Guru Dutt remembered on birth anniversary

Guru Dutt remembered on birth anniversary Richa Pathak Gaur Sunday, July 9, 2006: (Mumbai): He was the brooding intense romantic who attempted to reflect the changing social situation in India in the 50's. Actor, filmmaker, writer and producer, Guru Dutt was remembered by his fans and family members on the occasion of his 81st birth anniversary. His sister Lolita had some fond memories to share. "When he first began as a young man at the age of 15, he wanted to go into Indian classical dance. He later established his own company as an artist and painter," said Lalita Lajmi, Guru Dutt's sister Guru Dutt got a break in films as a dance director on a three-year contract with Prabhat films studio in Pune but he also assisted directors and even acted in small roles for some films. But Guru Dutt later matured into one of the most singular directors Hindi cinema has produced going on to create some timeless classics, experimenting successfully with light and shade and the use of long focal-length lenses, and 100 mm as 75 mm for close ups in Indian films. Twenty-five years after Guru Dutt's death, they screened his films in Paris. In a life tragically cut short, he created some of India's most socially conscious movies like Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool and Baazi. Even though he had his share of success and failure in his work, his personal life was deeply troubled and at the age of 39, he succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills. The prevailing magic of his films even decades after his tragic end testifies to the skill of this genius, who lived much ahead of his times. Aar Paar Cast: Guru Dutt, Shakeela, Shyama, Rashid Khan, Johny Walker, Music Director: Nayyar O P Director: Guru Dutt Producer: Guru Dutt Productions Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri Year: 1954

Chaudhvin Ka Chand Cast: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Minu, Mumtaz, Johny Walker, Rehman, Music Director: Ravi Director: M.sadiq Producer: Guru Dutt Films Lyrics: Year: 1960

Kaagaz Ke Phool Cast: Baby Naaz, Guru Dutt, Johny Walker, Mehmood, Pratima Devi, Waheeda Rehman Music Director: Burman S D Director: Guru Dutt Producer: Guru Dutt Films Lyrics: Year: 1959

Mr. And Mrs. 55 Cast: Agha, Cuckoo, Guru Dutt, Johny Walker, Kumkum, Lalita Pawar, Madhubala, Yasmin Music Director: Nayyar O P Director: Guru Dutt Producer: Guru Dutt Films Lyrics: Majrooh Sultanpuri Year: 1955

Pyaasa Cast: Guru Dutt, Johny Walker, Mala Sinha, Rehman, Waheeda Rehman Music Director: Burman S D Director: Guru Dutt Producer: Guru Dutt Films Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi Year: 1957

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam Cast: Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman Music Director: Hemant Kumar Director: Abrar Alvi Producer: Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni Year:

Chaudhavin Ka Chand Cast: Guru Dutt, Johny Walker, Minu Mumtaz, Rehman, Uma Devi, Waheeda Rehman Music Director: Ravi Director: M Sadiq Producer: Guru Dutt Films Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni Year: 1960

Bahurani (1963) Cast: Guru Dutt, Mala Sinha Music Director: Ramchandra C Director: T Prakash Rao Producer: Meena Films Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi Year: 1963

Bharosa (1963) Cast: Asha Parekh, Guru Dutt, Lalita Pawar, Mehmood, Neena, Shobha Khote, Sudesh Kumar Music Director: Ravi Director: K Shankar Producer: Vasu Films Lyrics: Rajinder Kishan Year: 1963 http://www2.dishant.com/cast/guru_dutt.html

Sorry about the Bahurani poster with Rekha.. it was not my fault 😕 😕


Legends



The 50's was undoubtedly the golden era of Hindi films blessed with directors and artistes who could stamp their individuality in their work.. one such personality who carved a niche for himself as a director, actor and producer in the decade, was Guru Dutt Shiv Shankar Padukone or more popularly known just as Guru Dutt. His films had a uniqueness- a brooding intensity about it that a single frame of his work could identify its creator. Ironically his films earned recognition and interest much later in the 70's and the 80's and even now his films whenever they are re- released run full houses.

