LITERATURE + LECTURES

Indo-American Association presents World Music at its best. Sunday, April 25, IAA presents Gulzar, at 6pm in the Wortham Theater.

Gulzar is a “school” himself. This show is an attempt to peep into the essence of the poet. This journey includes his selected poems, songs, short stories and visual excerpts from his films. A "flashback" of sorts, the show consists of narrators, singers and performance painters, along with mega screen video projections.

Sampooran Singh Kalra, better known by his pen name Gulzar, is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. Gulzaar primarily works in Hindi-Urdu. He also works in Punjabi, several dialects of Hindi like braj bhasha, khadi boli, Haryanvi and Marwari.

Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004 for his contribution to the arts, and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002. He has also won a number of National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards in various categories. In 2009, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Jai Ho" in the film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). On 31 January 2010, the same song won him a Grammy Award in the category of Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media.

As a lyricist, Gulzar is best known for his association with the music directors Rahul Dev Burman, A. R. Rahman and Vishal Bhardwaj, and has also worked with other leading Hindi movie music directors including Sachin Dev Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Madan Mohan, Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Anu Malik