Renowned Urdu poet, filmmaker, and lyricist Gulzar was recently named as one of the recipients of the prestigious Jnanpith Awards. The selection committee on Saturday announced the names with a statement that reads, “It has been decided to give the award (for 2023) to eminent writers from two languages: Sanskrit litterateur Jagadguru Rambhadracharya and well-known Urdu litterateur Shri Gulzar.” It further also highlighted how Gulzar has set new milestones in the field of literature and further created something new through poetry.
Dubbed among the most respected and loved personalities in literary circles, as Gulzar is set to receive the prestigious award, musician Shankar Mahadevan joined in to congratulate him on the achievement.
On Monday, Shankar shared a candid picture of himself with Gulzar on Instagram and wrote, “Heartiest congratulations to my dearest and the greatest Gulzar for being awarded the prestigious Gyanpeeth award! I feel so blessed to be able to spend such beautiful creative moments with you !! Love you sir!!”
Fans also took to the comment section and congratulated Gulzar. It is pertinent to note that Shankar Mahadevan along with Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa, popularly known as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy has teamed up with Gulzar multiple times and delivered stellar albums in the past. Some of their best tracks are from films like Bunty Aur Babli (2005), Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007), Mirzya (2016), Kill Dill (2014), Raazi (2018) and Sam Bahadur (2023).
About Gulzar
Sampooran Singh Kalra, best known as Gulzar, the noted lyricist has penned down several memorable and iconic songs in a career spanning over six decades. He started his career as a lyricist with the film Kabuliwala, starring Balraj Sahni, and later went on to write several songs and scripts for Hindi films.
Gulzar has also directed several acclaimed feature films like Maachis, Aandhi, Mausam, Khushboo, Parichay and Koshish.
Notably, Gulzar has been honoured with some prestigious awards including the Sahitya Akademi Award for Urdu, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2013, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, and at least five National Film awards for his works.