I remember Mera kuch saman is actually a ‘Nazm’ which doest not have fixed meter and couplets, its a different form of poetry than a song or a ghazal. Its the most difficult one to compose - there is a famous anectdote that RD said after getting this song from gulzar “Ye kya hai, Kal to tum muje times of india ka article doge, to kya mujhe woh bhi compose karna padega ?”

One more famouse nazm is…

“ek hi khwwab kai baar dekha hai maine, tune saari mein udas li hai meri chaabiya ghar ki…”
Sung by bhupinder, from film Kinara…again a RD gulzar combo.(Listen to it if u havent - its a must).
Plz listen to gulzar and bhupinder’s “woh jo shayar tha” and gulzar and vishal’s “budhe pahadon par” for more. These two non film albums are very rare but very good….

OK now to the final part: Prasoon seems to be inspired by icon Gulzaar sahab, his words like dhoop ke sikke and Daftaan are clearly Gulzarish but do you think he can come (not now some years latter) in the same league? Clearly he has raised bar in an era where we get to hear lover mera hit hit and bidi jalaile and if that is not enough tu saala kaam se gaya...

I guess all lyricists find some inspiration somewhere... Gulzarsaab's 'Dil dhoondta hai' is actually a Ghalib line which went 'Jee dhoondta hai phir wohi furst ke raat din, baithe rahe tasavvur-e-jaana kiye hue'. Then, if one listens to these lines by Faiz Ahmed Faiz (in the song 'Dasht-e-tanhai' sung by Iqbal Bano), one finds words like 'Maddham maddham' and 'Katra katra', which Gulzar has used often


Uth rahi hai kahin kurbat se...
Teri saans ki aanch...
Apni khushboo mein sulaghti hui...
Maddham, maddham...
Door ufaq paar chamakti hui..
Katra, katra...
Mil rahi hai teri dildaar nazar ki shabnam...

Then, Gulzar saab has used the term 'paani geela geela' in some songs, and now we have Javed Akhtar wrting 'Aasmaan hai neela, paani geela geela, gol kyon hai zameen' in Rock On'
The truth is that Gulzar's imagination and use of metaphors worked wonders, and yes, Prasoon is among the newer generation writers who's made an impact

Yes, Gulzar’s imagination is awesome ! His reference to “raasta” and “mod” and “raah” and the elements of nature in songs like Musafir hoon yaaro, hawaon pe likh do hawaon ke naam, and Is mod se jaate hain, is so deep and philosophical. It is a relief to see Prasoon bringing the much needed quality in the lyrics today. But I would still wait and see if he can reach the heights of Gulzar.
Faiz was a class apart. Amazing poetry from him ! He too took inspiration from Makhdoom Moinuddin for his famous App ki yaad aati rahi raat bhar.

@ IndraD , I havent heard the non filmi nazm “budhe pahadon par”, but I will definitely check it out !

Thanks NK and Senty for responding.

Very few people know Gulzaar saab before beoming poet (full time) worked as car mechanic in garage.

Just at look at his work, completely outstanding, still many oldies say Gulzar is not in the league of Mazrooh Sultanpuri et al.


Sachin Dev Burman - Bandini . The song Mora gora ang layle picturised on Nutan.
His most famous songs have been associated with Rahul Dev Burman in movies such as
Parichay (Musafir hoon yaron sung by Kishore Kumar),
Aandhi (Tera bina zindagi se koi sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore),
Kushboo (Ghar Jaayegi sung by Asha Bhonsle)
Ijaazat (Mera kuch saaman sung by Asha),
Masoom (Tujhse naraz nahi zindagi sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Anoop Ghosal) to name a few. Salil Chowdhary (for the movie Anand),
Madan Mohan (Mausam), and more recently
Vishal Bharadwaj (Maachis),
A.R.Rehman (Dil Se, Guru)
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Bunty aur Babli).

I love his lyrics in zindagi kaisi ye paheli and the part....ek din sapno ka raahi chala jaye sapno ke aage kaha...

I love ye saaye hai ye duniya hai by Asha ji from Kinara, can some please post that.

@IndraD
Here is Yeh saaye hain, yeh duniya hai ... another RD-Gulzar collectible. Couldnt find it on youtube ! This is a song from Mithun / Zarina Wahab starrer Sitara. A rare lost gem of a movie.
http://www.esnips.com/doc/2d29cc12-5de1-41c4-ad50-54456ec75c13/Yeh-Saye-Hain-Yeh-Duniya-Hai-Sitara
There is another song Thodi si zameen thoda aasman ... in this movie which is also great. Sung by Bhupinder and AshaB

I too used to think Zindagi kaisi hai paheli from Anand was by Gulzar, but later found it is not. It is written by Yogesh, one of the most underrated lyricist who also wrote kahin door jab din dhal jaaye. Only saat rang ke sapne was Gulzar's lyrics in Anand.

Yes, Yogesh is not only under-rated by under-used. Besides 'Anand', he also did 'Mili', which includes Kishore classics 'Badi sooni sooni hai' and 'Aaye tum yaad mujhe' written to SD music.

I don’t know whether to believe it or not, but there were rumors that Gulzar benefited from his deep friendship with Meena Kumari. She left him her diaries and literary works before she died. And that he "helped" himself to her poems after she passed away in 1972. These rumours may be denting Gulzar’s credibility in the minds of folks who believe it to be true.