Quotes from Gulzar

It is important for poets and writers today to know their shortcomings, and be able to edit their own work as well as reject them if they are not up to their standards.

Lyrics is commissioned work, it is my profession. But poetry is my statement to life.

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

Nostalgia is not a place to live.

If you notice in my own films the blending of songs is distinct. They narrate stories and scenes.

It's a common notion that if you like Tagore, then he must have had an influence on your life. While I like Tagore's poetry and his thoughts, he doesn't influence my work.

Theatre is a very beautiful and interesting medium because it's a live show, unlike a film - once released, it's gone.

My mother tongue is Punjabi, but my first language is Urdu, which was the case with the people in undivided Punjab.

Being master of Urdu doesn't interest me, being part of the global society does, breathing hope into that society matters to me.

I do play tennis in shorts, I have driven across the length and breadth of the country from Khardung La pass to Kanyakumari in my beloved Ambassador car, and I did compile my 100 Lyrics book, inspired by Lyrics by Sting. I don't subscribe to any definition of an Urdu poet.

I can manage in six languages - Marathi and Gujarati, in addition to Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi and Bangla.

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.

Since my schooldays, I've read the translations of Bengali writers. I'm Punjabi, but I read a lot of Bengali and Urdu literature.

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.

'Two' is not written in the usual style of a novel. It's a straightforward, linear narrative of my times, as I observed partition, and is told through multiple characters.

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.

The success of Indian music at the Oscars is a great achievement.

I did not have a black coat to wear to the Oscars. It was a mandatory dress code, that was the reason I gave it a miss.

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.

Dabbling with Tagore was always scary. It happens with masters, with contemporary poets you know their vibes and their meaning. Tagore was different; his aura and the feel of his language was different.

I've always maintained that RD Burman and Sanjeev Kumar were my two anchors.