Biography
Sampooran Singh Kalra known popularly by his pen name Gulzar, is an Indian poet, lyricist, musician, composer and film director. Born in Jhelum District in British India (now in Pakistan) his family moved to India after partition. He started his career with music director S.D. Burman as a lyricist in the 1963 film Bandini and worked with many music directors including R. D. Burman, Salil Chowdhury, Vishal Bhardwaj and A. R. Rahman. He directed films such as Aandhi and Mausam during the 1970s and...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Crazxy
2025
Lyricist
A renowned surgeon, Abhimanyu Sood is carrying ₹5 crores for a hush hush settlement that will save him from going to jail, when he gets a chilling pho...

Sam Bahadur
2023
Lyricist
Based on the life of Sam Manekshaw, who was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the first Indian...

Khufiya
2023
Lyricist
When a mole in an intelligence unit leads to the murder of an undercover spy, a hardened agent relentlessly pursues him to avenge the death.

8 A.M. Metro
2023
Poem
Two strangers inadvertently bump into each other in the metro and strike up an unlikely friendship, and in the process find themselves and each other.

Fursat
2023
Lyricist
A young man unearths an ancient relic that lets him peek into the future. In his obsession to control what lies ahead, he risks losing all that matter...

Kuttey
2023
Lyricist
A van carrying crores of cash. One rainy night in the outskirts of Mumbai. Unaware of each other, three stray gangs cross paths on the hunt. Unfortuna...

Cirkus
2022
Original Story
Two sets of identical twins are accidentally separated at birth. Several years later, when they are coincidentally in the same town, there is a lot of...

Darlings
2022
Lyricist
Badru hopes her volatile husband will reform if he stops drinking. But when his rage goes too far, she and her mom boldly, albeit clumsily, seek reven...

Sherdil: The Pilibhit Saga
2022
Lyricist
Inspired by the real events that took place in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve where people used to leave their elderly family members for tigers to prey o...

1232 KMs
2021
Lyricist
Weeks after the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, seven migrant labourers, on the verge of starvation, decided to go to their village just like millions o...

Chhapaak
2020
Lyricist
A true story based on acid attack survivor Malti's grueling and glorious journey from her medical treatment, court proceedings leading to her emotiona...

The Sky Is Pink
2019
Lyricist
The 25-year-old love story of a couple is told through the lens of their teenage daughter after she is diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.

Raazi
2018
Lyricist
An Indian spy is married to a Pakistani military officer during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.

Mehrunisa V Lub U
2017
Lyricist
light comedy depicting prevalent social evils, general apathy of people and resolve of some to fight improve the life and surrounding around them.

Rangoon
2017
Lyricist
Julia travels to the Indo-Burma border to perform for the troops during the World War II, on the insistence of Billimoria, her lover. She finds hersel...
Roots
2017
This documentary explores the rich heritage of Indian classical music and the reasons behind its modern decline in popularity

Ok Jaanu
2017
Dialogue, Lyricist
Adi and Tara move to Bombay to pursue their dreams. A chance meeting sparks off a heady, no strings attached romance until their careers pull them apa...

Dear Zindagi
2016
Lyricist
An unconventional thinker helps a budding cinematographer gain a new perspective on life.

Kaagaz Ki Kashti
2016
as Himself
Documentary on the life of ghazal samrat Jagjit Singh, who changed the landscape of Indian Music.

Mirzya
2016
Story, Screenplay
Two star-crossed lovers must battle the forces which try to keep them apart at different timelines and at different world's.

Talvar
2015
Lyricist
A hardened cop deals with three conflicting perspectives involving a brutal double murder. The case is complicated as the prime suspects are the paren...

Drishyam
2015
Lyricist
A simple street-smart man tries to protect his family from a cop looking for her missing son who was accidently killed by his daughter.

Kill Dil
2014
Lyricist
Once upon a time in North India, two killers – Dev and Tutu - roamed free. Abandoned when young and vulnerable, Bhaiyaji gave them shelter and nurture...

Haider
2014
Lyricist
A young man returns to Kashmir after his father's disappearance to confront his uncle - the man he suspects to have a role in his father's fate.
Masoom
2014
Writer
Teenage friends get excited and confused about sex in their adolescence. However, a lack of proper education and guidance leads them to early childbea...

Jai Ho
2014
as self
The Film brings to its viewers, a hitherto unseen and unheard narrative of one of the greatest musicians the world has ever known: A. R. Rahman

Celluloid Man
2012
as Self
Indian documentary about Indian film history and P. K. Nair, the founder of the National Film Archive of India and guardian of Indian cinema. He built...

7 Khoon Maaf
2011
Lyricist
Susanna is hungry for love and will go to any extent to find it in its purest form. In her quest for the perfect man, she gets married a number of tim...

