Actually . . . I Met Them

Personal. Intimate. Deeply moving.An absolutely unputdownable 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 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.An auto biography by Gulzar Saab. Review Memories come like a gentle breeze they come with the force of a whiplash or they stay like the essence of perfume which refuses to fade. Gulzar saab's latest memoirActually... I Met Them is all of this. He trawls his memoryscape in the first person and gives us nuggets about every conceivable star you like... It's straight from the heart and straight from the horse's mouth too. ―Jitesh Pillai FilmfareWhen we are spellbound by the brilliance of poets musicians and filmmakers it can be hard to remember that talent is not self-made it is honed in the company of peers and mentors. Gulzar's new bookActually...I Met Them offers this important reminder. It shows how this man who is hugely respected in the worlds of literature music and cinema started out. He celebrates the great gurus and colleagues who have made an impact on his life and his art. ―FirstpostIn effect there's a world of information and insights in the compactly-published book...Actually...I Met Them is quite a treat. ―The QuintEarthy and honest Gulzar's anecdotes-filled memoir bring alive people he interacted with. ―The Hindu BusinessLineInActually... I Met Them a memoir that examines the influence some of India's greatest minds (many of them Bengali) have had on him... There is much to learn from the pantheon of heroes in his memoir. ―Open About the Author Gulzar 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.