Top 100 Quotes & Sayings by Gulzar
Explore popular quotes and sayings by an Indian poet Gulzar.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
I used to put black ink on the author's name in a book and write my name instead to check how it would look there - such was my passion!
A writer can be identified just through his sigh, as a mouthful of words are flooded out in his single sigh.
The poetry of India can be truly known only through scanning the poetry of all languages.
Look, when a song becomes a hit, it happens because of its tune and melody, and not for the lyrics in the first place.
'Two' is not written in the usual style of a novel. It's a straightforward, linear narrative of my times, as I observed partition, and is told through multiple characters.
Let me say that discovering Tagore was the turning point of my life.
It's always humbling and thrilling to be appreciated.
There are no borders in poetry and language.
Because of my pseudonym Gulzar, which is how I am known, some people think I am a Muslim.
Cinema is not Bible writing. It doesn't teach you morals, good values to live. Cinema is not meant for that. If you're looking at cinema that it'll tell you good values then you're mistaken.
People mostly associate Tagore only with Gitanjali. That is the mistake they make. Gitanjali is just one per cent of his oeuvre.
Power manipulates the innocent and terror is born.
There is an old guest house opposite my house, and grandsons visit from time to time from the U.S., every time grown up a little. I don't know whether the same grandchildren come every time or it is someone else.
My most favourite song is 'Aave re hichki.'
I have translated Bengali poets such as Subhash Mukhopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay before. These were published by Hindi and Urdu magazines. But to take on Tagore's work is no easy task.
If a film promotes communal harmony, which for me is beyond religion, I am happy to work on it because the film's premise is in line with my beliefs.
It was the British who defined religion to divide and rule. That is what created the heat. That is what created the cut. Partition happened because of the rulers, fueled by a few powerful families on both sides who stood to gain. It is the politicians that keep everyone fighting.
A vendor selling coconuts on the road is a philosopher. He will have ideas on politics, economics, history, sports. This has saved India. The fact that the common Indian is a thinker is vital.
A writer just speaks from his heart, mind and soul. They are the conscience keepers of the society. They are the keepers of the soul of the society.
It's a common notion that if you like Tagore, then he must have had an influence on your life. While I like Tagore's poetry and his thoughts, he doesn't influence my work.
I had written the song 'aaza aaza Shamiyane ke tale... ' for Ghai's film 'Yuvvraj' but he felt the song did not suit his film and Rahman suggested that the track should be used in 'Slumdog' and it fitted well with the movie.
I can manage in six languages - Marathi and Gujarati, in addition to Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Bangla.
It is good to be well connected with English language, literature and history, but the knowledge of our culture and roots is equally important.
My thinking process starts with my pen.
I do play tennis in shorts, I have driven across the length and breadth of the country from Khardung La pass to Kanyakumari in my beloved Ambassador car, and I did compile my 100 Lyrics book, inspired by Lyrics by Sting. I don't subscribe to any definition of an Urdu poet.
My mother tongue is Punjabi, but my first language is Urdu, which was the case with the people in undivided Punjab.
The success of Indian music at the Oscars is a great achievement.
Nostalgia is not a place to live.
Partition happened in my life but do you think I should be living in partition? I have seen it but as India has moved further and as a generation has moved further I am also moving further.
When it comes to our 'Jai ho,' the song became a super hit because of the composition of Rahman... He made the tune.
Democracy is essential for equality. Thank God, Indian democracy is still working. That is because every Indian is essentially a thinker. Thinking is not limited to the elite.
Even 150 years of the first war of Independence was marked with a series of programs, but somehow the Jallianwala Bagh incident hasn't been given the attention it deserves.
Being in the Sahitya Akademi, I did know quite a few poets - Jayanta Mahapatra, Sitakant Mahapatra, Sunil Gangopadhyay, to name a few. There were many poets.
Delhi has statues and busts of so many politicians. But what about our artistes?
All day long I keep wishing, let partition be a past now. It should only remain a part of history.
When I write a poem, I do not have to worry about using a higher Urdu vocabulary because I know the reader knows Urdu well.
Being master of Urdu doesn't interest me, being part of the global society does, breathing hope into that society matters to me.
Short stories and poems are an intense burst of emotions.
My daughter is married here in Patiala and I have shared a bond with Punjabi as a language.
My father used to run a shop in Sadar Bazar in old Delhi, and most of my time would go spending days and evenings at the shop, whiling away hours doing nothing.
My songs are not angry or bitter, because I am not bitter. I'm hopeful, and as an artist I have to be, not just for my future or for the future of my children but for the whole world.
Gujarat has a rich culture and in my view every Indian should contribute to highlighting our heritage.
Time will change and with it music will too. Our speed has changed, clothes have changed, food habits have changed, so why should music remain the same?
NASA is my favorite website. The universe with its abstract nature attracts me. The abstract element in my poetry comes from there.
My country is India but my motherland remains Pakistan.
Nostalgia is a sweet place for a poet and writer to be in. But it's an indulgence; a distraction. You can't live in a distraction.
Do you know Afghan children wear shoes when they sleep, so they can run easily if a bomb falls during the night? Iraq has been similarly pushed against the wall. What proof did the West ultimately have, what justification for raining bombs on them?
Cinema has a large scope as it is a mirror of society and with the mindset changing, people are taking it more seriously.
I read books, physical books. I am comfortable with it, I can carry it. It is my habit.
I write in Urdu and everything is written by my hand.
As I grew, I began learning and speaking a word or two in Bengali and that increased my friends circle.
I firmly believe that Tagore should be taught in schools all over India.
Translating one region's works for another region has a beauty with an inborn connect. We might speak different languages but our culture and history is one.
In film lyrics, I avoid Persianised words because they are not widely understood.
I've been wearing white since my college days. I like color, but if I wear colored clothes now, it would feel like I'm being false. And that's the worst thing I could be.
We've talked and written about the World War so much that it has almost been purged off. The bitterness is gone. The drama came to an end and it is history.
I believe words should amaze or amuse. Only then will the listener want to understand the meaning of the song.
I am very happy with 'Jai Ho' from 'Slumdog Millionaire' getting the Golden Globe. It means a lot for Indians and the music here.
Fear comes from your past observations. That fear settles inside you. It becomes your psyche. Something triggers it and it fuels that subconscious. There is no logic to it.
Translations are very important these days, since an average person can only know 2-3 three languages. We have so many languages in India and poems are being written in as many of them.
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