When Bimal Roy gave break to Gulzar and made him a lyricist in his Nutan starrer ‘Bandini’
When Bimal Roy gave break to Gulzar and made him a lyricist in his Nutan starrer ‘Bandini’
While working as a petty motor mechanic, Gulzar, passionate on literature and film writing, met filmmaker Bimal Roy for the first time, who had already made popular and meaningful films like Sujata and Biraj Bahu,
Gulzar couldn’t believe his eyes that the meeting with Bimal Roy, would change the course of his life. Born as Sampooran Singh Kalra, Gulzar was sent to Mumbai (then Bombay) by his family after they shifted to Delhi following the Partition.
Gulzar was living a nomad’s existence and knew that he wanted to be in the world of literature but no one from his family supported his dreams. All of this changed when Bimal Roy entered his life and Gulzar found a new direction.
Gulzar had a special interest in Bimal Roy’s films as a lot of them were adaptations of Bengali literature. Gulzar had an extra measure of respect for him,” Gulzar wrote in his memoir Actually… I Met Them. At the time, Gulzar lived with his friend Debu who was Bimal’s assistant and one fine day, he offered a meeting with the director for a writing job. At this time, Bimal Roy was making Nutan-starrer Bandini and were in the midst of making songs for the film. It just so happened that lyricist Shailendra and music director SD Burman had a spat and Shailendra refused to write lyrics for him. When Gulzar landed on the set, he saw Bimal for the first time, and was left speechless. Gulzar wrote that he met such a simple and unassuming man that for a moment his heart did not know how to react. Bimal spoke to Debu in Bengali and asked if Gulzar could understand and write Vaishnava poetry. Debu replied that Gulzar could understand and speak Bengali and this information left the director “red with embarrassment.”
Gulzar won his first film assignment based on this first impression and wrote the famous song, “Mora Gora Ang Laile.”
Soon after the song was done, Gulzar was ready to go back to his old life but one heartfelt statement by Bimal da stopped him. In a conversation on The Anupam Kher Show, Gulzar recalled Bimal Roy’s words, “Don’t go back to that motor garage. Don’t waste your life.” These words touched Gulzar in a way that he couldn’t hold back his tears. Gulzar just burst out crying. Nobody had told him with that affection that you should do this,” he said.
Bimal Roy understood Gulzar’s passion and offered him an assistant’s job on his next production Kabuliwala. “It’s a director’s medium, you will like it,” he recalled Bimal da’s words. And so, Gulzar became a part of the movies.
Gulzar had longed for this kind of support from his family but never got it. After meeting Bimal Roy, he found an anchor who would shape his life, support his dreams and encourage his writing. While Bimal Roy was a great boss at work, he was also a father figure to Gulzar. When the writer’s sister was getting married, he sent him to Delhi on a flight so that he could be there on time. Gulzar was enjoying his work as an assistant. He started with Kabuliwala and rose to become the chief assistant director.
Notably, Gulzar’s passion for writing had eventually found an outlet but before he knew it, this relationship came to an end.
Sadly, Bimal Roy was diagnosed with cancer and in his last days, Gulzar stuck by him. “He seemed to have shrunk, gotten smaller, like a cushion on the sofa,” he wrote in his memoir.
A few years before this, Gulzar had lost his father and he could not participate in the last rites. By the time he reached home, the funeral was over so he never got a chance to bid adieu to his father. Bimal da’s cancer diagnosis was an emotional experience for his mentee Gulzar. “Every night he used to cry as cancer consumed Bimal Roy, bit by bit. All along, he was there beside him, reading his favourite script – ‘Amrit Kumbh’.
On January 8, 1966, when he died, he was cremated and with him, Gulzar cremated his father,” he shared in the book Housefull: The Golden Years of Bollywood.
Gulzar went on to emerge as one of the most respected directors and lyric writers in Indian cinema but he never forgot to acknowledge the impact that Bimal Roy had on his life.
News Edit K.V.Raman
