‘I am happy the Jnanpith came to me for my work in Urdu’: Gulzar
Gulzar said his work as a film writer, filmmaker and lyricist tragically overshadowed much of his work as a poet.
Mumbai: On Saturday, one of Indian cinema’s gifted and prolific screen-writer-lyricist-poet and filmmaker, 89-year-old Gulzar, was chosen as the recipient of the 58th Jnanpith Award for his work in Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi, alongside scholar Jagadguru Rambhadracharya, who was honoured for his work in Sanskrit.
While he expressed elation about the award, Gulzar said, “I am not at an age when I spring up and clap my hands in glee, but I am overjoyed. The Jnanpith honour is satisfying and I am happy it has come to me for my work in Urdu. I have written in Hindustani for the longest time and if I may say so, Urdu is an amalgamation of Hindi, Farsi and a bit of our other languages. I do not understand when people ask how I managed to write so much in Urdu. The base of Hindi and Urdu is the same. It is not a foreign language; it stemmed right here in Hindustan and I have been deeply involved with Hindustani for as long as I can remember.’’
The artiste who spends an hour or two with his poetry every day, said his work as a film writer, filmmaker and lyricist tragically overshadowed much of his work as a poet (much in Urdu). “The question often posed to me is
‘Mora gora ang laile’ (Bandini-1963) ke baad aapne ‘Beedi jalaile’ (Omkara-2006) kaise likha? Most interviewers have not veered far from my work in film. In fact, I have dedicated much of my time in recent years to Urdu, especially my poems. Hence, this award gives me the highest level of satisfaction,” he said.
He underscored India has “loaned Urdu” to others, “while some have borrowed it from us”.
Calling attention to India’s ethnic plurality, he added, “Bangla is a classic language, so are Tamil and Marathi. Likewise, we are blessed to have so many languages in India each with distinct nuance. We must respect them all because each one has its own heritage and richness. Since I have translated works of over 279 poets in 34 languages of India, I can tell you that language should only work as a binding factor, not in any other way.”
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