Gulzar is one of India`s most famed lyricist who hails from what is now Pakistan. Born as Sampooran Singh on August 18, 1936, he and his family were forced by the upheavals of Partition to migrate to Delhi. Widely considered to be the finest film lyricist living, his verses for numerous Hindi film soundtracks attests to his poetic genius.

Gulzar is an Indian poet, lyricist, film-maker, director, and playwright. He works in Hindi and Urdu. He was born in Dina, located in the current-day Pakistan. He is a widely acclaimed director and lyricist in Bollywood movies. Gulzar began his career under two other artists - Bimal Roy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. His book Raavi Paar has a narrative of Bimal Roy and the agony of creation. Gulzar was married to actress Raakhee.

Gulzar had leftist leanings in his early days that can be seen from his early movies. His film Aandhi is an oblique criticism of Indian politics, and was banned for a time because it was seen as a criticism of Indira Gandhi for the imposition of the emergency. He also depicted a flair for adapting stories/concepts from literature as well as from other films. Angoor is an adaptation of Shakespeare`s Comedy of Errors. Gulzar also adapted the Hollywood classic The Sound of Music into Parichay. He directed an eponymous Television serial on Mirza Ghalib starring Naseeruddin Shah shown on Doordarshan in 1988.

Gulzar has won 5 National Awards and 17 Filmfare trophies for Direction and Lyrics. He was given the LifeTime Achievement Award in 2002 by Filmfare. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2003. For his contributions to Indian cinema, Gulzar was awarded "Padma Bhushan" in 2004 by the Government of India.

Although films gave him a mass recognition, poetry always remained his first love. Gulzar has written in Hindi, Punjabi, and dialects of Hindi like Marwari (Rajasthani) and Bhojpuri. His first poetry collection Ek Boond Chaand was published in 1962. Roopa - Harper Collins has published his poetry book Triveni. A collection of Gulzar poems titled Raat, Chaand aur Mein, covers poems related to only `Raat` and `Chaand.` Another poetry collection Raat Pashmine ki has recently been published in Pakistan. The Indian version of Raat Pashmine Ki is released by Roopa-Harper. Mera Kuchh Samaan and Chhaiyya Chhaiyya are the two song collections of Gulzar.