Vidya Balan admits to be in complete awe of Gulzar and says he is instrumental in introducing her to Urdu literature. “My introduction to Urdu literature equals to Gulzar saab. I watched him at the Kalaghoda Festival a few years ago reading the ‘Karadi Tales’. I was so taken in by what I saw and what I heard that I began to take an interest in Urdu literature too,” she said at the launch of the album ‘Tera Bayaan Ghalib’ along with Gulzar. “To me, there is just one person (Gulzar) I am tongue-tied in front of. Vishal (Bharadwaj) so beautifully has called him the ‘Safed Sufi’,” the 33-year-old added. The album consists of poet Ghalib’s letters and poems recited by lyricist Gulzar and ghazals in the voice of late Jagjit Singh. Talking about Jagjit Singh, she said: “I think for everyone my generation, ghazals means Jagjit Singh-ji and Urdu literature means Gulzar saab. Ghalib couldn’t have been brought to us by anyone else but these two luminaries of Indian culture.” Gulzar had also produced a TV serial, ‘Mirza Ghalib’ in 1988, which had Naseeruddin Shah in the role of the poet.
