A conversation between poets

Rabindranath Tagore and Gulzar

Musician duo Sourendra-Soumyajit has employed technology to bring veteran lyricist Gulzar before the revered late poet Rabindranath Tagore to answer questions raised by the latter. Aimed at showcasing a conversation between the two legends, the video shows Gulzar respond to Tagore, who, a century ago, was eager to know if a poet was reading his work.

Sourendra-Soumyajit reveal that it was Gulzar who invited them to create something together. "Rabindranath's 100-year old poem was penned keeping an unknown and imaginary poet in mind; one who is reading his work after a century. This was [evidently] an artistic urge to understand his relevance after 100 years. We decided that Gurudev should find the answer to this question through Gulzar saab, who has recited this poem himself."

This video uses AI to recreate Tagore's voice to add meaning to this conversation. Gulzar shares, "Teachers often give [pupils] homework, and probably Gurudev gave some of it to Sourendro and Soumyojit. They simply passed it on to me. There's a poem written by Gurudev. [It appears that] he knew he would grow older, and so would his creations. [He knew that] his creations would live beyond his death. In one of his poems, he asks which poet continues to read his work after 100 years. He describes his times, and asks questions about what occurs after 100 years. Once, Sourendra-Soumyajit asked me if I would like to respond to Gurudev. I don't know if I have the courage to respond to him, but I can let Gurudev know about the time we are passing through; the things we have, and those that we lost."