By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
तुम आ गए हो नूर आ गया है
नहीं तो चराग़ों से लौ जा रही थी
जीने कि तुमसे वजह मिल गई है
बड़ी बेवजह ज़िंदगी जा रही थी
Born in a Sikh family, Sampooran Singh Kalra professionally known as Gulzar in film circles, is indeed a noted lyricist, producer, director & poet . He started as a songwriter with “Mora Gora Ang Lai Le” in ‘Bandini’ (1963) starring Ashok Kumar, Nutan & Dharmendra. The film won National Award & 5 Filmfare Awards. He came into limelight with “Mere Apne” featuring Meena Kumari , Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna & Danny, a story of two rival groups of youths . In the days that followed all the major characters became top stars and ruled the roost for decades. The film was directed by Gulzar in 1971.

“Koshish” & “Parichay” added more feathers into his cap to further add to his popularity. In mid 1970s Gulzar made a hat-trick with three wonderful movies-‘Aandhi’, ‘Khushboo’ & ‘Mausam’ & received appreciation from various quarters as a man of substance.
He also penned lyrics of films like – ‘Thodisi Bewafaii’, ‘Chachi 420’, ‘Lekin’, ‘Rudaali’, ‘Maya Memsaab’ & ‘Maachis’ to mention few. Married noted actress Rakhee Gulzar in 1973. Meghna Gulzar is their daughter.

Bestowed with many accolades including 5 National Film Awards, 22 Filmfare Awards, 1 Academy Award for Best Original Song (2008), 1 Grammy Award (2010 ) Padma Bhushan (2004), and Dada Saheb Phalke Award ( 2013),Gulzar is also known for his directorial ventures- Parichay, Mausam & Angoor.
कुछ सुस्त क़दम रस्ते कुछ तेज़ क़दम राहें
पत्थर की हवेली को शीशे के घरोंदों में
तिनकों के नशेमन तक इस मोड़ से जाते हैं
इस मोड़ से जाते हैं
