I had the privilege of working on two books with Gulzar Saab, one a free-wheeling conversation about his life ( In the Company of a Poet , 2012) and the other on his songs and his use of imagery and how to translate his lyrics into English ( Jiya Jale , 2018). His poetic imagination is visual, and it is tricky to find equivalence in English. Take “Dhanno ki aankhon mein hai raat ka surma aur chaand ka chumma”.
The words are like the brush strokes of a painter – as though he were painting his beloved’s eyes on an easel against the background of the dark night and the moon. At other times, his songs are conversational and sometimes even sound like a letter. “Mera kuchh samaan” is an example.
He also takes pleasure in personifying the heart with playfulness and mischief – “Dil to bachcha hai”. Some songs work like inner thoughts looking back on the past, in the attempt of capturing a fleeting moment – “Woh shyam kuch ajeeb thi”. His songs excel at painting different moods.
Play My personal favourite is “Humne dekhi hai un aankhon ki mehakti khushboo”. Eyes have been described from every angle in poetry and for centuries, but this is new. This is Gulzar.
Talking about this song, he told me that very few people picked up on the fact the lyrics describe the beloved’s eyes from a male point of view – while Hemant Kumar insisted Lata Mangeshkar sing this song. No one questioned the song’s point of view from a genre angle, but this same song was criti.