At an event held recently to celebrate poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter and director Gulzar’s work in the literary world, including the Jnanpith Award, poet, lyricist and screenwriter Prasoon Joshi said that it is cinema’s good fortune to have Gulzar as part of its world. Prasoon, the moderator of this evening, also pointed out, “Filmonse judi baatein itni zyaada ho jaati hai ki hum yeh bhul jaate hai ki Gulzar saab ke dimensions kya-kya hai.”

During the conversation, Gulzar reflected on the skill of translating literary works, choosing to leave space for interpretation in his creations and welcoming change in both his life and creative space. Excerpts:

Gulzar, who has translated Rabindranath Tagore's works into Hindi, spoke briefly about how he was influenced by his writing. He shared, “Main school mein padhta tha, woh partition ka time tha aur tab bahut se libraries hoti thi. Aap chavanni deke hafte mein jitni bhi chaahein kitabein padh sakte the. Uss waqt main jasoosi wali kitbabein leke aata tha, aur raat mein padh leta tha. The shopkeeper got fed up and said, ‘How many books will you take for this amount?’ He pulled out a book and handed me what was the Urdu translation of Tagore’s work. See, you can be influenced even without understanding something. Shayari ka feel pehle aata hai aur uske baad usse samjhne ki koshish hoti hai. I think all education begins in a similar manner. You keep hearing shlokas and then one day you realise the meaning behind them.”

Upon being asked how he navigates a translation when he is unable to find a word that matches the original, Gulzar said, “I use the original word, phir main usse apni zubaan mein samjhata hoon. We have so many and such beautiful languages that you can’t avoid being touched by them. Aur Mumbai jaise shehar mein din mein chaar-paanch zabaanein har shaks ke kaan se takraati hai.”

Besides writing poems and lyrics, Gulzar has also penned screenplays and dialogues. Talking about the various forms and how he compartmentalizes them, he shared, “Whatever I have felt spontaneously, I try to say it in that form, jo mehsoos karta hoon waise hi likta hoon. For example, someone looks at a sunset and says it looks like a painting, and someone else looks at a painting of a sunset and says it looks like a real sunset. Mujhe yeh mehsoos hua tha ke mein roz jab shafaq ko dekhta hoon, toh jee chahta hai main isko haaton pe malke aaon, aur tere rukhsaaron ke upar mal doon. So, for me, it is nazm and it will stay that way. Aur maine isme kartab dikhani ki koshish nahi ki, ki I’ll also write a story or a screenplay, kyunki main literature ke saath kabbadi nahi khelta.”

Prasoon also pointed out that Gulzar — the only creator to be honoured with both the Jnanpith Award and Dadasaheb Phalke Award — finds poetry in life’s smallest details. “There’s no hierarchy for him, ki yeh bahut ahem cheez hai, ispe kavita honi chahiye aur yeh chhoti si cheez hai,” Prasoon said. Talking about often leaving his works open-ended, Gulzar said, “You cannot give a conclusion of any feeling for life. Because what you have felt, someone might feel it differently, and their interpretation may differ.” 

Prasoon added, “We see Gulzar saab not trying to solve life for us, but deepening the mystery of life, and sometimes he leaves you to navigate.”

Many people have a grouse about how the purity of languages is being adulterated. When asked if that worries him, Gulzar responded, “Chinta nahi lagti, mein samjhne ki koshish kar raha hoon. Ya toh aap apni zameen choti kar le, and say that I will only talk this way. Ya aap apni zameen thodi phaila le kyuki doosre logon ke paas ek doosri zameen hai jiske saath aap talooq rakhna chaahte hain. There’s no compulsion to be bound to a language. You have to be aware of the change that your language is going through. When I wrote Naam Gum Jaayegaa (Kinara), people said it was wrong and that it should be naam gum ho jaayegaa. But I told them that when talaash karne ko talaasha bana diya, toh yeh kyun nahi? It’s the growth of your own language, accept it.”