Guru Dutt was born on July 9, 1925 in Bangalore, Karnataka to a middle class Brahmin Saraswat family from Mangalore. His father Shivshanker Padukone worked as a school headmaster and then in a bank in Bangalore and his mother Vasanthi taught in a school, gave tuitions and also wrote short stories and translated Bengali novels into Kannada. Vasanthy was only 16 when Guru Dutt was born. He had a tough childhood with financial difficulties and the strained relationship between his parents worsened the situation. As a child he had bad experiences; the hostility from his mothers brothers family, a frightening encounter with an insane uncle and the death of his seven month old brother. Young Guru was maybe effected by it all which may explain his introverted nature, later reflected by the tortured characters in his films. He had two brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers Atmaram became a producer and director later in life and his sister Lalitha Lajmi a famous painter.

Guru Dutt's family moved to Calcutta and he had his basic education there. Financial constraints did not allow him to study further than matriculation which he completed in 1941. Guru was creative from a young age, was interested in photography, had a natural inclination for dancing & emoting and loved music especially Hindi and Bengali folk film music. Guru Dutt joined the 'Uday Shankar India Culture centre' in Almora on a five year scholarship with the help of his uncle B. B Benegal who was a pillar of support financially and was an artistic influence to the Padukone kids. In between Guru took up a job as a telephone operator in a mill for a short spell of time. Gradually Guru Dutt began to organize his own dance compositions.


After his dance training at Almora, he got a break in films as a dance director on a three-year contract at Prabhat films, Pune. Along with choreography he assisted directors and even acted in small roles for some films at Prabhat. In 1944, he acted in a small role as Sree Krishna in 'Chand', in 1945 he acted as well as assisted director Vishram Bedekar in 'Lakhrani' and in 1946 he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for the film ' Hum Ek Hain'. Then in 1947 he assisted Director Anadinath Banerjee for the film 'Mohan' produced by the Famous Pictures and Studios at Mumbai.
Guru Dutt & Madhu Bala in 'Mr & Mrs 55'

After his contract with Prabath was over, Guru Dutt returned to his family in Matunga. He was out of work for almost a year. During this time, GuruDutt who had a flair for writing in English used to write short stories and send them to Illustrated Weekly for publishing. It was then that he wrote his first draft of 'Pyaasa' (Thirst) which was later to become one of his masterpieces. He then managed to get a job as assistant director to Amiya Chakravarthy, a leading director at the time in his film 'Girls School' and in 1950 he assisted Gyan Muherjee in Bombay talkies film 'Sangram'.
Finally in 1951 he was called to direct his friend Dev Anand's second production 'Baazi', a crime thriller based on a promise made when they worked together at Prabhat, that he would give a film produced by him to Guru for direction. Baazi was a huge success and was a trendsetter for several similar crime films that followed.

It was during the recording of the song ' Tadbeer se bigdi hui' of 'Baazi' that Guru Dutt met the famous playback singer Gita Roy. There blossomed a romance between them which culminated in marriage on 26 May 1953 at Geeta's mother's home in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The couple had two sons Tarun and Arun and a daughter Nina. But by 1957, their marriage was on the rocks. They were not at par intellectually and Guru being a workaholic was not meant to have a family or to take the subsequent responsibilities. Dutt's alleged affair with his leading lady Waheeda Rehman also worsened matters.

