Renowned poet-lyricist Gulzar on Thursday received the 58th Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour, at his residence in suburban Bandra. The 90-year-old lyricist was not able to attend the ceremony in New Delhi last week due to health-related issues.
Gulzar was given a citation plaque, a cash prize of Rs. 11 lakh and a bronze replica of Vagdevi Saraswati by Bharatiya Jnanpith members including Trustee Mudit Jain, former secretary Dharmpal, and General Manager R N Tewari.
"We met Gulzar sahab at his residence today afternoon to honour him with the Jnanpith Award. Gulzar sahab's son-in-law Govind Sandhu, filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, his wife Rekha, and a few literary writers were present on this occasion," Tewari said.
In the past, Gulzar has received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002, the Padma Bhushan in 2004, Academy Award and Grammy Award for the song "Jai Ho" in 2008 for "Slumdog Millionaire", and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2013 for his contribution to the Indian film industry.
Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known as Gulzar, is celebrated for his works in Hindi cinema and considered one of the finest Urdu poets of this era. He has also helmed critically acclaimed films like "Parichay", "Koshish", "Aandhi", "Maachis", and "Hu Tu Tu", among others.
Some of his most notable songs are "Maine Tere Liye" in "Anand", "Dil Dhundhta Hai" in "Mausam", "Chhaiya Chhaiya" in "Dil Se..", and "Ay Hairathe Aashiqui" in "Guru".
Instituted in 1961 by Sahu Shanti Prasad Jain and Rama Jain, the Bharatiya Jnanpith award has been given to noted litterateurs of Indian languages, including Firaq Gorakhpuri, Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Ashapoorna Devi, Mahadevi Varma, Girish Karnad, Nirmal Verma, and Damodar Mauzo.
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