'Jagjit Singh's choice of lyrics, ghazals reflected his inner being'

A day ahead of Jagjit Singh's birth anniversary, legendary lyricist Gulzar reflected on his choice of lyrics and ghazals, saying they reflected the late ghazal king's thoughts.

"He would always cast a spell. That was his specialty. It mirrored who he really was. His choice of lyrics and ghazals reflected his inner being. He then expressed the words in the simplest way," Gulzar said in a statement.

Gulzar, along with other film fraternity members like Chitra Singh, Zakir Hussain, Mahesh Bhatt, Subhash Ghai, Salim Arif and Ameesha Patel will pay tribute to him at an event here.

Jagjit Singh suffered a brain haemorrhage in September 2011. He was in coma for over two weeks and died on October 10 in Mumbai. Credited for the revival and popularity of ghazal, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2003.

Talking about returning to the movies, lyricist-filmmaker Gulzar said there is no need for him to return to film direction as the new generation is making movies "more cinematic" and better than him.

"I don't need to return to films because the ones who are walking ahead of me, whose fingers I am holding, they are Shilpa Ranade, Meghna Gulzar and Vishal Bhardwaj. They are making good films, Vishal has made a film on children, Meghna had made films on relevant topics too."

Gulzar has helmed several celebrated films in his career such as Ijaazat, Aandhi and Angoor.