As a director Dutt was a perfectionist who never compromised on quality. He was a genius who created a unique atmosphere through his sense of music, unique picturization of songs, subtle but intelligent dialogues, novel themes, depth of his characters, excellent use of lighting with light and shade, and superb shots sometimes followed by close ups of actors highlighting their expression which go beyond their narrative function and makes an impression of their own. He was also the one to introduce the use of long focal-length lenses, and 100 mm as 75 mm for close ups in Indian films.
Guru Dutt and wife Gita


The decade of the 50's and early 60's saw him as a director as well as an actor and producer for a number of films. After the success of Baazi, he directed 'Jaal' (1952) another success especially in the picturization of its songs, then 'Sailab' (1956) which was a flop, and also acted, directed and produced; 'Baaz' (1953) which was his first film as an actor but a great flop except for its songs which became popular; then 'Aaar Par' (1954) and 'Mr and Mrs 55' (1955) categorized as his comedies which had a slick pace and intelligent banter especially the latter where the heroine (Madhubala) is a woman struggling for independence and her rights; and then came 'Pyaasa' (1957) a real masterpiece which elevated him to the height of his career in which he played the introverted poet Vijay. Technically the black and white shots in the film depicting the dark moods were perfect. His next and the last movie as a director was 'Kaagaz ke Phool' (1959). Technically, the film was perhaps his best draw, with some remarkable visuals which was lyrical and poetic but it failed miserably at the box office. He also lost heavily financially and a dejected Dutt never directed a film again.

But soon after he produced and acted in 'Chaudhvin Ka Chand' (1960) based on Muslim culture of Lucknow and got it directed by Saddiq Sahib which was a huge success. Then the impressive ' Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam' (1962) which won the Presidents silver medal as well as the Film of the year award from the Bengal Film journalists Association besides going to the Berlin Film Festival and being India's official entry for the Oscars. He passed away during the making of the film 'Baharein Phir Aayengi' which was completed by his brother Atmaram with Dharmendra in the lead.

Along with his own productions, Guru Dutt acted in outside productions like Twelve o'clock(1958), Sautela Bhai (1962), Bahurani (1963), Bharosa (1963), Suhagan( 1964), Sanjh Aur Savera etc. with almost all the famous heroines of the times. In 1952, days before 'Jaal' was released Guru Dutt had started a production company in partnership with Haridasrshan Kaur, actress Gita Bali's elder sister but they separated soon after, due to heavy financial loss after Baaz (1953). With Aar Par he started his own production company and a studio later and produced many successful films, one was CID (1956) in which he introduced Waheeda Rehman and then in many movies thereafter. He was incidental in making her a big star.

Even though he had his share of success and failure in his work, his personal life was in a mess. By early 1964, he was separated from his wife and was living alone and had also started drowning himself in alcohol. On October 10, 1964 Hindi film world suffered a great loss...Guru Dutt at the young age of 39, succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills although doubts still linger as to whether his death was accidental. The prevailing magic of his films even now decades after his tragic end, testifies the skill of this genius who lived much ahead of his times...

http://www.upperstall.com/people/gurudutt.html

Sensitive, Poetic, Magical. These and more words have described the genius of Guru Dutt.

Guru Dutt Padukone was born in Mysore in South India on July 9, 1925. He had his early education in Calcutta before doing basic training with dance maestro Uday Shankar after which he joined Prabhat Studios. It was here that he got a break as a choreographer with the film Hum Ek Hain (1946), the launching pad of friend and actor Dev Anand.

From Prabhat Guru Dutt moved on to Famous Studios and then on to Bombay Talkies. Meanwhile in 1949, his close friend from Prabhat, Dev Anand (now a star) had launched his own banner, Navketan. Their first film Afsar (1950) was not a success. Dev Anand invited Guru Dutt to direct a film for him.

Thus 1951 saw the release of Baazi, Guru Dutt's directorial debut. The film starring Dev Anand, Geeta Bali and Kalpana Kartik was a trendsetter regarded as the forerunner of the spate of urban crime films that followed in Bollywood in the 1950s. In fact, Guru Dutt and singer Geeta Roy met during the song recording of Baazi and fell in love, marrying on the 26th of May,1953.

Baaz in 1953 saw Guru Dutt make his debut as leading man and he went on to act as well as direct.

