gulzar ji Poetic rhythm
surhall
sur...@gmail.com
Poetic rhythm
Gulzar pays a tribute to Amrita Pritam by reciting her poems in a
private album
Saturday, May 05, 2007
It's a lesser-known fact that a young Gulzar had fed on renowned
poetess Amrita Pritam's Punjabi poetry and literature. He would
religiously attend literary functions and conferences in the capital,
just to hear her works. Later, he went to become good friends with the
poetess and her husband Imroz, and now he has recited a collection of
her poems, which will be shortly released on Times Music to celebrate
10 successful years of the label. Talking about his early association
with Pritam, he says, "I remember almost crashing into her and our
governor then C Rajagopalachari at Asian Writer's Conference in Delhi.
I ran to get into the elevator and she was there too." He further
adds, "Later, when we became friends I had started writing scripts.
Whenever I was in Delhi, I would pay a visit to her house."
Gulzar says that he has not chosen her popular verses consciously. The
purpose of the entire exercise is to make the viewers aware about her
wide repertoire. "We grew up reading her work. My mother tongue is
Punjabi and I could easily relate to her message as the rest of the
country. I really admire her not-so-traditional imagery. Her imagery
had been unique and so different from the usual used by the poets of
those days. Her poems are a few of my favourite things," he says.
The lyricist and filmmaker re-lived the days spent with Pritam while
recording for the album at Empire Studio. He believes that it's his
way of paying a tribute to the deceased poetess. He also penned the
lyrics for Pinjar, a film inspired by Pritam's novel (by the same
name) on the poetess' insistence. "Initially, she was supposed to
direct the film. Later on Basu da (Basu Bhattacharya) was roped in.
Finally, Chandra Prakash Dwivedi made the film. She was completely bed-
ridden when the film was being shot. So she couldn't visit the sets,"
he says.
ABOUT AMRITA PRITAM :
Born and raised in Gujranwala, Punjab, which is now in Pakistan,
Amrita Pritam went to become the most prominent woman Punjabi poet and
fiction writer. She has penned numerous poems, 24 novels, 15
collections of short stories and 23 volumes of prose. Two of her
novels have been made into films. Her works have been translated in
many languages including French, Japanese and Danish. She was the
first woman recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the first
Punjabi woman to receive the Padma Shree from the President of India
in 1969. She got Jnanpith award in 1982 for her lifetime contribution
to Punjabi literature
VERY GOOD THANKS
DHALL
Pavan Jha
album
this evening and despite I dont know Punjabi, I have enjoyed the
poems,
recitation and the commentary as much.. Gulzar saab's tribute in the
form of
narration in the rich timbre, brilliant script and sensitive rendering
of
poems is certainly one the best paid tributes to the poetess..The
recitation
and narrations is well assisted by Bhupinder ji who fills the gap with
soothing use of strings (at some places he takes us back to "Wo Jo
shayar
Tha") and adequate music...
Gulzar saab Amrita ji ke baare me kahte hain (non Itrans by intention)
"ek budiya chaand me charakhe pe baithi baadal kaata karati hai
aur ek gudiya zameen pe baithi sapane kaata karati thi
9 saal hi ki umra se hi.. ya shayad usase bhi pahle
chhote chhote ruee ke gaale bat ke, pooDiyaan banaa ke
apni pachhchhi me, apni tokari me jamaa kar leti thi
aur phir unse nazmo.n ka soot kaata karti thi
uski pachhi me aur bhi bahut kuchh tha
novel, afsaane, safarnaame.. aur nazmein
dhoop se rang nichod liya karti thi
aur mausamo.n se kahti thi ki uska duppatte to rang de.n
gulaal ki tarah sapane mutthi me.n bhar ke udaaya karati thi
wo gudiya bhi amrita hi thi
aur chaand me baithi wo budiya bhi wohi hi hai
kaan lagaa ke suno, uske charakhe ki "ghoo.n ghoo.n"
yahaan tak sunaai deti hai"
follows by "saai tere charakhe ne" and "rang de dupatta mera"
Kudos to everyone behind the concept and execution.. The Lyric book
(every
poem in gurumukhi with translations in Hindi and English ) is
beautifully
crafted with Amrita ji's pics..
