I 've been worried,
But I am learning to hide
I do feel the pain,
Though I do not understand.
Denying is not an option anymore,
And defining is beyond my ken,
I think I am done with all the talking,
I just want to hear, I just want to know
Or is that too much to ask?
This one is about Guru Dutt, the greatest genius to grace the world of Hindi cinema.
1950s and 1960s are considered to be the golden age of Indian cinema; a healthy blend of artistic as well as commercial success was desired and achieved by many film makers. This is also the period that Guru Dutt lived,worked and created many commercially successful movies with astonishing lyrical quality.
I have been planning this post for quite some time. Somehow I get discouraged when I look at his wiki page, as far as facts are concerned I cannot possibly add anything that is not there. Any attempt to analyse his personal life by the rules of the common is doomed to fail as well, as this multifaceted, introverted genius was no common man, only thing that drives this humble attempt is my absolute devotion to him and his 'really depressing' movies.
Born as Vasanth Kumar Padukone in 1925 in Karnataka, and brought up in Calcutta, Guru Dutt started identifying himself with the Bengali intellect of the era and adopted the name by which the world would later renown him. A very talented child, Vasanth Kumar once performed a snake dance inspired by a painting by his uncle B.B Benegal which paved his way to Uday Shankar's dance academy and dance troupe. When the dance troupe disbanded during second world war Guru Dutt joined V.Santharam's Prabhat film company as an assistant choreographer ; it is here that he met and formed life long friendships with Dev Anand, actor Rehman and Raj Khosla. Dev Anand hadn't become a successful star yet and the 2 friends made a pact; who ever makes it big in the industry would give the other a break. Dev Anand kept his end of the bargain in 1951 and the two of them went on to make the legendary 'Baazi'.
Now lets take a look at his personal life. It is believed that Guru Dutt was married twice already by this time (one a child marriage to his maternal niece and second an eloped one during his teenage). But when he met the successful singer Geeta Roy during the making of Baazi, he knew he found the woman of his life. After battling a great deal of family opposition the couple married in 1953. They had 3 children and lived a peaceful life at least during the initial years of their marriage.
Before he became successful as a director with Baazi, Guru Dutt had written a story called kash- me-kash (struggles), autobiographical in many ways, depicting the frustrations of a talented yet jobless youngster. This story would later prove very important in his role as an artistic film maker.
Following Baazi's success Guru Dutt again directed Dev Anand in Jaal, he himself turned actor for Baaz; with these movies he found the set of people who would later be known as the 'Guru Dutt Team' ,but the team would only be complete with the discovery of Waheeda Rehman in 1956 . 'Guru Dutt Movies' went on to produce many commercially successful films.
Once he attained the much desired success, he ventured into projects with more artistic nature, the kind of movies he wanted to make,the kind that would reveal the true depth of his creativity. His story kash-me-kash became the script of Pyaasa, heart wrenching story of a struggling poet who finds success after his alleged death, a laugh at the greedy, success driven society. (I can never praise this movie enough, it is one of my all time favorites). Pyaasa found the critical acclaim that none of his previous movies had found. I believe that with this movie alone he reached the league of Satyajith Ray, Mehboob and Bimal Roy.
This should have been the happiest phase in Guru Dutt's life, only it wasn't, his marriage to Geeta Dutt was on the rocks. The reasons were his undisciplined personal life (heavy drinking,smoking and keeping odd hours) and of course Waheeda Rahman.
I don't want to comment on the nature of Guru Dutt's relationship with Waheeda Rahman, anyway one thing is sure, this ethereal beauty with intelligent eyes was an important part of his creativity. Many believe that Kagaz ke Phool , another poetry in celluloid, was based on his relationship with her, well it is the story of a deep spiritual bond between an unhappily married, successful director and a young talented actress. What ever people say, I believe this was Guru Dutt's version of their relationship.
Guru Dutt's character asks Waheeda Rahman's : "We do understand each other well, dont' we?"
She nodds.
He says :" Why do sometimes people understand each other a little too well?"
isn't that something...
Here is a song from Kagaz ke phool
The audience rejected Kagaz ke Phool, they booed at it and threw stones, the egoist in Guru Dutt was deeply hurt. Many believe that Kagaz ke Phool was much ahead of it's time, this movie has a cult following in Germany and is an important part of any Guru Dutt film festival . Kagaz ke phool along with Pyaasa is included in the 100 greatest films of all time. But back in 1958 in was widely rejected and made a loss of 17 laks to Guru Dutt's production company. This was the last movie which was actually directed by Guru Dutt, all the later movies from Guru Dutt Movies are directed by his assistants.
His wife also did not seem to comprehend the 'intricate spiritual bond'. She decided to leave him.
Guru Dutt Movies went on to produce many commercially successful, artistic movies like Chaudvin ka Chand and Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam. Guru Dutt went on to act in these movies directed by his assistants. But many believe that a distinguishable Guru Dutt stamp is visible in most of these movies even though they are nor directed by him. Especially in Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, the beautiful adaptation of Bimal Mitra's novel (again one of my favorites).
On October 10 1964 Guru Dutt was found dead in his rented apartment, it was the lethal combination of alcohol and sleeping pills that ended the life of this genius at the age of 39. Till this day nobody knows if it was a suicide or an accidental overdose. He had tried to talk to his wife the night before, a final attempt at reconciliation, but he could not reach her. It is widely believed that he was deeply upset that Waheeda Rahman was accepting opportunities from other directors. And he had already attempted suicide a couple of times before. But on the other hand he had scheduled a meeting with actress Mala Sinha for his upcoming film Baharen phir bhi aayenge, and another one with Raj Kapoor for the following day.
The tragedy did not end there. His wife, Geeta Dutt one of the finest singers of the era, lost her grip on her life and career. She turned to alcohol and died of liver cirrhosis in 1972, she was 41.
I always wonder what would have happened if they somehow found a way to work out their differences. Guru Dutt would have made many great films, Geeta Dutt would have sung many melodious songs, and their children, they would have probably become successful film makers and singers.
Many believe that Guru Dutt's movies were much ahead of his time, may be he knew that he did not have much time. Both his 'soul movies' talk about the meaninglessness and futility of success. May be when he looked deep into his soul he saw the meaninglessness of the world around him.
After many many years, decades after his death, his old friend Dev Anand wrote that Guru Dutt was his only true friend in the industry.
Guru Dutt is listed among the 100 greatest directors of all time and 25 greatest Asian directors of all time. His movies go house full when re-released especially in Germany, France and Japan. so the legacy still lives on..
