100 Lyrics

by Gulzar, Sunjoy Shekhar (Translator)

From 'Mora gora ang lai le', his first film lyric written for Bimal Roy's Bandini in 1963, to the Oscar-winning 'Jai ho' from Slumdog Millionaire, Gulzar has brought a rare poetic sensibility to popular Hindi film music over a five-decade-long career. His sophisticated insights into psychological complexities, his ability to capture the essence of nature's sounds and spoken dialects in written words, and above all his inimitable-and often surprising-imagery have entertained his legions of fans over successive generations. It represents Gulzar's most memorable compositions of all time, and feature anecdotes about the composition of the lyrics as well as sketches by Gulzar.

Genres: Poetry, Indian Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2009

Reviews

[rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

roz roz aaankhon tale

roz roz aaankhon tale, ek hee sapnaa chale
raat bhar kaajal jale
aaankh men jis tarah khwaab kaa diyaa jale

jab se tumhaaren naam kee misree hont lagaai hai
meethaa saa gam hai aur meethee see tanhaai hai

chhotee see dil kee ulajhan hai ye suljhaa do tum
jeenaa to seekhaa hai mar ke marnaa seekha do tum

aankhon par kuchh aise tumane zulf giraa dee hai
bechaaren se kuchh khwaabon kee neend udaa dee hai

roz roz aaankhon tale...

[Tiash . · Rating 4 out of 5]

I seriously wanna crack open Gulzar's brain just to experience what goes inside.

This collection of songs are something I grew up with, admittedly I have very little knowledge of Hindi/Urdu, so parts of the charm were lost on me. But I loved (and still do) these intellect filled words creating magic paired with the melody by some pioneers in the field. But It's unashamedly Gulzar through and through. I'm really happy for the English translation it immensely helped diving deep into Gulzar's artistry. Recommended.

[Simant Verma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think that there is anybody in India who loves Hindi cinema and doesn't know about Gulzar. I am a big fan of his lyrics. I am listening his songs since childhood. So today, when I saw this book at a bookstore, then I started reading it instantly.

This is a collection of his 100 popular songs from Hindi movies. Though there were only a few songs that I was able to recognize, I enjoyed reading the less known ones. Actually what was happening is that whenever I was reading a song that I already knew, I was singing it instead of reading it like a poem :D So obviously I read the others as poetry which I didn't knew.

I don't think that it is possible to give any review to his work, because his writing is just awesome. The words and their meanings are so much meaningful. My favourites are the songs "Tujhse naraz nahi Zindagi", "Mera kuch Samaan" and "Tera bina Zindagi se". Actually there are many more favourites, but I can't write them all here :p

If you love the songs of Gulzar, then you must read this collection.

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[Bhawana Somaaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

He is a songwriter, painter, screenplay writer and filmmaker. Yes, I am talking about the one and only Gulzar saab. In 2009, Penguin published a book called 100 lyrics translated by Sujoy Shekhar. What makes the book unusual was not just the songs and the translation but little anecdotes about the songs and certain scribbles by the writer himself reproduced in the book. At that time, when the publisher, the songwriter and the translator were deciding the list of the songs they knotted up certain songs and labelled them as untranslatable because how do you translate Chappa Chappa Charkha Chale or Chaiyya Chaiyya? But in 2016, the publisher had another proposal for the translator and the same untranslatable songs were put together along with new songs of course and made into new book called Another 100 lyrics. I read both these books when they were published and reread them in the lockdown. I suggest if you can get your hands on it then do read it because they are absolutely precious.

[Zee]

I am not a poetry person but am trying desperately to understand and enjoy poetry. However, reading song lyrics in a written format barely ever has the effect that it intends to. Gulzar writes beautifully yes, but those words are meant to be put to tune without which they seem a little random. I did not know many of these songs, but thoroughly enjoyed the ones that I did. I think I spent a good amount of time just singing Chaiyya Chaiyya and Kajra Re when I came across those. There was one song that significantly impacted me (or maybe it was the effect of the wind blowing through my hair) that I forgot to note down so now I don't remember which song it was. Fun read though, 10/10 recommend to anybody interested in poetry or bollywood or preferably both.

[Parth Pandya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost expected that a Gulzar book will be right up there in my much loved set of books for the year but this one had the reverse effect for me. It did establish that good poetry cannot make a good song until the composition matches up to me and many of Gulzar's choices of songs really left me baffled. The songs had no lasting effect (e.g. songs from Daayra) and the lyrics did not leave a mark.

What would really have made this book interesting is if there were more anecdotes from Gulzar, like the one he did on Lata-ji's song in Khamoshi. Alas, that is not the case.

[Manikandan Sankaran · Rating 3 out of 5]

The vividness of his imagination and similes drawing from nature were just enchanting. Wish I know hindi better to appreciate the verses and rhyme better.

[Rayees Shaikh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous (songs) lyrics. Fabulous translations!!!

[BHarti Kumawat]

Its not a review, just a question.
Does anybody know if this book is available in Urdu language (not translated one)?

[Tanu Goel Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book to keep in your collection to browse through and marvel at the work of Gulzar ji

[Rads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically poetry, and you know Gulzar writes well.

[Yaminnie Chandrra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What more can one say about a collection of masterpieces by one of the greatest craftsmen of his time. Gulzar writes so beautifully; crafting songs, weaving emotions and touching the heart and soul of the reader.

[Dhruv Joshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book in a go or two. Naina thag lenge, dhaage tod loa chandni se Noor ke, and musafir hun yaron...most songs are a wonder. Some are relatively old and difficult to understand. This book misses out on recent works like Mirzya, JTHJ, but makes a good read

[Snehal Dalvi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good compilation of some of his best lyrics. Although in my opinion the translation isn't that good.