Because He Is

Papi says it is wrong of parents to presume that they know better, or know more than their child does. They may be biologically older than their child, but in their experience as parents, they’re of the same age. So if I was his two-year-old daughter, he was my two-year-old father. And we were both learning and evolving together – he as my father and me as his daughter.’

All of us know Gulzar as a filmmaker, screenplay and dialogue writer, a lyricist par excellence, an author and poet. Because He Is presents a facet of the icon that none of us are aware of – a father. In iridescent prose, his daughter Meghna documents his life, revealing the man behind the legend: in every way a hands-on father, who prepared her for school without fail every day, which included braiding her hair and tying her shoelaces; who, despite his busy career in cinema, always made it a point to end his workday at 4 p.m. because her school ended at that time; and who wrote a book for her birthday every year till she was thirteen.

From her earliest memories of waking up in the morning to the strains of Gulzar playing the sitar to his writing the songs for her films now, Meghna presents an intimate portrait of a father who indulged her in every way and yet raised her to be independent and confident of the choices she made. She also records his phenomenal creative oeuvre, the many trials and tribulations of his personal and professional life, through all of which she remained a priority.

Beautifully designed and illustrated with never-before-seen photographs, Because He Is offers an incredible insight into the bond between a father and a daughter.