Aar Paar released in 1954 established Guru Dutt as a director to reckon with. The film was a crime thriller in the genre of Baazi but by now with Jaal (1952) and Baaz also behind him, Guru Dutt had polished his filmmaking skills and Aar Paar stands out as among the best of the genre. The plot of the film may now seem formulaic but scores in its treatment. It's great strength lies in the way even the minor characters are fleshed out - be it the barman, the street urchin or the newspaper vendor. And for once characters spoke with a language that reflected their background.

Followed some of his best work Mr. and Mrs 55 (1955), Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz ke Phool (1959). Pyaasa was Guru Dutt's real masterpiece. It tells of the thirst for love, for recognition, for spiritual fulfilment. There is a strong parallel between the hero, a poet, the outsider trying to make a place for himself in the society he inhabits and the director, the outsider trying to leave his independent stamp in a world of formulaic cinema. It is in Pyaasa where we really see Guru Dutt transcend way above the ordinary and succeed in totality.


Kaagaz ke Phool was a dismal failure at the box office and a dejected Guru Dutt never directed a film again. But for all its flaws, like any Guru Dutt film, the highs far outweigh the lows. Technically the film is perhaps his best film. The camerawork with its use of light and shadow is magical. The frames have been beautifully composed keeping in mind the cinemascope format (It is India's first ever film in cinemascope). The relationship between the director and his protg is delicately handled on a very human plane. The film making scenes are shot with meticulous attention to detail and the ambience of the film studios is most effectively created. And above all, song picturizations are taken to new heights. Lyrical and poetic, it represents some of the finest work that Guru Dutt has ever done. The screenplay however is weak and the film at its worst moments appears to be morbid and totally narcissistic.

Guru Dutt continued to produce films and act in both home and outside productions. But never did he ever give his name in the credits as Director again. Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam (1962) though credited to writer Abrar Alvi bears his unmistakable stamp. The film won the President's Silver Medal as well as the Film of the year award from the Bengal Film Journalists Association besides going to the Berlin Film Festival and being India's official entry for the Oscars.

However Guru Dutt's personal life was a shambles. He had separated from his wife allegedly due to his involvement with his discovery and leading actress Waheeda Rehman and on Oct. 10, 1964 he took an overdose of sleeping pills and committed suicide though doubts still linger as to whether his death was accidental.

Themes of his films aside, Guru Dutt has also brought in some major technical revolutions in the grammar of the mainstream Hindi film. Guru Dutt had a unique knack of being able to integrate the film song into the story and make the story move forward even through the song. This is because Guru Dutt stuck to the vocabulary of his characters even in the songs and picturized them in the locations the characters would normally inhabit. Also he began a lot of songs without the introductory music thus using it as an extension of the dialogue. Hence the songs never appear out of place. His strength lay in his sense of music as well as in the picturization of songs, particularly his shot takings.

Guru Dutt used the effect of light and shade to poetic in fact magical effect to create romance. There is no better use of light and shade in Indian cinema than the songs Saaqiya Aaj Mujhe Neend Nahin Aayegi from Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam, and Waqt ne Kiya Kya Haseen Situm from Kaagaz ke Phool.

Guru Dutt also revolutionalized the close up shot. He went in for closer magnifications of characters than those seen till then almost as if probing for their internal feelings. He went beyond the standard 50mm lens used then, using lenses with higher focal length to get tighter close ups. He strongly felt that 80% of acting was done in the eyes and 20% the rest of the body. For the eyes are the most expressive part. And being an actor - director made it easy for Guru Dutt to get good performances from his artistes. And if he wasn't completely satisfied with the results, he scrapped the film he was making irrespective of the amount of money and time gone into the project. This explains the large number of incomplete films that he left.

According to his one time assistant and successful director in his own right, Raj Khosla...

" His ambition was not just to make a good film or be one of the top filmmakers. He aspired to make a great film, a different film and he wanted to be the best filmmaker. He always wanted things in absolute terms. Be it acclaim or success. He would settle for nothing less. Filmmaking was an obsession with him. He was a very ambitious man. But ambition is a passion that can destroy. It ultimately drove him to the point of no return."

