Gulzar
on
Thursday,
May
22,
2025,
received
the
58th
Jnanpith
Award,
India’s
highest
literary
honour,
at
his
home
Boskyanna
in
suburban
Bandra.
The
90-year-old
poet
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
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
writers
were
present
on
this
occasion,’
Tewari
said.
Gulzar
is
the
recipient
of
the
Sahitya
Akademi
Award
in
2002,
the
Padma
Bhushan
in
2004,
the
Academy
Award
and
Grammy
for
the
song
Jai
Ho
in
2008
for
Slumdog
Millionaire,
and
the
Dadasaheb
Phalke
Award
2013
for
his
contribution
to
the
Indian
film
industry.
Born
Sampooran
Singh
Kalra,
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
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.
Photograph:
Sahil
Salvi,
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff
