After writing dialogues and screenplay for films such as Aashirwad, Anand and Khamoshi, Gulzar directed his first film Mere Apne (1971). The film was a remake of Tapan Sinha's Bengali film Apanjan (1969). He then directed Parichay and Koshish. Parichay was based on a Bengali novel, Rangeen Uttarain by Raj Kumar Maitra. He wrote the story of Koshish based on the struggle faced by a deaf-dumb couple. In 1973, he directed Achanak, inspired by the 1958 murder case KM Nanavati v State of Maharashtra. Later he directed Aandhi, based on the Hindi novel "Kaali Aandhi" by Kamleshwar. His next film Khushboo was based on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Pandit Mashay. His Mausam, which won the National Award for 2nd Best Feature Film, Filmfare Best Movie and Filmfare Best Director awards, along with other six Filmfare nominations, was loosely based on the story "Weather", from the novel, The Judas Tree, by A.J. Cronin. His 1982 film Angoor was based on Shakespeare's play The Comedy of Errors.