Sampooran Singh Kalra, internationally known by his pen name Gulzar, being lyricist, short story writer, film script writer, playwright, producer, dialogue writer, director, intellectual, famous for his uniqueness and innovation in every field of his work, is one of the most important poetic voices in post-independent India. While recognizing him as a lyricist and filmmaker, Gulzar's literary output as a poet warrants a separate critical reading. His poetry, which is written mainly in Hindustani (a fluid combination of Hindi and Urdu), is intensely simple and cerebral at once. In this paper, Gulzar's style as a poet, his themes, language, and his contribution to modern Indian poetry is addressed. It draws on selected examples of Gulzar's work and critical writing about him to situate Gulzar's poetry in relation to the larger tradition of Indian lyric poetry and modern literature.
Zarina Salim (2025) studied this question.