INFORMATION
| Artist Birthday : | 18/08/1934 (Age 90) |
| Born In : | Kalra |
| Occupation(s) : | Film director, lyricist, screenwriter, producer, poet, author |
| Genres : | Singer |
Born as Sampooran Singh Kalra in Jhelum district (now in Pakistan), Gulzar is one of the finest lyricists in the Hindi film industry. His dexterous writing and his impeccable style of poetry has established him as one of the most respected people in India. After the partition of India, Gulzar’s family migrated from Dina to Mumbai. He did a few small jobs to support his family before finally becoming a writer.
Initially, he adopted the name Gulzar Deenvi but later stuck to Gulzar only. At the PWA Sunday meetings, he was encouraged by lyricists Shailendra and director Bimal Roy.
Gulzar’s film career began with SD Burman in the 1963 movie Bandini. He wrote the song “Mora Gora Ang Layle”, which was sung by Lata Mangeshkar. Since then, he has worked with generations of Indian music directors. Next he wrote dialogues and lyrics for the 1968 film Aashirwad. However, his lyrics didn’t gain widespread attention until the 1969 film Khamoshi in which his song “Humne Dekhi Hai” became a hit. His song “Humko Man Ki Shakti Dena” for the 1971 film Guddi is still sung as a prayer in many schools.
He has also worked as a director in critically acclaimed movies like Aandhi and Mausam. After his directorial ventures in film in 1970s, he went on to direct the TV series Mirza Ghalib in 1980s and Kirdaar in 1993.
His multi-talented portfolio of works isn’t complete without his poetry and short stories. His stories are published in several collections, including “Half a Rupee Stories.” He has also written scripts and dialogues. Some of his most popular songs are “Musafir Hoon Yaaron”, “Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi” and “Mera Kuch Saaman”. “Chhod Aye Hum Wo Galiyan”, “Chappa Charkha Chale” and “Chhaiya” from the movies Machis and Dil Se are some of his most popular works.
The third highest civilian award in India- Padma Bhushan was conferred upon him in 2004. He has also been awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He has won a total of 20 Filmfare Awards, National Film Awards, one Academy Award and one Grammy Award. The Grammy and Oscar came for Danny Boyle’s film “Slumdog Millionaire” for the song “Jai Ho”.
Gulzar is married to film actress Raakhi. They both have a daughter Meghna Gulzar who is an acclaimed film director and has given Bollywood some of its most thoughtful films, including Filhal.
