Aandhi : a Scenario  (English, Paperback, Gulzar)

Aandhi is among Gulzar’s most critically acclaimed works. Based on the Hindi novel Kaali Aandhi by Kamleshwar, Gulzar’s Aandhi captures the storm of a relationship that begins on a tender note of love but turns sour. A hotel manager, JK rescues the drunk daughter of a politician, Arti Devi, and wins her over. The two get married but within a few years the differences between the reticent hotelier husband and the charismatic politician wife start surfacing and they decide to part ways. Arti goes on to become an established politician, whose successful career makes her image conscious. As fate would have it, after nine years of separation the estranged couple meets again when she comes to JK’s hotel for contesting the elections. Aandhi lays bare the emotional factor associated with politics through a compelling love story. Inspired by the life of the politician, Tarkeshwari Sinha, the movie created quite a stir due to the resemblance of the lead character to the Indian Prime Minister of that time, Indira Gandhi. It was banned in the emergency of 1975 and not allowed full release till Mrs Gandhi lost the elections in 1977. In 1976, at the 23rd filmfare awards, Gulzar’s Aandhi won the critics award for best movie.

Best known as an exemplary lyricist and poet, Gulzar is also famous as a director of movies which throw light on human relationships and social issues present in India. His career as a lyricist began with music director S.D. Burman for Bandini and reached its pinnacle after his association with R.D. Burman. He has also been a songwriter for many more music directors of Bollywood like A.R. Rahman, Vishal Bhardwaj, Laxmikant-Pyarelal, and Shankar Ehsaan Loy. From Best Screenplay for Koshish and Best Dialogue for Anand in 1972 to Best Lyricist for Ishqiya in 2011, Gulzar has consistently won National Film Awards and Filmfare awards. In the year 2009 he also won the Academy Award for the Best Original Song for Jai Ho from the film Slumdog Millionaire. The following year the same song won him a grammy award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture,Television or Other Visual Media. For his contribution in the field of arts Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2004 and Sahitya Akademi award in 2002. Apart from movies, he has written lyrics for Doordarshan programs like Hello Zindagi, Jungle Book, and Potli Baba ki and he has created several series including Mirza Ghalib and Tahreer Munshi Premchand ki on small screen.