CAFE
COM:PORT
CHAT JOCKEYS
EVENTS

'Sarcasm didn't work, so I hit direct'

Gulzar was his usual articulate self when he came for the Rediff Chat. He talked about his films, his poetry, his philosophy and his friends. He even presented a sample of his poetry, on request from his fans.

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:25 IST)
Adaab everybody, nice meeting you all :-)

Mausam (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:22 IST)
Is Gulzaar saab here??

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:29 IST)
Mausam: Main aa gaya hoon bas aap ki kami si hai:-)

Milind Desai (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:31 IST)
Sir, when is Libaas releasing?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:31 IST)
Milind Desai: It is still in the laundry, I'm not sure of the producer's plan. Vikas Mohan, editor and proprietor of Complete Cinema, is the producer of the film. Ask him:-)

Vinay (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:30 IST)
Sir, Dil Se ke baare mein aap kya sochte hain? To be frank, I was disappointed by the overall effect.

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:32 IST)
Vinay: Visually, very very charming. Script required a little more clarity, the music was a superb experience. The fog in the visuals looked good but the fog in the story was blinding.

Mehta (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:31 IST)
Gulzar Sir, Why has Gulzar became a revolutionist who shouts against social and political corruption? You never made movies on these subjects before, (Aandhi was a bit of an exception, not fully). Why now ?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:36 IST)
Mehta: My very first film, Mere Apne had this political tone -- the relations of the youth with the politicians of the time, which was updated in Maachis. If you carefully look into the subjects you will find Hu Tu Tu is the updating of Aandhi. In between there was New Delhi Times and some other films also which referred to the socio-political conditions of our times. So it's not as abrupt as you feel.

Ajit Singh (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:35 IST)
Do you miss RD, Gulzar saab? I miss your partnership a lot!

Swastik (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:37 IST)
Gulzar saheb, Pancham ke baad Pancham ki said-reincarnation Jatin-Lalit ke saath kaam karne ka anubhav kaisa raha?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:39 IST)
Ajit Singh: Swastik: RD was RD! Pancham to me was a friend. There can't be a duplicate of him. Everybody comes with one's own identity and that is more credible than being a reincarnation of some departed soul. Let RD be in peace. I miss him a lot...you can't put a vaccum into words.

Pavanjha (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:32 IST)
Question from Kashif (USA) I wanted to get your opinion about the future of Urdu. And what should be the Urdu-Hindi relations since they are so close and yet different from each other?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:44 IST)
Pavanjha: They are not so different from each other, the idioms of one are used in the other, each one compliments the other for beautifying the expression. The language that we use in films is perhaps the most appropriate, and speakable without any pretences. I think that's the right language of the people. Name it Urdu, Hindi or Hindustani. Urdu has a different (Persian) script, Hindi has Devnagri. Hindi as it is, is read in Urdu script. I wish Urdu be read in Hindi script the same way without any prejudice. A language can have two scripts like Punjabi which is written in Gurumukhi on this side of the border now and in Persian script on the other side. I wish Urdu be adopted in both the scripts with equal love.

Sandeep (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:42 IST)
Gulzaarsaab, you must have developed a 'special' relationship with Sanjeev Kumar who gave life to Mausam.

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:46 IST)
Sandeep: Indeed, Sanjeev was a very special freind like Pancham. Pamcham and Sanjeev were always the two anchors of my films. Both cheated me and left me alone. It was unfair of my friends. What do you say?

Pavanjha (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:46 IST)
How did the tranformation of a soft, romantic poet (Aajkal paaon jameen par) to the aggressive and hard-hitting (Phir kati gardan sir katne lage hai) person take place? In last 30 years, you were never so aggresive in film songs....

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:49 IST)
Pavanjha: I was sarcastic perhaps in songs like Sab kuch theek thak hai in Mere Apne, then Paanch saalon ka dene hisaab aaye hain in Aandhi. Sarcasm didn't work, so I started hitting direct but I see it's not hard enough to make a dent.

Vinay (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:48 IST)
Sir, I think the one Gulzar that I like the most is the dialogue writer. Hu Tu Tu had some unparralleled witty pieces. Why don't you write for films other than yours these days?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:51 IST)
Vinay: I do whenever they ask me to. I have written for Hrishida, Basuda, Ramesh Sippy, Romesh Sharma, Shekhar Kapur, Prakash Jha and many others. Why don't you recommend me to them again?:-)

Niketan R (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:50 IST)
Coming back to Hu Tu Tu, there is so much difference between this film and your earlier political film Aandhi. In Aandhi, the politician lady is selfless, wants to do only public service and is of great moral character while the protagonist of Hu Tu Tu is corrupt and even has a child from her paramour. Why this major difference between the two characters? Is this your growing disgust at politics?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:53 IST)
Niketan R: Both the films reveal the ways of the politician. The distance of years has only made them worse. From Mere Apne to Maachis and Aandhi to Hu Tu Tu.

Vinay (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:37 IST)
Sir, maine ek baar aapse poochha tha, ek sau solah chaand ki raaton ke baare mein (during one of your Jaipur visits). Us waqt aap vyast the. Please bataayen, aap kin chaar mahinon ka zikra kar rahe hain.

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:54 IST)
Vinay: It's not the number which is important, it's important that somebody kept the count of the moonlit nights of which they spent together.

Suresh (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:54 IST)
Which singer gave your lyrics the depth and feeling you really wanted?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:56 IST)
Suresh: Different ones with different lyrics at different times.

Swastik (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:55 IST)
Sir, what has been your experience with Jatin-Lalit in Khubsoorat?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:57 IST)
Swastik: Bahut khoobsoorat:-)

Vinay (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:56 IST)
Sir, there's a lot of discussion about you on the music newsgroup Rec.Music.Indian.Misc, the one recent being about your debut song. Apparantly Mora gora rang lei le is been claimed by Shailendra's daughter as Shailendra's - the antaras. Would you clarify please? And do u happen to read, by any chance, the newsgroup? It is one of the best discussion fora about Indian Film Music.

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:59 IST)
Vinay: I knew Shailendra, even before I came to films, from Bombay Youth Choir and IPTA. Even if by chance any line had resembled his, he would have told me, he was there when my song was accepted by Sachinda and Bimalda. I have no more clarifications to give.

Niketan R (Sat Jul 17 1999 3:58 IST)
Thanks, Gulzarsaab. We see that there is now an element of anger in Hu Tu Tu which we did not see much of earlier in films like Namkeen, Angoor (my favourite comedy of all time), Khushboo etc. As I said earlier, the ending was very un -Gulzar like. My wife was shocked at the ending. She never expected such a violent act in a Gulzar movie. What was the end supposed to signify? Is this the amount of disgust with politics?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:4 IST)
Niketan R: No, it was an expression of protest by the younger generation. We unfortunately have failed to give a better country to our younger generation than what we have inherited ourselves . It's a disgust with myself and the generations behind me who have not done their share to stand up against injustice. I do know there will be a turning point somewhere but I'm not sure I will be able to look into the eyes of the coming generation without guilt.

Suresh (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:5 IST)
I often pity the fact that Amitabh's talent is wasted right now. Since you are such a great director, why don't you direct him in a movie that would suit him and do justice to his immense talent?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:8 IST)
Suresh: It needs two to make that film, a producer and Amitabh :-) I'm available anytime.

Niketan R (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:6 IST)
Today will you make a film like Angoor or Namkeen?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:12 IST)
Niketan: Yes. Not to repeat the same, but similar subjects if the producers agree. Namkeen, for it's different relationships of four women of different age groups with one man in the house. And Angoor for a pure comedy without a melodramatic end.

Mehta (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:7 IST)
I repeat my question? Sir, please tell me about the all time great Sanjeev Kumar. Tell me about how he worked? Specially for your films Mausam and Angoor , what homework he did to get a grip of the character? How did he get those sharp reactions and expressions?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:14 IST)
Mehta: The special quality with Sanjeev was to swallow the script, digest it and throw up:-) He played the characters with an internal intensity and not the external gestures. Look carefully in Mausam and Aandhi, his get-up and costume is almost the same, yet how differently he plays the two characters.

Uday (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:13 IST)
Gulzarji, kya aap ke Partition ke zakhm abhi bhi vaise hi hai? Kyon ki jab mai Dastak sunta ya padhata hoon to zakhm abhi bhi taaje lagate hai? Wohi baat Maachis mai Om Puri ke dialogues ke baare mai? Aap uske baare mai kya sochate ho?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:22 IST)
Uday: I saw the entire bloodshed happening at a very early age of 10-11. I have seen the half-burnt and stinking deadbodies being scraped from the road side with shovels, thrown into the trucks to clear the way. Those images left me with nightmares for more than 25 years to follow. It is with much effort that I have dissolved them away from my conscious thoughts. They still reappear sometimes with the newsclips with the evidence... Can I really get over it till the scene fades away from the society?

