Pandit Ravi Shankar was always young at heart: Gulzar

Dec 15, 2012 Subhash K.Jha

Mumbai, Dec 15 (IANS) Writer-lyricist Gulzar, who worked with Pandit Ravi Shankar for 1979 movie "Meera", remembers the late sitar maestro as an honest person who was young at heart.

"When I offered 'Meera' to him, he said he will listen to the script when he was in India next and then decide. But I offered to fly down to New York for a day. I went to New York and he agreed. I actually got to travel with Panditji while we did the songs of 'Meera' because there was limited time to do the entire music score. He was doing concert tours," said Gulzar.

The movie featured Hema Malini and Vinod Khanna, and Gulzar, who wrote and directed the project, was ready to go to any length to get Ravi Shankar associated with the project.

"I volunteered to travel with him, so we could get the music for 'Meera' ready. Panditji was young at heart and had boundless energy. He was honest and very sincere. These qualities remained with him till the end.

"Years later, there was a programme in Agra where he asked me to come and introduce him on stage. I was honoured by his faith in me. I flew down to Agra to do the needful. To remain at that sky-touching peak for decades was not a small thing. Panditji was part of of my growing up years. He will remain a part of my life forever. We remained connected till the end," he said.

Ravi Shankar died in the US Tuesday. He was 92.