Writer and close friend Abrar Alvi recollects...

" Frankly none of his films satisfied him as a director. He always felt that something was missing from his films."

Raj Khosla further felt that Guru Dutt had achieved too much too soon as far as his professional life was concerned. After Pyaasa and Kaagaz ke Phool, there was nothing better to be achieved. This created a vacuum in his life. Perhaps this emptiness caused him to take his own life. His death was an irreplaceable loss for Indian Cinema.

Thanks Sahana for the article

I am so proud of him because like us he is also from Karnataka..😊😊

'I miss my father terribly'

Syed Firdaus Ashraf | October 15, 2004 15:01 IST

W

hen I was eight, I was at school watching a cartoon film [as a treat] on my principal's birthday. We were enjoying the film when suddenly one of my uncles came and took me away. I was very angry with him. I just didn't want to leave. I told him that I would complain about him to my father.

When we reached home there was silence in [the house]. My father was lying down. I thought, at first, that he was sleeping. I never thought he was dead. I had never seen a dead person so I guessed he was asleep.

I was too young to realise or understand the loss. But as time passed, I realised he would not come back. Forty years after his death, I realise the importance of October 10, 1964. He passed away early in the morning, around 1 am. But the news came post-sunrise after the door was broken down to find his dead body.

A lot of theories have been put forth on why he committed suicide. But I think it was an accident. He had scheduled appointments the next day with [actress] Mala Sinha for Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi and Rajsaab [Raj Kapoor] to discuss making colour films.

He was to meet them and chalk out some plans. So I don't think there was any reason for him to commit suicide. My father had sleeping disorders and popped sleeping pills like any other person. That day he was drunk and had taken an overdose of pills, which culminated in his death. It was a lethal combination of excessive liquor and sleeping pills.

Some people say the breakdown of his affair with Waheeda Rehman led him to commit suicide. I don't believe is so. Their affair was over long before. Yes, he was having problems with my mother [singer Geeta Dutt] but nor do I think that was the reason.

He was depressed that day while he was sitting with Abrar Uncle [Abrar Alvi, his dialogue writer and director of Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam] in the evening. We were supposed to meet him the next day after school. Let people say what they want, but my personal view is that it was an accident.

Others say a financial crisis after Kagaz Ke Phool flopped led him to commit suicide. But he had made good money before that. Chaudhvin Ka Chand was one of the biggest revenue grossers in its time. He had made the film for Rs 1,800,000 and had earned Rs 4,800,000 from just the Bombay territory.

He had only two failures in life -- his first film Baaz, which he made in partnership with Haridarshan Kaur [Geeta Bali's sister], was a failure and the other was Kagaz Ke Phool. Kagaz Ke Phool was a masterpiece in the way it was executed. Every aspect of the film is out of this world. People did not understand the subject in its time. They understand the importance of it now. It was way ahead of its time.

My father never wanted any of us to join the film industry because he knew about its insecurities. He showed his insecurity after he made Kagaz Ke Phool. He had started getting recognition but he was pessimistic. He was introverted and could not talk about his feelings to others. He was a very sensitive person and spoke very little.

If you see his initial films -- Mr And Mrs 55 or Aar Paar -- you will notice he played very enthusiastic [exuberant] roles. By the time he did Pyaasa he had developed maturity. He changed completely with different films. He then carried that forward. Pyaasa was originally called Kashmakash. He wrote the script during the struggle of his early days. The idea was always with him. He wanted to first establish himself before going the artistic way.

I don't have many memories of him as a child. He was very fond of hunting. I went with him once to Kashmir and then again to Khandwa [Madhya Pradesh] with Johnny Uncle [Johnny Walker]. I fell into the Dal Lake in Srinagar twice and he jumped in to rescue me. He was a very reserved father, not an overly hugging type.

