Happy Birthday Gulzar: Before he was Gulzar, the writer who will leave behind an indelible impression in the literary and cinematic world of India—he was Sampooran Singh Kalra, a young man living in Bombay making ends meet by working in a motor garage. His job entailed creating paint colours and fixing cars which were damaged due to accidents. Though writing was his passion, making money out of it seemed highly unlikely.
In years to come, the very same young man would become an Oscar and Grammy winner, be awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award and be conferred the Jnanpith award. Here is a peek into the amazing journey of how Gulzar who will turn 92 years old on August 18, transformed from a young man in a motor garage in Bombay to an established personality in the world of cinema and literature.
Born Sampooran Singh Kalra, Gulzar’s Life Changed After Partition
Gulzar was born on 18th August 1934 as Sampooran Singh Kalra in Dina, which is now located in Pakistan. Partition and the separation of his family was a defining factor in his life in its early stages. But even during those times, his passion for literature had already started developing. Gulzar has talked about his admiration for Urdu and about how reading Rabindranath Tagore became one of the landmarks in his younger days.
Writing was not a practical profession according to his family members. As Gulzar himself has remembered, he was always being told to get a proper job as it was thought that one could not earn money by writing books.
Gulzar Once Painted Accident-Damaged Cars At A Garage
Gulzar got various employment opportunities after reaching Bombay for sustaining himself. His one among those was at a motor garage, where he did colour mixing and painting of cars, which were damaged. However, he was not fed up with his occupation. This work provided him enough freedom to keep on reading and writing. Through this literary sphere, Gulzar came across established writers and then to Shailendra, who was a lyricist and suggested him to meet legendary film director Bimal Roy.
How Bimal Roy Took Gulzar From The Garage To Bollywood
Gulzar got the chance to contribute towards Bimal Roy’s Bandini (1963). His first film song was the famous one ‘Mora Gora Ang Lai Le’ which was written for SD Burman music and Lata Mangeshkar vocals. Bimal Roy later inspired the budding writer to quit his garage work and work under him.
It turned out to be the start of the long career that would eventually go much further than just song writing. Gulzar became a screen writer and film maker who directed such acclaimed movies like Mere Apne, Koshish, Aandhi, Khushboo, Angoor and Maachis. He also made the acclaimed TV series “Mirza Ghalib.” As a lyricist, his works went through different generations of musicians, starting from SD Burman and RD Burman to Vishal Bhardwaj and AR Rahman.
‘Jai Ho’ Took Gulzar All The Way To The Oscars
One of the important international landmarks in the career of Gulzar has come about because of Slumdog Millionaire. Gulzar along with AR Rahman received the Academy Award for Best Original Song for ‘Jai Ho’ at the 2009 Oscars. Following which the song also helped Gulzar win an important international award when he, Rahman and Tanvi Shah received the Grammy for ‘Best Song Written for Visual Media’ in 2010. However, cinema is not all that makes up Gulzar’s legacy as a poet and a writer.
From A Garage To Dadasaheb Phalke And Jnanpith
For decades now, Gulzar has been honoured with some of the most prestigious awards in both film and literature. He has received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, Padma Bhushan in 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2013, which is India’s highest award in the field of cinema. For his contribution towards literature, he was chosen for the Jnanpith Award. This surely makes his story more remarkable in its beginning.
The youthful Sampooran Singh Kalra who used to spend his days picking paint colours for cars in Bombay, found yet another canvas, words. From Mora Gora Ang Lai Le to Jai Ho and from poetry to some of the most respected films in Hindi cinema, the road from Bombay’s garage sure was not an ordinary one.
Sunny Singh is a Journalist and Content Writer with a strong affinity for Bollywood and Hollywood insiders, music and more. Somewhat of a writer and poet himself, he thrives on giving life to words and deliver all you need to know about the entertainment sector.
The post Gulzar B’Day SPL: From Painting Damaged Cars In A Garage To Winning An Oscar — The Remarkable Journey Of Sampooran Singh Kalra appeared first on NewsX.
