Gulzar: Birthday Tribute
He once said, “I had a knack for colours.” And perhaps, he never really stopped working with colours.
He simply traded the paintbrush for a pen. Before Gulzar painted pictures with words, he was literally painting cars.
Born as Sampooran Singh Kalra in 1934, Gulzar came to Bombay after Partition and worked at a garage repairing accident-damaged cars by mixing shades of paint.
In 1963, he began his film career as a lyricist, but Gulzar didn’t remain just a lyricist. He became a poet, screenwriter, filmmaker, and eventually, the writer of “Jai Ho,” which won him an Oscar and a Grammy.
Video: Roberto Rossellini – Neorealist Pioneer
His films explored human relationships, loneliness, society, and memory, with stories like Aandhi, Mausam, Koshish, and Ijaazat. And in 2024, he received the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor.
From mixing colors in a Mumbai garage to coloring generations of Indian cinema with words, he makes the invisible feel visible. So on his birthday, here’s to the man who taught us that sometimes, the simplest words can carry the deepest emotions.
