TWO POETS
Gulzar once kept a book borrowed from a refugee librarian and that book changed his taste of reading…it was Tagore’s “Gardener”, the poet-lyricist stated in one of his interviews.he started learning Bengali to read Tagore in original.
He even said there is no other example that a person became the cultural ambassador of an entire community. As for him, Tagore is an exception. The Dreamers celebrated Tagore’s inspiration, his existence in Gulzar’s creative journey.
Two poets from very different leagues but how the way they connect each other the musical was all about that. “Two Poets” was staged at Gyan Manch. The journey was featured some common segments as love for Monsoon, their philosophy of life, passion for love, work for children and so on. Eminent choreographer Sudarshan Chakravorty and noted presenter Roopsha Dasgupta told stories which were taken from Gulzar’s own interviews from the past. Singers like Rupankar Bagchi( Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le, Musafir Hoon Yaaron), Chandrima Bhattacharya( Meri Jaan Mujhe Jaan Na Kaho, Katra Katra Milti Hai ) rendered some of magical creations of Gulzar composed by Salil Chowdhury, R.D.Burman, Kanu Roy, Ilayaraja, Ustad Amzad Ali Khan, while Srabani Sen ( Aaj Shraboner Purnimate, Amare Tumi Ashesh Korechho ) offered some gems from Tagore both relating Gulzar’s journey with Tagore.
Gulzar even translated Tagore’s works in Hindi followed by he penned the Hindi script for the light and sound show for Jorasanko Thakur Bari on Tagore. Tagore lives within his creative mind, inspires him, nurtures his artistry in various ways. Sudipta Chanda is responsible for the concept while Angshuman Bhattacharya penned the script for the musical “Two Poets” .
It was to celebrate Gulzar Ji’s birthday which is on 18 August. Chandrima Bhattacharya released her single ” Mera Kuch Samaan” on the occasion. Sudipta Chanda, the organizer, said, ” It was meant for a class of audience. The subject deals with sophistication as far as their poetry is involved. Both Tagore and Gulzar connect each other so well that I conceived it’s plot, put some songs and served as Two Poets.”