Gulzar's magic outside film songs

On August 18, Gulzar Saab celebrated his 90th birthday.

- Narendra Kusnur

Five days later, he was at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Juhu for the launch of his latest album Dil Pareshan Karta Hai, featuring singer Sumeet Tappoo, with music by Bhavdeep Jaipurwale. Before the cake was cut, the legendary filmmaker and lyricist joked, “I realise that some people in the room have found out that I just turned 19.”

The album contains seven songs sung soulfully by Sumeet. Most are in a ghazal format, though Mausam and Dil have pop-styled arrangements. Gulzar talks of love, longing and sadness, using simple words. On Samandar, he writes, “Woh aankhon se kuchh bhi toh kehta nahin hai, samandar samandar hai, behta nahin hai”. The opening lines of Dard (earlier recorded by Jagjit Singh in a different arrangement) are, “Dard halka hai saans bhaari hai, jeeye jaane ki rasm jaari hai.” And on Mausam, he writes, “Humne tumhari yaad ka mausam bula liya, ek gham bujha diya kabhi ek gham jala liya.”