On our visit to the jungles of Khandwa our jeep broke down. We had to walk 15 kilometers to reach civilisation. I had a good time with him then. The biggest irony is he never won any awards. He never canvassed for awards. He never cared about them. Awards had lot of a politics behind them. He never wanted to be in that kind of politics. It is sad and unfortunate that he never got the recognition he deserved. Neither the media nor the industry gave him recognition then. Many reviews of his
films were nasty too.

The new generation has a lot to learn from him -- his dedication to work, the manner in which he worked on a subject, the way he used the trolley and camera. Though he aspired to make films without music he is still known for the best song picturisations in Indian cinema.

He was a reluctant actor. He never wanted to act but somehow he could not find the right kind of actors for his films and therefore he had to act in them. Shammi Kapoor, for instance, was supposed to do Aar Paar; Dilip Kumar was to play the poet in Pyaasa. He was a shy in front of the camera though he was always comfortable behind the camera.

If you see his films you will realise that they have not become irrelevant. All the problems of society he tackled are still relevant today. That's why his themes seem fresh though 40 years have passed. People can still identify with his films. They enjoy seeing them again and again.

I miss my father terribly. I wish I could have learnt a lot of things from him. More than the loss of a father I miss a good director under whom I could have learnt things. I think of him every day. I run his company and see his films every day. You always learn something when you see his films each time.

Arun Dutt is a film director and the director of Guru Dutt Films Private Limited.

Thank you very much kavita & sahana ji for the articles. gurudutt ki movies to koi bhi dekh lo kamaal ki hain. jawab nahin hai unka!!!

The Rediff Interview / Waheeda Rehman

'Nobody really knows what happened on October 10'

Raja Sen | October 11, 2004

Waheeda Rehman, dazzling star of the silver screen, considered Guru Dutt her mentor. In this interview with rediff.com, she recounts working with the legendary director as his leading lady, in some of his finest work.

You began your career with Guru Dutt. How was it working with him as an actress?

I was a newcomer when I started working with him. It was a nice experience. He was a good director, especially for newcomers. He would understand their shortcomings and problems and rectify it himself.

He would give us options to do things in different ways so we would find it easier. He knew how to extract performances from actors. It was very comfortable working with him from the beginning.

How was he compared to other directors?

I would say Vijay Anand was very good, and Ashish Sen, with whom I did Khamoshi, is also very good. The three of them had the rare talent to be able to push actors to the limits and make them perform.

Dev Anand was extremely cooperative towards a newcomer. He never made me feel that he was a big star and I, a newcomer. He built my confidence by telling me not to worry.

CID was your first film with Guru Dutt.

I was very nervous, but not to face the camera. I was conscious of my voice, thinking I had a very bad one. The recordists would tell me that while working, whether good or bad, you have to speak a little loudly. That was a great problem.

Any particular incidents you remember from the making of the film?

Yes. Once we were shooting at Mumbai's Churchgate Station after midnight. In those days, I would sleep very early. I was very sleepy. Dev and myself were waiting for the shot to be arranged, and I asked Dev why do we have to shoot at night? Why can't we just shoot the scene in the morning?

He replied very sweetly, 'Waheeda, because there is so much crowd in the day, so many commuters. We can't ask commuters and trains to stop for us!'

I felt very childish and silly to have asked that question. Naturally, the scene was night as well, and obviously we had to have shot at night!

Kahin pe nigaahen kahin pe nishaana was my favourite song of the film.

Pyaasa came next, a dramatic masterpiece.

Jaane kya tune kahi, jaane kya maine suni -- it was picturised very beautifully, people appreciated me very much in that song.

Funnily enough, the same thing happened. We shot late at night in Kolkata. During the shooting, I would fall asleep in my chair, and they would come and spray water on my face when the shot was ready!

Guru Dutt would ask me to drink tea, though I was not a tea drinker, because he said it would wake me up. Whenever I see the song now, I wonder how I did that while I was so sleepy! (laughs) It's so strange to see something on screen which was very different during its making.