Raavan
2010
Lyricist
A bandit leader kidnaps the wife of the policeman who killed his sister, but later falls in love with her.

Raajneeti
2010
Lyricist
It is the story of a fiercely fought election campaign, where money power and corruption are the accepted norms, and where treachery and manipulation ...

Ishqiya
2010
Lyricist
While on the run from goons, a man and his nephew fall for a kidnapper's seductive widow.

Kaminey
2009
Lyricist
Two brothers, as different as chalk and cheese, find their lives intertwined when one puts himself in danger via a `get rich quick' scheme and the oth...

Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish
2009
Lyricist
When a sex worker hires a gay songwriter to care for her disabled son, the ensuing bonds that form offer a complex portrayal of love and family.

Firaaq
2009
Lyricist
Firaaq is an Urdu word that means both separation and quest. The film is a work of fiction, based on a thousand stories. The story is set over a 24-ho...

Billu
2009
Lyricist
When a famous Bollywood actor visits a small village for a film's shoot, a poor hairdresser's claim that they were once childhood friends soon makes h...

Yuvvraaj
2008
Lyricist
Three brothers fight and play games with each other to inherit their father’s wealth.

Slumdog Millionaire
2008
Lyricist
A teenager reflects on his life after being accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".

Guru
2007
Lyricist
A villager, Gurukant Desai, arrives in Bombay in 1958, and rises from its streets to become the biggest tycoon in India.

Jaan-E-Mann
2006
Lyricist
Agastya a NASA scientist comes in search of his crush Piya. In order to make her fall for him, he gets Suhaan to help this out. However, everything go...

Omkara
2006
Lyricist
Half-caste bandit Omkara Shukla abducts his lady love, Dolly Mishra, from her family. Thanks to his cleverness, he gets away with the kidnapping. A co...

The Blue Umbrella
2005
Lyricist
Young Biniya lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in the mountainous and snowy region of Himachal Pradesh in India along with her widowed mom and...

Raincoat
2004
as Poetry (voice)
Tells the story of two lovers, separated by destiny, who meet again one day. This encounter allows each to realize the truth about the lives they are ...

Pinjar
2003
Lyricist
In the days leading up to Partition, a Hindu woman is abducted by a Muslim man. Soon, she finds herself not only forced into marriage, but living in a...

Maqbool
2003
Lyricist
The Scottish tragedy 'Macbeth' set in the contemporary underworld of India's commercial capital; two corrupt, fortune telling policemen take the roles...

Saathiya
2002
Dialogue
A couple elopes to get married and set up home hoping that just love will do the trick - but that's just the beginning of their story.

Dil Vil Pyar Vyar
2002
Lyricist
Three friends, who have known each other for a long time, decide to enter a singing and musical competition. The events that lead to this competition,...

Fiza
2000
Lyricist
In 1993 Fiza's brother disappears during the riots in Mumbai. In 1999 Fiza is tired of waiting and goes looking for him.

Swapno Niye
1999
Story
Swapno Niye is a 1999 Indian Bengali film, directed by Bishnu Palchaudhuri.

Rockford
1999
Lyricist
The movie chronicles the arrival of a (Hindu) student to a strict all-boys Christian boarding school in India and his assimilation into the school. Th...

Hu Tu Tu
1999
Director, Writer
Panna is the only daughter of politician Maltidevi. Panna is very critical of her mother, when she decides to separate from her dad, and asked Chief M...

Dil Se..
1998
Lyricist
Journalist Amar falls for a mysterious woman on an assignment, but she does not reciprocate his feelings. However, when Amar is about to get married, ...

Satya
1998
Lyricist
A young man named Satya comes to Mumbai from South India in search of a job. Jailed for something he did not do, the once-honest young man meets an un...

Chachi 420
1997
Dialogue, Lyricist
In order to see his little girl more often, a divorcee disguises himself as an old lady and gets a job as his own daughter's caretaker. A Hindi remake...

Maachis
1996
Director, Story, Screenplay
A realistic, hard-hitting portrayal of terrorism and youth in the Punjab after the 1984 riots.

Mammo
1994
Lyricist
Mammo is an account of a certain period in the life of Riyaz, a teenager who lives with his grandmother Fayyazi as they get a visit from his grandma’s...

Maya Memsaab
1993
Lyricist
A frustrated housewife whose marriage to an average man does not meet her expectations enters into an affair with a younger man. Of course, there are ...

Rudaali
1993
Writer
Shanichari is a beautiful girl born in lower cast and her life is full of sufferings because of lower cast, poor finances, lost parents, drunken husba...

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi
1992
Director
This is a biographical film on Bhimsen Joshi who is undoubtedly the singer of this century. An exponent of the Kirana Gharana he is equally at ease wi...

