Reliving Guru Dutt

Reliving Guru Dutt

Rohan Swamy Posted online: Sat Jul 09 2011, 03:13 hrs

Hindi cinema's greatest melancholic hero Guru Dutt would have turned 85 on July 9. A number of initiatives are keeping his memory alive He is best known as the greatest melancholic actor-director ever known to Hindi cinema. He portrayed many a man's emotions on the screen through a film career that spanned over two decades. Till today, almost 50 years after his untimely death in 1964, the legacy of actor, director and writer Guru Dutt continues to define a cinematic genre. From documentaries about his life to books; from digitising his films, to releasing screenplays of his movies in the print format, several initiatives are sustaining his memory. "He would have been 85 years old on July 9 this year (today)," says his son Arun Dutt. On the occasion of his birth anniversary, Shemaroo Entertainment will release a DVD and CD of a two-hour-long documentary titled In Search of Guru Dutt. UK-based television producer Nasreen Munni Kabir had made this documentary almost 20 years ago. "In this way, his legacy can reach a lot more people. His films had started becoming popular only after they began getting critical acclaim in the West in the mid-'80s," says Arun. He had even started digitising his father's films. Talks to add colour to some of Guru Dutt's famous films were underway. "They never materialised for various reasons," says Arun. The National Film Archives of India has now taken up the job of digitising three of Guru Dutt's films — Kaagaz Ke Phool, Pyaasa, and Aar-Paar. Each and every frame will first be scanned at high resolution and then be corrected individually. The audio and the video will be cleaned after that. "This will remove 80 per cent of the damage done by fungus and exposure to the environment," says Arun. This is not all. Having released the screenplay for Pyaasa, Bollywood filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra has secured the rights to release the screenplays for Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, Kaagaz Ke Phool and Chaudhavi Ka Chand. "The books will be released in the next month-and-a-half," informs Arun.

Adding to all the efforts is Pune-based writer Kripa Shankar Sharma, who is writing a book on Guru Dutt in Marathi. "There is so much that one can learn from his life. He was only 39-years-old when he died, but he left behind a wealth of information and thought-provoking details about society that is valid even today. He had a very fine eye for detail and of observing people. It was something that reflected in his style of film-making," says Sharma.

Rahne ko sadaa dahar me aata nahi koi
Tum jaise gaye aise bhi jaata nahi koi

Ik baar to khud maut bhi ghabra gayi hogi
Yun maut ko seene se lagata nahi koi

Darta hoon kahin khushq na ho jaaye samundar
Raakh apni kabhi aap bahata nahi koi

Saaqi se gila tha tumhe, maikhaane se shikvaa
Ab zahar se bhi pyaas bujhata nahi koi

Maana ki ujaalon ne tumhe daag diye the
Beraat dhale shamma bujhata nahi koi