Guru Dutt

Suffused with the dark poetry of the death wish, Dutt’s classics were nihilistic, self-portraits of the artiste as a depressed, disturbed and deluded young man.

Surprisingly, Guru Dutt Padukone’s childhood could have hardly been more normal. Born near Bangalore, of middle-class but intellectual parents, he was fascinated by dance. He joined Uday Shankar’s Dance Academy and his first film assignment was as the choreographer of Lakharani (’45). His friend from his days of struggle, Dev Anand, asked him to direct Baazi (’51) and its success made Dutt a sought after name. Thereafter, Dutt made shadowy, film noir inspired thrillers like Jaal and Aar Paar or comedies like Mr & Mrs 55.

Waheeda Rehman and an all-blanketing pessimism entered his films with Pyaasa (’57). Although self-obsessed and symbol-laden, the film was a commercial success and an undeniable classic.

The Christian symbolism rampant in Pyaasa was an early indication of Dutt’s persecution complex. In the song, `Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai’, Dutt poses like Christ during the crucifixion; later, when he renounces the world, the light rushing towards him suggests his enlightenment and the film is peppered with references like `Kaaton ka haar’, which is akin to the crown of thorns synonymous with the Son of God.

The audience might not have responded to Dutt’s intellectualizations but they were captivated by his gift for story telling. He knew when to subdue the music, where the lyrics had to be given full voice (‘Jinhe naaz hai Hind par’) and how to create the atmosphere of a man triumphing over a spiritual wasteland.

Pyaasa was a blistering attack on worldly fame. When the long ignored poet finally gets recognition, he reacts with the climactic denouncement ‘Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye toh kya hai’. It seemed to suggest that this was Dutt’s point of view too. This, however, was not absolutely true. As Kagaz Ke Phool (’59) showed, success did mean a lot to Dutt. Both Pyaasa and Kagaz Ke Phool were intrinsically about Dutt’s relationship with fame. In Pyaasa, his alter ego rejected fame, albeit only after achieving it; while Kagaz Ke Phool showed his character’s frustration when he becomes a failure.

Off screen too, the failure of the elaborately scaled Kagaz Ke Phool left Guru Dutt devastated. His brilliantly shot, cinemascope attempt to reflect the world of Bollywood denizens through a cynical prism won him praise as the maker of a classic but set him back by Rs 17 lakhs. He agreed to produce a nakedly commercial Chaudhvi Ka Chaand (’60), to recoup the losses.

Strangely, Dutt refused to take credit as the director of the classic, Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam (’62). The film was set in a nineteenth century Calcutta mansion, that stood as an architectural metaphor for a crumbling age, succumbing to British exigencies. Meena Kumari was the mansion’s chhoti bahu — lovely but unloved. There was much that her fascinated factotum, Dutt (whose feelings for her were left undefined), wished to do for her but could not. Never has the human incapability for communication been so beautifully communicated.

Even as he sculpted classics, commercial factors continued to weigh heavily on Dutt’s mind. With tears in his eyes, Raj Kapoor praised Dutt highly after seeing Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam, only to have him counter, “But will it run?” The film had an unremarkable run at the box office. Meanwhile, a personal maelstrom caused Guru Dutt to lose himself in the dark cloisters of his own mind. He suffered a shattering break with his discovery Waheeda Rehman, as she sought to establish her own identity outside his films. A hurt Dutt tried to repair his relationship with wife Geeta, but to no avail.

It led to his drowning his sorrows in drink — his life had became a suicide note. Nobody could stop the final, inevitable overdose of sleeping tablets. Dutt died,-probably still wondering: ‘Jaane woh kaise log the jinke pyar ko pyar mila.’

This is perhaps one of the best songs composed by O.P. Nayyar for Geeta Dutt. Accordion plays a major part in setting the overall mood of the song and Geeta sings this song in her distinctive frothy style.

This song was picturized on Shakila. According to her,

“Guru Dutt used to explain things well to us artistes. He was very mild, and patient. But he’d get angry when he didn’t get what he wanted. Then he would be very picky. There was a scene in which I had to look down and then fling my head back. We had five or six retakes. He wanted me to look exactly the way he had imagined. He was particular about the way my hair fell. I didn’t have the chance to work with him again, but I did act in Raj Khosla’s C.I.D. which was produced by Guru Dutt.

The first day I worked with Guru Dutt for Aar Paar involved a song sequence. I went to the sets, a room with cardboard boxes lying everywhere. It looked like nothing. Everyone asked Guru Dutt how he could possibly film there. But he did. The song was, Houn abhi main jawan (I am still young) and how fantastically he picturized it.”

Guru Dutt and Shakila in Aar Paar (1954)

Waheeda Rehman, Baby Naaz and Guru Dutt in Kaagaz ke Phool (1959)

This is often said to the be the film that marked Guru Dutt’s mental decline towards suicide, as its failure at the box office led to his refusal to direct another film. Many believe that he actually directed Sahib bibi our ghulam (1961) and Chaudhvin ka chand (1960), in which he starred, but that he did not want to be named as the director. However, this seems to have much to do with the confusion between the author, Guru Dutt, and the character he plays in this film, Suresh Sinha. A further echo of ‘real life’ was the fact that, just as the married Suresh Sinha was in love with Shanti (Waheeda Rehman), so Guru Dutt was said to be in love with his leading actress, with his marriage to playback singer Geeta Dutt breaking down. This whole feel of the film, which exposed too much about the director and the film industry, is sometimes cited to explain why the film did poorly on release but

became a classic in subsequent years. It seems more likely that the film’s dark mood was not initially appealing, but that its other qualities led to its subsequent appreciation.

The film traces the fall of the film director, Sinha, who, as the maker of Devdas, is presumably loosely based on P. C. Barua. His decline is both personal and professional, ending in his death in his director’s chair. Kaagaz ke phool is an unusual film, in that the hero’s marriage has broken down beyond repair. He is separated from his wife, Bina (Veena), at least in part because her snobbish upper-class family look down on his work in the film industry. The relationship between the two is ambiguous. Suresh falls in love with another woman, Shanti (hired to play Paro in the film), who is presented as pure and good. While she seems willing to enter into a relationship with him, even though he is married, his daughter from his first marriage persuades her that this relationship is damaging his family. When she withdraws from the film world to take solace in teaching, Suresh falls into a downward spiral of alcoholism and self-hatred, and his professional life collapses.

It is said that Sahir Ludhianvi had fallen out with S. D. Burman after they both worked on Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa, so the pairing could not be repeated. The lyrics of Kaifi Azmi include some happy numbers, but its main songs foreground the betrayal of relationships (‘Dekhi zamaane ki yaari’) and the impermanence of the self and of love (‘Wagt ne kiya’).

The first Indian film to be shot in CinemaScope, it is notable, like most of Guru Dutt’s films, for the superb black-and-white photography of V. K. Murthy. The use of lighting and shots creates an atmosphere of beauty, half in love with death, that is very much in the Romantic tradition as well as that of Urdu poetry.

Cast and Production Credits

Year – 1959, Genre – Drama, Country – India, Language – Hindi, Producer – Guru Dutt Films, Director – Guru Dutt, Music Director – S. D. Burman, Cast - Waheeda Rehman, Naaz, Johnny Walker, Mahesh Kaul, Veena, Minoo Mumtaz, Mehmood, Pratima Devi, Nilopher, Sheela Vaz, Bikram Kapoor, Mohan Choti, Tony Walker, Tuntun, Guru Dutt