“His life is a movie. He is the main character. He says his scripts and acts to his lines. Of course, he does his lines in each scene. There is a hidden camera and a director who he can ask for help anytime up above.”

Kavishala Celebrates the renowned lyricist and writer Gulzar turning 87 on Wednesday. He is among the most quoted poets of his generation in India and is adored by his fans.

Original name Sampooran Singh Kalra being born on 18th Aug 1934, known professionally as Gulzar Saab, is an Indian Lyricist, poet, author, screenwriter, and film director. Gulzar was born in a Sikh family as Sampooran Singh Kalra, to Makhan Singh Kalra and Sujan Kaur, in Jhelum District. In school, he was very much inspired by Rabindra Nath Tagore had read translations of the works of him which he recounted as one of his life's many turning points. During the India-Pakistan partition, his family split and he had to stop his studies and migrate to Mumbai to support his family. Sampooran took up many small jobs in Mumbai to eke out a living, including one at a garage at Vichare motors on Bellasis road. There he used to repair accident-damaged cars by mixing shades of paint, in his own words "I had a knack for colors". His father rebuked him for being a writer initially. He took the pen name Gulzar Deenvi and later simply Gulzar. He still recounted enjoying his work as a painter as it allowed him a lot of time to simultaneously read, write, attend college, and be involved with the PWA (Progressive Writers Association). Gradually, he started his early career along with music director S.D. Burman on the role of a lyricist in1963 film Bandini and worked with many music directors including R.D. Burman, Vishal Bhardwaj, and A.R. Rahman. He was honored with Padma Bhushan in 2004, the third-highest civilian award in India, the Sahitya Academy Award, and Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his great achievements in Indian cinema. He has won 5 several Indian National Film Awards, 22 Filmfare Awards, and one Grammy Award.

Gulzar also has a keen interest in writing poetry, dialogues, and scripts.

He had directed hit films such as Aandhi and Mausam during the 1970s and the TV series Mirza Ghalib which was among the top shows 1980s. Later on, in 1993 he directed Kirdaar.

According to the latest news Gulzar recently worked with his daughter Meghna Gulzar in her movie Chhapaak. The film starred Deepika Padukone in the lead as an acid attack survivor. He wrote the lyrics of the film's songs. He is also reportedly working on a book will which recount his encounters with stalwarts of Indian cinema, art, and literature, slated to release this year.

However, he knew that many acclaimed writers often get falsely attributed. "This whole thing is upsetting,” said Gulzar, adding, “I will not speak for myself but it pains me greatly when I find my ideal–the great Ghalib–being wronged thus!” He said, “All I can say is that I am in exalted company. Pranksters have spared no one, not even Ghalib."

A meticulous moment in Gulzar's Life :

In the year 2019, he said that one day two girls came knocking at his door, telling him all about how a poem was written by him had changed their lives.

The poem, they said, was called Auratein Bhi Ajeeb Hoti Hain (Women are strange, indeed). Gulzar, however, told them they were at the wrong address for he had not written any such poem. But the girls insisted they had read the poem, which was attributed to him on social media.

Gulzar has scores of fan pages on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They regularly share verses written by him but often misquote him too. About the issue, Gulzar had said, "Earlier I used to say 99% poems on Whatsapp posted as mine are wrongly attributed to me, but now I can say for sure that 100% of them are fake. I had written a poem called ‘Adatein bhi ajeeb hoti hain’ (Habits are strange, indeed) but I would certainly not write that women are strange!”