How was Guru Dutt during its making? It was such an intense film.

In those days, I didn't have a great understanding of cinema, I was young -- just over 17 years old. I simply obeyed the directors. My advantage was, being a dancer, I could emote and give facial expressions. But dialogues made me nervous --the same mental block that I had a bad voice. I still feel that way. I still feel there is so much to learn.

I wish there were acting schools in those days. Maybe I could have done a better job.

Guru Dutt was a serious person, yes. He used to be very impatient, not with the artistes, but with the technicians --especially the camera crew. Jaldi karo, jaldi karo yaar, abhi tak shot kyon nahin ready hua? He was always in a hurry because he was constantly thinking about the next shot, the next scene, the next movie.

We often told him that you've just given the instructions, it has to take some time to execute them, be patient. But he used to be very restless.

Also, he used to shoot a lot of retakes. At first, people in the industry thought he was a novice director, and so didn't know the craft. But the truth is that he was never satisfied. Ek aur, ek aur, ek aur.

What used to happen with me was that my first take would be very good, and my second would wane, then the third would be fine again. This puzzled him, and he asked me why only my alternating takes were good. I would reply that it's because, between successive takes, I would lose all my energy!

But it was not just me -- his own performances, Rehmansaab, Mala Sinha, whoever -- he used to constantly shoot many retakes. He always felt that it could be better; it could be improved upon.

An obsessive perfectionist?

Oh yes, definitely! He was so involved with the technical aspects of the film. He used to discuss with V K Murthysaab, tell him how he needed a shot to look, how he had imagined it. He was lucky to get a cameraman like him -- they were a great pair with a very good understanding of each other. Their collaboration worked very well.

True, they crafted several memorable films together. Your next film was Kaagaz Ke Phool. What comes to mind?

Once, we were shooting a scene where our car meets with an accident. After that, I went home with the make-up, blood et al, and said I had met with an accident. The house was in an uproar -- why hadn't you called, are you all right, and so on.

Then I burst out laughing and told them. But the funny thing was that a month later, I actually met with a car accident. Thankfully, it was only a small accident, but the coincidence is something I still remember.

My favourite song from that film was Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam.

Your next film was Chaudhvin Ka Chand.

When Chaudhvin Ka Chand was released, it was a big success and very well appreciated. At that time, colour films had just started to be made, and Guru Dutt decided to take the title song of the film, shoot it in colour and rerelease it with new fanfare.

While reshooting the song in colour, they used hard, huge lights directly on my face, and my skin burnt; we had to shoot constantly with ice-packs being applied, and my eyes were red from all the heat.

Later, we heard from the Censor Board that the song is very 'hot!' and lascivious, which shocked Guru Dutt. He argued it was the same shot, the same movements from last time, only shot in colour! They replied that Waheeda's eyes have turned red. He was bewildered, and said yes, but that happens while shooting, but what does it have to do with anything? They told him that it was very sensual and suggestive!

He came back and had a big laugh about it, 'yeh Censor waale'! (laughs) I guess if that Censor Board were here now, it would faint at seeing today's films!

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was your next major collaboration, and there is curiosity always surrounding this film. It is rumoured that Guru Dutt directed the film, but gave Abrar Alvi (his writer on several films) the directorial credit?

Not really. Of course, he did help Mr Alvi throughout but this was because the two were close friends, and he felt like giving Mr Alvi the chance to direct a film. I'm sure he helped quite a bit, but then any director, when giving a film to a colleague, does take interest and lend a hand of support. But Guru Dutt did not direct the film.

Leaving films aside, how was Guru Dutt as a person?

A very simple and down to earth human being. Even after the early success of CID and Pyaasa, he didn't suddenly change and become arrogant. Very quiet and simple, he was a very sensitive man. He always felt for the underdog. He was an emotional person.

When did you first meet? On the sets of CID itself?

