Kuch sust kadam raste.. kuch tez kadam raahen

As promised.. only difference is review was a wrong word.. maybe my feeling about him is more close. Reviewing Gulzaar is too big the shoes to fill... Just what my thoughts about him is more appropriate. So here we go...

Is mod se jaate hain.. kuch sust kadam raste.. kuch tez kadam raahen..

How much more visual you can get with words, using all those book full of superlatives. Gulzaar for me is more of a painter then a writer. Three strokes... and you have the picture... and all the words used above are as simple as they get in Hindi. This is for me the most endearing face of Gulzaar, simplicity.. minimalist and grounded.

He used those basic few tools to tell his story... be it his lyrics or his screenplays. Not to say he didn't try otherwise, Gulzaar for me is more of Angoor then Aandhi, more of Parichay then Hu tu tu.. Complex stories and ways somehow were at odds with his natural flow. That’s why Aandhi left us unsatisfied, and Hu tu tu confused.

But then we had Angoor, where Ashok trying to play footsie with Sudha ending up disturbing Tanu, coz Sudha is sitting cross legged on the Chair. Or the other Ashok saying "Bhag gaya" for the chor in train bathroom. It was such a movie with no ornaments or slap sticks at all. Or Jeetender jumping of the train in the climax of Parichay, hurting his leg in the process, that was climax and this was the peak of action. As simple as it gets. But one of his most lovable movies.

He has handled successfully complex subject like Izzazat and Lekin. But then they were never my favorites and as the look of it the neither the favorites of at least the most of the general public. His best part was always his simple straight reading of the subject on the ground level.

Same applies to his lyrics. I have chosen “tujse naraaz nahin zindigi” as my anthem just because of such few simple Hindi words describing entire philosophies of life. Life always asks us those masoom sawaals with simple answers just that we never have the courage to answer them. And then we go round about, avoiding them. Or a raunchy "Bidi Jalayle ..", or as-romantic-as-it-gets "aane waale pal" with its "ik baar waqt se lamha gira kahin". He is a Picasso with words, And that too, a cubist for he uses minimum simple words to tell his picture.

Last question.. gulzaar the lyricist, gulzaar the writer, or gulzaar the director.. Who do i like best? Well for me the answer is very simple. Gulzaar - the lyricist. He writes better poetries, maybe his movies are just an extension of them, so i have few of his Films as my favorites as well but for his songs, the few turns to be all. I think i can recognize his lyrics correctly in most of the songs even if i don't know them. Coz nobody would write… "Thandi safed Chaadroon par jaagen der tak.."