Feted, felicitated and much-loved writer, filmmaker, poet, author and lyricist Gulzar has many facets to his personality.

His daughter Meghna Gulzar is three films old, her latest being the much-talked about Talvar,which recently premiered at the 40th Toronto Film Festival (TIFF). In a candid conversation with us, the father-daughter duo speaks on their professional and personal equation.

I must tell you an interesting story. An alley cat taught a tiger how to hunt and actually go for the kill. After learning the technique, the first person the tiger attacked was the cat. She was smart. To save her life, she climbed a tree. The tiger stood below, looking at the cat and said, "Hey, but you didn't teach me this." To which the cat replied, "I could foresee that this is exactly what you would do once you mastered the killing technique. Hence, I didn't teach you this last trick.'' (Laughs) Likewise, I taught Meghna how to pen screenplay, dialogues and script etc. She knows direction and post-production. Now she has become a tigress. But, I didn't teach her how to write songs. So, she still has to depend on me (the cat in this context) for that aspect. I write songs for her films and that is my contribution to her cinema. It is challenging to write songs for her. When she wants something, no one can make her change her mind. She has a passion for movie making. This time around both Vishal (Bhardwaj) and I had to deliver. Sometimes she didn't like the tune, if she liked the tune, she didn't like the lyrics. She is hard to please. Vishal and I had to keep working continuously to present different versions to directorsahiba.

Meghna:Papa would hum some words and Vishal sir would compose a tune around it.They would only come to me when it was nearly ready. So, I told them both, "Hello, please include me in your song-making sessions.'' It is a treat to watch them work. When they are working together, there is so much that is left unsaid. Vishal is humming and dad is able to know where the tune is going and throw words at him accordingly. It is not a director thing; it's a purely selfish thing. I wanted to be in that experience.

Gulzar saab, had you followed the Aarushi Talwar case when it happened in May 2008?

I had seen Meghna meticulously making newspaper cuttings of the case. Her involvement and fascination for the subject automatically rubbed onto me. I, too, started taking a keen interest in the subject. I would see her jotting down notes. That is how I followed the case. I knew Meghna was researching the subject. If I came across any snippet or report on the Aarushi Talwar murder case, I would quickly cut it and give it to her. I have seen Vishal and her do a thorough job.