LAHORE / KARACHI, Feb 13: Poetry lovers and film buffs were saddened to know on Wednesday afternoon that legendary Indian poet and filmmaker Gulzar had returned home from Lahore without going to Karachi where he was supposed to take part in the Karachi Literature Festival.

According to sources close to him, Gulzar visited his place of birth, Deena near Jhelum, after 70 years. He went to the school where he had gone as a child. Then he visited his ancestral house and was so overwhelmed by emotions that he broke into tears.

He requested his friends -- film director and music composer Vishal Bhardwaj and his vocalist wife Rekha Bhardwaj (who had accompanied him to Pakistan) -- to take him back to Lahore. In Lahore he decided to return to India through the Wagah border.

However, an unconfirmed report says Gulzar was asked by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to return. The Indian mission has rejected the speculation as false and fabricated.

Gulzar spent a busy day in Lahore on Wednesday. He attended a luncheon hosted by popular poet and playwright Amjad Islam Amjad and supervised audio recording of a qawali for Bollywood film Dedh Ishqiya. He also visited the grave of his mentor Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi in Pakki Thathi graveyard in Samanabad.

Some men, believed to be from the Indian embassy, reportedly asked him to leave a hotel on The Mall immediately. The men ensured that the poet reached Amritsar through Wagah en route to Mumbai, it is said.

One of the hosts of Gulzar in Lahore told Dawn that there was no change in his schedule for Wednesday till last evening. “Things changed overnight. I have come to know through media that he has left.”

The host gave two reasons for the sudden return of Gulzar. Either he had received security threats in the wake of Kashmiri activist Afzal Guru’s hanging in Delhi’s Tihar jail or some unforeseen development forced him to return home.

However, the “threat” factor was ruled out by the Indian high commissioner in Islamabad and Vishal Bhardwaj.

Bhardwaj said in a statement on NDTV website that their trip to Pakistan was not cut short for political reasons.

“After Gulzar visited his birth place, he was emotionally overwhelmed and felt uncomfortable after reaching his hotel in Lahore.

So we decided to go back to India…. We plan to visit Pakistan again for recording (the qawali) as soon as Gulzar Sahab feels better,” the statement says

The Indian High Commission said in another statement that Gulzar’s trip was a private one and they were not aware of his itinerary. “No one from the mission gave him any advice about his return.”

Gulzar was supposed to deliver the keynote address at the fourth Karachi Literature Festival (KLF). His exclusion from the event has caused disappointment to those who had wished to see him in person.

Talking to Dawn, Managing Director of the Oxford University Press and founder of the KLF, Ameena Saiyid, said: “I’m disappointed and saddened. It’s a great loss for his readers and admirers in Pakistan. I don’t know what caused his early return. I received the news when he had already crossed the border. It’s strange because he had come by air and went back on foot.”