Vinay (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:26 IST)
Sir, you have given some more than obvious hints for your dislike of Mahatma Gandhi. The recent example being Hu Tu Tu (scene about Subhash Chandra Boseji's picture. Also Om Puri's monologues in Maachis). Any particular reasons? Of course I don't agree with you (at least once in my life :)

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:25 IST)
Vinay: No, I have no dislike for Mahatma Gandhi. I dislike the way his followers have used him and are using him till date. Maachis was a reference to them not to Mahatma Gandhi. Reference to Subhash Chandra Bose is only a reminder of the religious unity of INA in Hu Tu Tu.

Suresh (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:25 IST)
In your opinion, who was better RD or SD? Why? Just curious!

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:27 IST)
Suresh: It's unfair to compare the two. Both were geniuses in their own generations, times. Both have come down as genius gems to us. Long live their music. I do not like the remixes done on their works.

Pavanjha (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:27 IST)
Some of your scores are out of reach of your fans, like Gehrayee (Rishte bas rishte hote hai,), Mammo (Hazaar baar chale hum). Similarly, you did lots of serials for children. Chaddi pehan ke phool khila hai, Guchha hai, Tap tap tobi to Potli baba ki which are not available on audio. Can you do something for bringing out these scores?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:36 IST)
Pavanjha: I'm aware of the tremendous effort you have done in collecting my works, I'm grateful. I take this oppurtunity to express my thanks. The works which you have enquired about are with different producers. So it is not possible to compile them, unless some musical company or somebody with your kind of initiative collects them and publishes them in a cassette. There are some songs of Pancham for films like Bharosa, Abhi Abhi, which never got released because the films were not completed. There are songs of Jaidevji and Vasant Desai, Laxmikant, Khayyam and some others which are lying scattered away. At another time, I'll try to send you a list across and then see if I can collect the songs for you. I do not promise all, but at least some of them.

Anand (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:35 IST)
Gulzaarsaab, who among your contemporaries do you have the greatest respect and admiration for...Is it Saahir, Shailendra, Neeraj or somebody else..please answer, Sir...

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:43 IST)
Anand: If I respect one it doesn't mean I respect the other less. Shailendra in my opinion was the greatest lyricist that happened to Hindi films in my times, though, D N Madhok was the earlier one. Shailendra knew the difference of a poem and a lyric. He brought the lyric close to the literary standard in a comman man's ballad. For example, Mera jootha hai Japani. In the antara, he sings the glory of the comman man, the antara which starts -Honge raje rajkunvar hum, hum bigade dil shahezade. Sahirsaab was a literary poet and remained so. He didn't accept the medium as much as the medium accepted him. Neeraj again in his own capacity was one great poet who came to films and left it to join politics.

Mausam (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:43 IST)
Gulzar saab, Ab tak aapne mera koi jawab nahi diya, main chup raha . Magar ab main chup nahi rahoonga. Pleeaaassee, Internet ya zindagi pe kuch sunaiye na. Pleeaaassee!

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:45 IST)
Mausam: Jawab to aap ko de chuke aap sunte hi nahin.

Ajit Singh (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:43 IST)
Will HMV ever release Dil Padosi Hai on CD?

Mehta (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:46 IST)
Gulzarji, What is the relation between a director and an actor as far as characterisation of a movie character is concerned? You dominate you actors or your actors have free choice of acting according to their perception of character and you just describe what kind of character you want?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:47 IST)
Ajit Singh: I think it is available on CD... Mehta: We all remain bound to the script. Nobody rises above the script including the director.

Ninad (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:46 IST)
Gulzaar saab, just one question, when you write the lyrics of a song, do you wrtie them based on the tune already composed or is the tune composed after you pen down the words? Or do both the processes go hand in hand?

Gulzar (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:52 IST)
Ninad: Actually both the processes work together simultaneously. With Pancham we used to keep tossing the ball into each other's court till the first overhead smash. Even now working with Vishal, we toss the song the same way but quite often the ball is in my court to start the first service. Vishal being well-versed with Urdu poetry is more at ease with this process.

Mausam (Sat Jul 17 1999 4:41 IST)
Gulzaar saab: Aap kuch sunaiye na