Lekin...
1990
Screenplay, Director
Samir Niyogi lives in India and is assigned by the Government to travel to Rajasthan, evaluate a princely castle that once belonged to Raja Param Sing...

Mirza Ghalib
1988
Writer, Director
This is the about the most admired poet in the History of Urdu and Persian writings, Mirza Ghalib

Libaas
1988
Director, Writer
The film is about married couples of urban India having extramarital relations and adultery. Based on Gulzar's own story "Seema", the film portrays th...

Ijaazat
1987
Director, Screenplay, Lyricist
An estranged couple accidentally meet in a railway station's waiting room and revisit their past.

Ek Pal
1986
Dialogue
Based on a short story by Maitreyi Devi, Kalpana Lajmi’s directorial debut tells a story of extramarital affair in the tea gardens of Assam. Famous As...

New Delhi Times
1986
Writer
When a politician is killed, a journalist discovers that a member of parliament had the man assassinated. As his editor digs deeper, the complicity of...

Hip Hip Hurray
1983
Writer
A computer engineer, Sandeep Chowdhary waiting to start his first job, takes up a temporary job as sports instructor in a school at Ranchi

Sadma
1983
Dialogue, Lyricist
A head injury causes a woman to regress to childhood. Lost and confused, she is eventually befriended by a school teacher. A Hindi remake of the 1982 ...

Masoom
1983
Screenplay
D.K. Malhotra lives a comfortable lifestyle with his wife, Indu, and two school-going daughters, Pinky and Minni. He works in the office of an Archite...

Zara Si Zindagi
1983
Dialogue
An MA in philosophy, Raja arrives in Delhi to look for employment and comes across Kusum, a struggling stage actress. They both face hardships in orde...

Angoor
1982
Director, Screenplay
Two pairs of identical twins are separated following an unfortunate incident. However, years later, their lives intertwine, leading to confusion and m...

Namkeen
1982
Director, Screenplay
Nimki (Sharmila Tagore) is the mortar that holds her fragile family together. She looks after her younger sisters, the mute, sweet Meethu (Shabana Azm...

Naram Garam
1981
Songs
Ramprasad, a young man, lets his lover, Kusum, and her father stay at his boss's house. However, they find themselves in trouble when Kusum is pursued...

Swayamvar
1980
Lyricist
Durgadevi rules her household with her brother, Makhanlan, and treats daughter Shanti worse than she treats servants; her other daughter is Roopa. Whe...

Khubsoorat
1980
Writer
Nirmala Gupta rules her household with an iron fist. While most of her family resents it, they do comply and try to appease to her. When her daughter-...

Sahira
1980
Director
Intelligent and sensitive, Meena Kumari found solace in reading and writing poetry in her private life. She found freedom and utmost self-expression i...

The Jewelled Lamp
1979
Lyricist
Ratnadeep revolves around a person who was fed up with his job and to get out of that situation, he applied for two months leave. The story follows wh...

Griha Pravesh
1979
as Guest Appearance in song
A successful office worker who is happily married has a brief affair with a sultry co-worker in this romantic melodrama. His wife eventually wins him ...

Griha Pravesh
1979
Original Music Composer
A successful office worker who is happily married has a brief affair with a sultry co-worker in this romantic melodrama. His wife eventually wins him ...

Meera
1979
Director, Writer
Meera, a devotee of Lord Krishna, believes she is married to the lord and rejects her marriage to a Rajput prince. However, her spirituality leads her...

Gol Maal
1979
Musical
A man's simple lie to secure his job escalates into more complex lies when his orthodox boss becomes suspicious.

Devata
1978
Writer

Kitaab
1977
Director, Producer, Writer
Director Sampooran Singh Gulzar’s insightful comic drama aims to capture the unique perspective of childhood.

Palkon Ki Chhaon Mein
1977
Writer
When Ravi gets a job as a post officer in a village, he falls in love with Mohini, not knowing she loves another

Kinara
1977
Director
Aarti, a dancer, is grieving over the death of her lover, Chandan. She is befriended by Inder who eventually falls in love with her. But a revelation ...

Uyarnthavargal
1977
Original Story
A hearing-impaired woman decides to get her son married to a girl, who lives with auditory impairment.
Chala Murari Hero Banne
1977
as Self
This is the story of Murari who wants to become a filmstar. He runs away from his house and goes to Mumbai to become a superstar. When he reaches Mumb...

Jallian Wala Bagh
1977
as Suneel
The whole film is a story about Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar.

Jallian Wala Bagh
1977
Writer, Lyricist, Screenplay
The whole film is a story about Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar.

Gharaonda
1977
Dialogue, Screenplay, Lyricist
A story of a young, middle-class urban working couple wanting to get married and their tribulations in finding a house in the city of Mumbai.

Mausam
1975
Screenplay, Director
While studying for his medical exams in Darjeeling, India, Amarnath Gill sprains his leg and seeks treatment from the local healer, Harihar Thapa. Ama...

