You'll never guess why veteran writer Gulzar hasn't penned a script for 17 years

Veteran lyricist/screenwriter/director Gulzar makes a screenwriting comeback with Harshvardhan Kapoor-starrer, Mirzya, and recently shared the reason for his disappearance

"Nobody gave me employment from anywhere till I met Rakeysh and his team... now I don't want to leave his team and I have told him to adopt me," said Gulzar at the film's music launch, reports Times of India.

This is a shocking revelation for Gulzar, who won an Oscar and a Grammy for Slumdog Millionaire's 'Jai Ho'. He has also been awarded numerous Filmfare awards and is the recipient of the Dadasaheb Phulke Award, the highest award in Indian cinema. For Mirzya, he has written the screenplay and all the lyrics.

Anil Kapoor, whose son Harshvardhan makes his debut in the film, responded to Gulzar's claims of unemployment with his own frustration with the writer: "I have been struggling with you (Gulzar) for 35 years. For almost last 34 years I have been asking Gulzar saab, please take me in your film and that never happened. I want an answer for that but thank you, you made a film with my son."

To this, Gulzar retorted: "I was telling Harsh your father is going to bash me and tell me I didn't work with him and worked with his son. Somehow, I kept missing him during casting. I wish you (Anil Kapoor) have employed me once."

Directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Mirzya is a retelling of the tragic love story of Mirza-Sahiban. The film is slated to release on October 7.