Actually - I Met Them : A Memoir

Do memories ever fade away? They never `dry up', says Gulzar Saab. 'They keep floating somewhere between the conscious and the subconscious mind. It's a great feeling to swim there sometime. Pick up a few bubbly moments and cherish them again.'

From Bimal Roy to Satyajit Ray, R.D. Burman, Kishore Kumar, Ritwik Ghatak, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Mahasweta Devi and Samaresh Basu, among others, in this fascinating book, Gulzar Saab goes down memory lane to bring to light his relationship with the doyens of Indian cinema, music and literature, who he had known and worked with over a long period of time. In his words, 'It seems like a dream when I revisit my memories of such great gurus and colleagues, and I feel overwhelmed that I have really interacted with them. I have to pinch myself on realizing that actually... I met them.'

Chatty, anecdotal and deeply personal, this book of memories will chronicle Gulzar Saab's life and career through different eras of Indian cinema as he successfully transcended commercial and critical arts. Studded with rare photographs, Actually . . . I Met Them will be a treat for his huge and devoted fan base.

one of India's leading poets, is a greatly respected scriptwriter and film director. He has been one of the most popular lyricists in mainstream Hindi cinema, gaining international fame when he won an Oscar and a Grammy for the song 'Jai ho'. Gulzar received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2014. He lives and works in Mumbai.

The book is in the first person. That is largely due to the fact that I narrated everything. However, there are three first persons in this book.

I first shared my thoughts with Sanchari for a Bengali newspaper's Sunday edition. She would fly down to Mumbai and cover the columns for two such editions at a time. I spoke in the first person, in Hindi, Bengali, English and Urdu; she framed all of it in good Bengali.

Finally, a compilation of these narratives was published as Panta Bhate in Bengali.

The book has now been translated from Bangla to English by Maharghya Chakraborty. But, again, in the first person, as I narrated.

Hence, there are three generations of first persons. From Hindi to Bengali to English, this was an amazingly interesting journey. Having said this, I remain the 'First Mujrim'.

I wish to dedicate this book to the very first person, Sanchari Mukherjee.

It seems like a dream when I revisit my memories of such great gurus and colleagues, and I feel overwhelmed that I have really interacted with them. I have to pinch myself on realizing that 'Actually.. I met them'.