Gulzar’s birthday.
Gulzar, the thoughtful director of bollywood film has his birthday on the 18th August every year. Viewers who admire thoughtful subjects in films remember Gulzar for his outstanding capability of story-telling in the realistic films he had directed over the years.
Just like the other thoughtful directors of the golden age like Bimal Roy, Gulzar had given lot of importance on casting. He had used Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bacchan in deaf and dumb role in the film Koushish, where the struggle of deaf and dumb people was exhibited. Both the performers were brilliant in their performances.
Gulzar had used Jeetender a reserve person and thoughtful teacher in the film Parichay, where Jaya Bacchan was the eldest sister who was stubborn towards the grandfather played by Pran. Gulzar used Sanjeev Kumar as the father of Jaya Bacchan who was suffering from illness and died leaving all the children at the mercy of God. All the characters in the film were sublime in their roles.
Gulzar also used Suchitra Sen the greatest actress of Bengali cinema in a dignified role in the film Aandhi which was based on the story of dominance of Indira Gandhi in Indian politics. Sanjeev Kumar was the husband in the film and understood her pains in the film and shared them with her even after staying separately.
Again Sharmila Tagore’s docile nature was used in the film Mausam both as a mother and the daughter to perfection by Gulzar. Sanjeev Kumar was the doctor in the film who came back from abroad and gave freedom to his daughter who was compelled to join kotha. Gulzar also used Uttam Kumar in the film Kitaab, as the guardian of master Raju who was the brother of his wife playedby Vidya Sinha. Uttam Kumar ensured that the child got good education and not spoilt in the cosmopolitan environment of city.
Gulzar was never passionate about popular actors and showed the courage of using Jeetender or Sanjeev Kumar or Uttam Kumar at a period when Amitabh Bacchan was dominating Indian films. Also his choice of actresses ranged from Jaya Bacchan to Sharmila Tagore to Suchitra Sen, and he used the dancing skills of Hema Malini in Kinaara and rural performance of Dimple Kapadia in Lekin. Besides his brilliant lyrics and thoughtful music adds another chapter in the list of brilliant films. It is not possible to mention the greatness of the legendary director in a small article. The viewers expect on the birthday of the genius director to continue his great work in the years to come.
