"But that's the way young people speak! So why should we be shy of expressing what the characters express? As a lyricist it's my job to sublimate my poetry into the requirement of the characters and the plot. Hence the urban conversational lyrics in 'Jaan-e-Mann'."

Though he has faced flak for his "Beedi" song, Gulzar got a pleasant surprise when Hindi litterateur Kamleshwar called up to say he watched "Omkara" with his grandchild.

Reaching across three generations is indeed no mean achievement.

"'Kajra re' and 'Beedi' are known as item songs. But I've kept them completely free of suggestive words. I'm happy about that," said Gulzar.