In the Company of a Poet

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In the Company of a Poet
In the Company of a Poet cover.jpg
AuthorNasreen Munni Kabir
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
SubjectGulzar
GenreBiography
Published12 November 2012
PublisherRupa Publications
Media typePrint
Pages208
ISBN978-81-29120-83-0
OCLC827489917

In the Company of a Poet is a 2012 book by the author and television documentary producer Nasreen Munni Kabir, containing her extensive interview with the Indian filmmaker, lyricist, and poet Gulzar. It details his early life, including his birth in 1934 in Dina, British India (now Pakistan) and his Sikh family background, his film and poetic career, and his marriage to the actress Rakhee in 1973, with whom he has a daughter, Meghna. In the Company of a Poet was published by Rupa Publications on 12 November 2012 and received mixed reviews from critics. Firstpost included the book in its listing of "Top 10 in Indian Non-fiction Books".

The book became the third written work on Gulzar, after those of his daughter's Because He is... (2004) and the journalist Saibal Chatterjee's Echoes & Eloquences (2007). Therefore, Kabir and Gulzar discussed mostly the latter's experiences as a lyricist, poet and screenwriter, avoiding their conversations to be focused on topics the previous publications have done. In the Company of a Poet's development was done by doing online conversations on the telecommunication application Skype between May and November 2011, which was followed by their face-to-face conversations at the end of the same year.

Summary[]

In the Company of a Poet features extensive conversations between its author Nasreen Munni Kabir and the filmmaker, lyricist, and poet Gulzar, relating to his life and career. Gulzar was born into a Sikh family as Sampooran Singh Kalra on 18 August 1934 in Dina, British India (present-day Pakistan). His father, Makhan Singh Kalra, was a Sardar and had married for three times (producing a son and two daughters from a first marriage with Raaj) before his marriage to who later become Gulzar's mother, Sujaan Kaur. Gulzar says to Kabir that he is Kaur's only child as his mother was died several months after giving birth to him. The book later extensively chronicles his Bollywood cinematic—mostly that of lyricist—and Urdu-language poetic career. He particularly speaks about his poetries, how he wrote his first poet when he was at the age of ten, and later starts a career as a poet. In 1973, Gulzar married to the actress Raakhee, with whom he has a daughter named Meghna (who would become a filmmaker as well).

Development and writing[]

Gulzar's (pictured in 2008) first meeting with Nasreen Munni Kabir occurred in 1986, during the production of the latter's television documentary Movie Mahal

In 1986, during the production of Movie Mahal (a 49-part television documentary on Bollywood aired on Channel 4), Nasreen Munni Kabir asked for help from the journalist Khalid Mohamed to invite people who had significantly involved in the industry. One of the interviewees was Gulzar, with whom she discussed the history of Bollywood's lyricists. After he agreeing the offers, Mohamed and Kabir arrived at his one-story bungalow on Pali Hill to start shooting. Their second meeting was four years later while she was producing for another documentary for the same channel, this time on the playback singer Lata Mangeshkar. Kabir recounted he came up insightful information about the singer—the same thing he did when was interviewed about the topics from their previous rendezvous. For later years, they would met at several film festivals and private screenings only.[1]

Kabir wrote in In the Company of a Poet's foreword that she got the idea of the book "[preposterously] as this might sound" after having a dream in 2010, in which she was talking with Gulzar's contemporaries Sahir Ludhianvi and Shailendra; the lyricists told her to write a book in collaboration with Gulzar on their work. It consequently motivated her to do a call with Gulzar from London "no matter how overly dramatic the whole might seem to him", using his telephone number she got when they met coincidentally in the city. His manager, whom she referred to as Mr. Kutty, answered the call and asked her to wait for a while. Gulzar came on the line a few minutes later, telling Kabir to phone him once more after she arriving in India. In the end of 2010, she had returned to the country and subsequently got the approval from him.[2]

Using the telecommunication application Skype, the conversations happened from May to November 2011 with over twenty-five sessions (each lasting one or two hours) in English, Hindi, and Urdu. Two other books has been written on him—his daughter Meghna's Because He is... (2004) and Saibal Chatterjee's Echoes & Eloquences (2007)—so they avoid talking topics the previous publications have already done. Kabir, who had returned to London by the end of 2010 following Gulzar's consents on the idea of the book, chose to focus mostly on his work mostly as a lyricist, poet, and screenwriter. She added, "I also believed that even if we were to revisit events that were already known, [Gulzar] would shed new light on them from the perspective of who he is today." At the end of the following year, she went back to Mumbai and continue the conversations at his office.[3]