Faraar
1975
Story
The film is based around a middle-class man, Rajesh (Raj) living with his sister. He is in love with a young woman, and he intends to marry her once h...

Khushboo
1975
Director, Screenplay, Dialogue
Kusum and Brindavan are two small children living in a small village in India. Both love each other, and decide to marry when they grow up. Kusum has ...

Chupke Chupke
1975
Screenplay, Dialogue
Sulekha is in awe of her brother-in-law Raghavendra for his intelligence. Parimal, her husband, decides to take up the challenge of fooling Raghavendr...

Aandhi
1975
Screenplay, Director
J.K. is a hotel Manager in a scenic location in India. One day he gallantly comes to the rescue of a drunk daughter, Aarti, of a politician, and choos...

Cinema Paithiyam
1975
Writer
A young girl loves bunking school to watch movies. Unable to distinguish between reel and real life, she insists on marrying her favourite hero. The k...

Jeevan Sangram
1974
Lyricist, Screenplay, Dialogue
Arjun is part of a group of independence fighters in 1914, during a mission in Kolkatta he is seen by the police and during his escape he is saved by ...

Namak Haraam
1973
Dialogue, Screenplay
Somu and Vicky decide to exact revenge on the union leader, Bipinlal Pandey. However, when Somu understands the plight of the workers, it creates a ri...

Achanak
1973
Director, Writer
Dr. Chaudhary must perform multiple surgeries on Major Ranjeet Khanna, who was shot by the Police while trying to escape from custody after killing hi...

Sabse Bada Sukh
1972
Dialogue
Village born Lalloo re-locates to Bombay, and returns a wealthy man. He goes to meet his friend, Shankar alias Bhompu, and together they meet and shar...

Parichay
1972
Screenplay, Director
An unemployed young man (Jeetendra) takes a job to tutor unruly grandkids of Rai Sahab (Pran) and brings out respect, appreciation and hard work hidde...

Koshish
1972
Director, Screenplay
A romantic drama which tells the story of a 20 year relationship between Hari and Aarti - a deaf-mute couple who try to live their lives to the fulles...

Guddi
1971
Screenplay
A teenage girl will not accept her family's attempt to arrange a marriage for her, as her heart is currently too full of love for the movies and heart...

Mere Apne
1971
Writer, Director
Old woman Anandi moves to the city with her relatives and finds out their material side. She develops fondness for two rival street gangs of unemplo...

Anand
1971
Screenplay, Dialogue, Lyricist
Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee struggles with his patients' suffering and the darkness and poverty he confronts daily. He treats cancer patient Anand who upon ...

Anubhav
1971
Lyricist
Newspaper editor Amar (Kumar) grows distant from his wife Meeta (Tanuja) because his new assistant is her former lover Shashi (Thakur). Amar cannot ac...

Bilambita Loy
1970
Lyricist
A promising artist and a singer fall in love in college and get married against their families' wishes. The singer soon begins performing to support h...

Oos Raat Ke Baad
1969
Lyricist
Old Thakur Sunder Singh (Sanjeev Kumar) is haunted by a past indiscretion. In his youth he fell in love with a village girl and she became pregnant by...

Khamoshi
1969
Dialogue, Musical
Colonel Sahab is a doctor in a psychiatry ward and Nurse Radha (Waheeda Rahman) is heart-broken after a civilian patient, Dev Kumar (Dharmendra), whom...

Sunghursh
1968
Dialogue
Bhavani Prasad is a powerful thug, who masquerades as a priest. His son Shankar refused to follow his path so he wants his grandson Kundan to carry on...

Aashirwad
1968
Dialogue
Aashirwad is a 1968 Bollywood film. Produced by N.C. Sippy and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, it is directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film stars Ashok Kuma...

Sannata
1966
Lyricist
Kunwar Vijay Singh is found murdered and and from that time on a mysterious light can seen in a nearby fort while in the forest the haunting moan of a...

Bandini
1963
Lyricist, Assistant Director
In 1930s British-ruled Bengal, a prison-doctor falls in love with a convicted murderer with past connections to a freedom fighter.
Kabuliwala
1961
Lyricist
A poor Afghani leaves his family behind to earn a living as a dried fruit vendor in India. Profoundly homesick, he befriends a young girl who reminds ...

Parda
1949
as Salma
Razia and Aslam grew up as friends and that deepened into love at maturity. Unfortunately, Aslam was from a wealthy family and Razia from a poor one a...

Prem Nagar
1940
as Gangi
Prem Nagar is a small, happy and contented village somewhere in India. A tiny spark of anger flared up a misunderstanding, a quarrel, jealousy, and gr...
Gustaakh Ishq
N/A
Lyricist
Upcoming film