Looking forward to more such albums from gulzar saab..
just another gulzar fan
Pavan Jha
Album : Amrita Pritam recited by Gulzar (2007)
Poetess : Amrita Pritam
Narration and Recitation: Gulzar
Music : Bhupinder Singh
Album on Times Music
--------------------
Track Listing
--------------------
1. Introduction by Gulzar
2. Poem - Mai tenu phir milangi
3. Gulzar speaks
4. Poems - "O saai tere charakhe ne, rang de dupatta and ik supne
verga
rang"
5. gulzar speaks
6. Poems - Channan di phulkari, chait, tu nahin aaya
7. Gulzar speaks
8. Poems - Rishte ghade da paani, araz
9. Poems - Kufr, Aadi Sangeet
10. Poems - Aye mere dost, Mere ajnabee, Pul, Mera Pata
11. Poems - Aakhan Waris Shah nu, Beej (Poem by imroz)
Asif
Wow! Gulzar and Amrita Pritam - that is a heady combo! I have had
great admiration for both. I must get this album soon even though I
also do not know a thing about Punjabi. So Gulzar Sb said all those
things about 'Chaand ki budhiya' and 'Zameen ki gudiya'?? Just wanted
to confirm, but I can bet he did. That's why I love his unique,
kaheen-door-ek-gaanv-tha-like way of narrating things. Does he still
use this kind of imagery in his songs of today's films? I last heard
his lyrics in Ijaazat (1988), so I do not know. The one that comes
close to the above lines is 'shaam se gulaabi se aanchal mile, diya
jala hai chaand ka' (Devta, 1978).
Pavan, has Gulzar Sb ever written outside Hindi cinema any novel,
short story, or prose that provides similar reflections, like 'chaand
ki budhiya', 'boodhe pahaad', or 'mogre ke phool'?? I would love to
read them.
Asif
Satish Kalra
news:1178558823.6...@e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
You mean to say you haven't heard his poetry from Bunty Aur Babli even!
Sample this even in the item number "kajaraare kajaraare .....": '...mere
nainaa mere nainaa, mere judwaan judawaan nainaa'; '...terii baaton mein
kimaam kii khusboo hai, teraa aanaa bhii garmiyon kii luu hai.......'; or
in the song "aajaa balliye ud chaliye...": 'raat yahaan pe hotii haii nahiin
hai, ye sadak to sotii hi nahiin hai......'; or in "...ham chale oye ham
chale oye raamchandra....": '...chaand se hokar sadak jaatii hai, usii pe
aage jaake apanaa makaan hogaa'.
--
Happy Listenings.
Satish Kalra
Asif
> "Asif" <alvi.a...@gmail.com> wrote in message
No, I have not listened to any songs or read any lyrics of Gulzar
post-1988. So I do not know what Gulzar Sb is doing these days. But
looking at the lines you mentioned I do not get any kick from them.
To me, these lines do not really belong to the Gulzar I knew in the
'70s and lost when his songs in Ijaazat (1988) did not excite me. I
have not listened to this 'Kajraare kajraare' song either, but
whenever I get to read about it anywhere (including on RMIM), I feel
that Gulzar wrote it more to suit a typical synthetic rhythm (employed
by today's jingle composers) that would match the words like 'Tu hi
re', 'Main hi re', 'Kahaan re', 'Wahaan re', 'Kajraare', etc. Anyway,
I do not have the courage to listen to today's music, so I stay away
from it.
Asif
UVR
Well, you're missing something. That's all I'll say.
You were asking originally about "outside Hindi cinema", so there
are "Pukhraaj" and "Raat Pashmine Ki" -- both collections of his
verse published awhile ago. I'm sure you'll find the kind of stuff
you're looking for in these, if not in Raavi Paar and Other Short
Stories.
But the work of Gulzar I have really grown to like is the "Karadi
Tales"
series where he retells old tales from the Panchatantra, Buddhist
Jatakas, etc. in a manner designed to capture the imaginations of
the young and impressionable. That is one area in which (even)
I will not begrudge Gulzar my wholehearted and unabashed
admiration.
-UVR.
asi...@my-deja.com
> "Asif" <alvi.a...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Not to mention his daughter's film 'Filhaal', whose title song, I
really liked.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3l7reP1ww
Cheers
Arun