GULZAR : A VERSATILE PER$ONA .
LALIT BERRY
Usually attired in his signature white kurta pyjama, the versatile Gulzar aka Sampooran Singh Kalra has turned 85 today. Born on 18 August 1934 in a Kalra Sikh family to Makhan Singh and Sujan Kaur in Deena, Jhelum District ( now in Pakistan), he took the pen name Gulzar Deenvi and later simply Gulzar. To support his family after partition he had to take up many small jobs in Mumbai including one at a car garage.
Gulzar began his Bollywood career with filmmaker Bimal Roy as a songwriter for the movie Bandini ( 1963). He wrote the song ' Mora Gora Ang Layile' sung by Lata Mangeshkar. So far he has written songs for 142 films. As a lyricist he had a close association with R D Burman.
After writing dialogues and screenplays for films like Aashirwad, Anand and Khamoshi, Gulzar directed his first film Mere Apne (1971). Actors like Sanjeev Kumar, Jeetendra, Vinod Khanna, Dharmendra, Hema Malini and Jaya Bhaduri ( now Jaya Bachchan ) worked with Gulzar to gain respectability as artists.
Gulzar has written lyrics and dialogues for several TV series including Jungle Book and Potli Baba Ki. He directed an eponymous TV serial Mirza Ghalib. He also directed Tahreer Munshi Prem Chand Ki for Doordarshan about the novels of Munshi Prem Chand.
His short stories are published in Raavi Paar and Dhuan. His poems are published in three compilations : Chand Pukhraj Ka, Raat Pashminey Ki and Pandrah Paanch Pachattar.
He is recipient of Padma Bhushan , Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Sahitya Akademy Award. He has won 21 Filmfare Awards, several National Awards, one Grammy Award and an Oscar for the song 'Jai Ho' at the 81st Academy Awards for 2007 Hollywood film Slumdog Millionaire.
As ardent fans we wish him abundant happiness in his life.