Gulzar

“If two-three films of mine release at the same time and if all of them feel like they are from the same lyricist then something is not quite right. The language of all has to be different if they are different stories.”

“A film carries six fine arts - it consists of architecture, painting, music, writing or literature, photography and performance. It's a conjecture of all these things and yet based on literature.”

“There are no borders in poetry and language.”

“Cinema is not Bible writing. It doesn't teach you morals, good values to live. Cinema is not meant for that. If you're looking at cinema that it'll tell you good values then you're mistaken.”

“Delhi has statues and busts of so many politicians. But what about our artistes?”

“There is an old guest house opposite my house, and grandsons visit from time to time from the U.S., every time grown up a little. I don't know whether the same grandchildren come every time or it is someone else.”

“It's not easy to make films that one wants to because it is not easy to find a producer that fast for the subjects I want to make. They are not hot cakes in the market.”

“Let me say that discovering Tagore was the turning point of my life.”

“It was the British who defined religion to divide and rule. That is what created the heat. That is what created the cut. Partition happened because of the rulers, fueled by a few powerful families on both sides who stood to gain. It is the politicians that keep everyone fighting.”

“Getting your work published is a major struggle.”

“Translating one region's works for another region has a beauty with an inborn connect. We might speak different languages but our culture and history is one.”

“I am not an artist. I am not a painter.”

“I have translated Bengali poets such as Subhash Mukhopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay before. These were published by Hindi and Urdu magazines. But to take on Tagore's work is no easy task.”

“Nostalgia is a sweet place for a poet and writer to be in. But it's an indulgence; a distraction. You can't live in a distraction.”

“My thinking process starts with my pen.”

“I clearly remember the pain of partition; the whole of Delhi was seeing the struggle of refugees. We stayed near Roshanara Bagh, and the whole city appeared like a refugee camp.”

“Do you know Afghan children wear shoes when they sleep, so they can run easily if a bomb falls during the night? Iraq has been similarly pushed against the wall. What proof did the West ultimately have, what justification for raining bombs on them?”

“I am very happy with 'Jai Ho' from 'Slumdog Millionaire' getting the Golden Globe. It means a lot for Indians and the music here.”

“I think translations should convey the feelings expressed in the original work. This is what I have believed in and practised.”

“When my family migrated from Punjab during the Partition, we came to Delhi and I was enrolled in United Mission School.”