I first met him in Hyderabad, where he called me over to Mumbai, for the screen test. Then I shot just for CID for a couple of months, exclusively, after which we began work for Pyaasa.

Guru Dutt is a legend, and immortalised cinema. He was an institution, and much is studied about his films. But outside of movies, what were his interests?

Actually, after the shooting is done, there is not much interaction. So much time spent professionally together means mostly all the industry folk try to get away from film as much as possible when they aren't working. Social interactions are at a minimum, except occasionally running into each other at a child's birthday party, etc.

I know he used to go for fishing a lot, with Johnny Walker! He really enjoyed fishing, and the two have taken us along a few times as well, but mostly they were impassioned discussions about fishing the next day at the sets, about how big a fish they caught yesterday, etc. I'm not sure about other interests, but he loved fishing!

Have you ever seen him in a bad mood?

Well, as I mentioned, he did lose patience on the sets quite a bit. But even besides that, he would often lapse into spells of silence. While we'd all be gathered around chatting about the latest English films or whatever, he would be sitting by himself, totally lost and away from the world around him.

We used to call to him, and he'd 'wake' with a start. He'd be thinking about something else, very distracted.

How did the box office affect him? Did it matter a lot to him whether his films did well or would he just carry on ahead regardless?

After Kaagaz Ke Phool flopped, which flopped miserably in those days, we immediately started work on Chaudhvin Ka Chand. He was disappointed, but he also instinctively knew somewhere that yeh film itni badi bani hai, shaayad nahin chalegi -- he was very philosophical about it all.

Chaudhvin Ka Chand was a great success. It didn't affect him in the way that a hit would make him yell and jump for joy, and a flop would make him cry. He was the same, and it was life.

He used to say, "Life mein, yaar, kya hai? Do hi toh cheezen hai – kamyaabi aur failure. There is nothing in between."

How would you sum up what one could learn from Guru Dutt?

He was very sensitive towards struggling artists, those hardpressed for money. He used to really feel for these people, he was very sympathetic. He used to pick up forgotten artists -- like Rehmansaab made his comeback through character roles; and former leading lady Ruby Meyer -- as he felt that merely a bad patch should not be the parameter to judge a person by.

For example, he got a lot of criticism from colleagues when he gave the directorial reign to Sadiqsaab for Chaudhvin ka Chand: they told him that his last films have been a flop, why are you letting Sadiq direct this? He disagreed and explained that, being from a Muslim background, Sadiq might better know the delicate nuances I might be unaware of. The film has to be made without compromise, that is the main thing. And what of flops? Meri Kaagaz ke Phool bhi to flop hui thi.

October 10 was a very tragic day. As a colleague and friend, do you know why things happened the way they did?

(sighs) Till today, nobody knows. Just this evening, I was speaking to his sister (Lalita Lajmi) and niece (Kalpana Lajmi). Nobody really knows what happened.

At the time, I wasn't in Mumbai, I was in Chennai and returned to this horrific news. I do think he had tried a couple of times before that, as well. I'm not aware of his mental state at the time either, since when you move on to a different project, you get caught up entirely in it. It's just very sad, and a great loss for cinema and all of us. A very tragic day indeed.

bob da, aapko thanks kehna kaise bhool gayee? sorry. aapne achi see information dee. ab mujhe gurudutt ji ki movies ka set khareedna hai DVD ka, V shantaram ji ka to le liye hai.bob da thanks for the info!!!

Thank you Bob Ji for the articles..

Hope other friends also give comments n addictional articles too.. so that This post will stay alive for few more days 😕 😕

Originally posted by: manjujain

bob da, aapko thanks kehna kaise bhool gayee? sorry. aapne achi see information dee. ab mujhe gurudutt ji ki movies ka set khareedna hai DVD ka, V shantaram ji ka to le liye hai.bob da thanks for the info!!!

Thank you Manju Di.!!!!!!! It is nice to see a good thread like GD.