on my vulnerable 16 yr old mind. I have held them close ever since. I didn’t know who had written them back then, but over time that man would give me more such definitions, or rather undo existing definitions of love through his words, and continue to expand my world.

Indian cinema perhaps, is yet to see another example of intensity, intellect, diligence and temerity in one writer like Sampooran Singh Kalra, or Gulzar as we know him.

A consummate poet in a family of businessmen, Gulzar not only infused a new life into the language of love in Hindi cinema, but also changed the language of Hindi songs while moving with the times.

By his own confession he is always in quest of the right word because not only does the rhythm and metre matter, but language holds an entire world within them. In his very first directorial debut Mere Apne, we have a village bred Meena Kumari reprimanding city bred youngsters for abusing, saying zubaan aadmi ki pehchaan hain. We have the young huckster Vinod Khanna advising the philistine politician to speak in Urdu for more dramatic impact. We have another pretentious politician in Mehmood, who barely knows his English, but does understand the weight certain words carry.

In Mausam a shopkeeper relates the profession of Kajli (Sharmila Tagore) as a prostitute with her language- “vaishya hai sahib, zubaan nahi suni aapne?” he says. In Khushboo, little Charan (Master Raju) constantly berates his father for using abusive language, while the dialect switch among villagers informs a whole world of class differences.

This eye for language is not limited to the physicality of words; its value of communication almost always underscores his characters, especially in his earlier works. In Ijaazat and Namkeen they take a poetic form of expressing the inexpressible. If Maya expresses her keen desires through written words where we understand the free spirited vagabond she is, in Namkeen they become a vehicle of sheer communication as well for the mute Mitthi who is also a poet. In Aandhi they form the very bedrock of breakdown of communication and in Koshish they transcend themselves by accepting communication does not require words.

However, it is really in his songs that he truly manages to impress upon us the value of language and the word.

If there is the audacity of aankhon ki mehekti khushboo, woh raat bujha do, umr kabki baraske sufed ho gayi and personal se sawaal karti hain, there is the sheer lyricism of taaveez banaake pehnoon usey, aayat ki tarah mil jaaye kahin and paon ke tale kabhi, dil pada mile agar, choom kar uthaiye, khoob dekh bhaalkar, words drenched in the passion of undying love yet able to take themselves lightly enough.

Perhaps, it is due to his penchant for the right word that he makes a dazzling poet of children’s songs. The turn of phrase in Saa re ke saa re ga ma (Parichay), Chupdi chupdi Chachi (Chachi 420), Lakdi ki kaathi (Masoom) and the famous chaddi pehenke phool khila hain (Jungle Book) are ever-so-much fun without being flippant, a combination few have been able to manage with such seriousness.

Gulzar’s paeans of love, loss, nostalgia and connections have lasted through time because they speak an intimate and a very personal language of love, that makes us recognise aspects within that we haven’t met yet, but know all too very well. At 82, he continues to work tirelessly, always on the lookout for the next project to delve into with his heart and soul. But when he puts pen to paper it is the audience who really gets lucky.

May Gulzar keep dazzling us with his words and thoughts forever.