Critical reception[]

In the Company of a Poet received mixed reviews from book critics. The writer from the entertainment portal Bollywood Hungama gave the book a rating of two-and-a-half stars, concluding in his review, "If you haven't read any of the books centered on Gulzar yet, this one—though not the best of the lot—could still be your pick!" Although feeling ambivalent of the book, the critic said that it is suitable for those who wants to have insights of the Bollywood in the past decades from Gulzar's point-of-view.[4] Lopamudra Ghatak of CNN-News18 praised Kabir for making Gulzar telling his personal life detailly and described it as "a conversation with Kabir interrupting, interjecting and engaging her subject just enough, at the right moments".[5] The Hindustan Times' critic Deepa Gahlot thought that most of the book's contents focuses on his written works and personal life only, but believed that it is enough to give "a glimpse of where he comes from and the influences that shaped his extraordinary imagination and felicity with words".[6]

Suresh Kohli of The Tribune called it a comprehensive biography on a personality with huge contributions for the Hindi film industry, and added that "Nasreen Munni Kabir's engagement of his persona is not a serious but flippant attempt considering the time and space Gulzar must have given her for the book-length interview." Kohli, however, criticised the book for "[lacking] a pattern, therefore the relative inconsistency", explaining that Kabir "flips from films to individuals without a pause, from people to poetry with the finesse of a trapeze artiste". For instance, they were talking about a poem for Meghna when she was 18, but Kabir suddenly change the topics to her birth.[7] A reviewer for The New Indian Express complimented the book as interesting and filled with much new information of its subject, observing, "When writings on Indian cinema is either confined to stars or based on the imported theories, this book is a great addition that unriddles the grand persona of a legend."[8] The Deccan Herald saw that Gulzar talks about his life in a humorous way.[9]

Ziya Us Salam found the book to be a "breezy reading".[10] In The Indian Express, Suanshu Khurana felt that In the Company of a Poet has flawed narrative shifts and many questions from Kabir have little connection with her next questions. Khurana took an example when Gulzar was telling her the screenwriting of Mughal-e-Azam (1960) and its director K. Asif, but Kabir next asked about the author-cum-screenwriter Nabendu Ghosh—the critic opined these flaws could make the book's readers confused.[11] Asif Noorani of Dawn took note of Kabir's ability to "draw Gulzar into a lively conversation, enabling us to hear about many people, their fads and foibles, and in some cases their eccentricities, particularly those with whom he was and in some cases still is very close."[12] Jitesh Pillai, the editor of Filmfare, commended her for making such a "engaging book" that has "delightful insights" on its subject,[13] and Ramya Sarma of The Hindu shared similar thoughts on it, appreciating it for its informativeness.[14]

Writing for The Kashmir Walla, Atul K. Thakur stated, "Nasreen Munni Kabir, who is known for her authentic knowledge on cinema has made another remarkable mark by infusing biographical element in a long interview with a timeless phenomenon-Gulzar."[15] The book was included in Firstpost's end-year listing of "Top 10 in Indian Non-fiction Books".[16]

Publication history[]

Region Release date Format Ref.
India 12 November 2012 Amazon Kindle [17]
Hardcover [18]
1 December 2012 Paperback [19]

References[]

  1. ^ Kabir 2012a, p. vi.
  2. ^ Kabir 2012a, p. vii.
  3. ^ Kabir 2012a, pp. viii–ix.
  4. ^ Bollywood Hungama 2014.
  5. ^ Ghatak 2013.
  6. ^ Gahlot 2013.
  7. ^ Kohli 2013.
  8. ^ The New Indian Express 2013.
  9. ^ Deccan Herald 2013.
  10. ^ Salam 2013.
  11. ^ Khurana 2013.
  12. ^ Noorani 2013.
  13. ^ Pillai 2013.
  14. ^ Sarma 2013.
  15. ^ Thakur 2013.
  16. ^ Kaul 2012.
  17. ^ Kabir 2012a.
  18. ^ Kabir 2012b.
  19. ^ Kabir 2012c.

Sources[]

External links[]

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