Guide would have been as incomplete without its everlasting songs as without Dev Anand and Waheeda Rahman’s charming performances. The lyricist, Shailendra, who penned the songs has also given India one of the greatest writers alive, Gulzar. Without him, the latter may have never used his talents. So it was appropriate that Gulzar handed out the award given to the lyricist of legendary movies like Teesri Kasam and Mera Naam Joker, posthumously.
He was one of the three along with writer Dr Rahi Masoom Raza (Mahabharat) and writer-filmmaker KA Abbas (Saat Hindustani, Mera Naam Joker) who was given an award by The Screenwriters Association (SWA). The three writers were posthumously awarded for their stellar contribution to Indian cinema and television. These legends were conferred with awards for lyrics writing, writing for TV and writing for films respectively.
Gulzar expressed his indebtedness to the lyricist. “It was thanks to Shailendra that I came into the film industry. He egged me constantly to write and that’s how I ended up penning my first song — Mora Gora Ang layle for Bimal Roy’s Bandini. He was my friend, philosopher, guide and I learnt a lot from him.”
Talking about Shailendra’s writing prowess, Gulzar said, “He wrote from his heart and his writings were an ode to the common man. It clearly reflected from his songs.”
At the fifth Indian Screenwriters Conference (ISC) writers Gulzar, Javed Siddiqui (Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Zubiedaa) and Kamlesh Pandey (Tezaab, Rang De Basanti) paid heartfelt tributes to the three legends.
The event was emotionally charged as the family members of these writers came to accept the awards and thanked the SWA members which also included the peers of these late legends.
Actor and great-granddaughter of Abbas, Neelima Azmi, broke into tears while Nadeem Khan, cinematographer and son of Raza, and Parvati Khan, singer and daughter in law Raza, were also emotional while accepting the award. lyricist Shailendra’s sons Manoj Shailendra, Dinesh Shailendra and daughter Amla Shailendra flew to Mumbai specially to accept the award bestowed on their father. They said that they were touched by this wonderful gesture of the SWA, while accepting the award from Gulzar.
Actor Randhir Kapoor fondly remembered the famous collaboration of his father and filmmaker Raj Kapoor and lyricist Shailendra. The duo made Mera Naam Joker, the film which is considered to be Raj Kapoor’s finest performances. He said, “Shailendra ji’s contribution to Raj Kapoor’s films is invaluable. These films are still known today thanks to Shailendra ji. I am really grateful to it as we are still reaping the benefits of his work.”
Kamlesh Pandey said “KA Abbas played an important role in bringing sense and sensibility to Hindi cinema. He also helped to give the business of cinema the much-needed respect which till then was looked down upon by the society. His films are also ingrained in my DNA and have influenced my work. Most importantly he also played a pivotal role in helping writers get their much-needed respect.”
Abbas’ film Saat Hindustani, on Goa’s freedom struggle from the Portuguese, gave Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan his first break while Raza had captured the imaginations of the Indian public with his epic Mahabharata, for which he wrote the script and dialogues.
Meanwhile, writer Javed Siddiqui, paid tribute to Raza saying, “Rahi saab was a multifacted personality and the writing he did for television only provided a glimpse of it. He was also a great poet and never lost his values and integrity even while working in a completely commercialised Hindi film industry.”
