Guru Dutt

The Partition of India was a turbulent time for the Nation but also one for Guru Dutt personally, as he struggled to find a job for almost one year. Only 22 years old at the time, his sense of disillusionment during this time was such that he imagined leaving cinema behind to open a bookshop with his brother. It is at this time that he started writing a story based on his state of mind, titled Kashmakash (Conflict). Written while waiting at a producer's office looking for work, this deeply personal story, about the frustrations of an artist navigating a ruthless world, became the first draft of his masterpiece, Pyaasa (1957). Although he later found work as an assistant director, he was yearning to direct his own film.

In Pune, working at Prabhat, Guru Dutt became friends with Dev Anand, and the two made a pact. When one stepped into the role of producer, he would bring the other on as director; and when the other took the director's chair, he, in turn, would cast his friend as the hero. Anand had launched his production company, Navketan Films and asked Dutt to direct their second production. The film, a crime thriller, Baazi (1951) became a big hit announcing Dutt as a director and ending his financial struggle.

Released at Swastik cinema in Bombay, Baazi (1951) starred Dev Anand, along with Geeta Bali and Kalpana Kartik. The film brought together a staggering amount of talent and became a huge success. The story was written by Guru Dutt while the screenplay and dialogues were by Balraj Sahni, marking their only collaboration. Zohra Sehgal choreographed the dance sequences and Raj Khosla was the assistant director. VK Murthy was a camera assistant but was immediately noticed by Dutt and he went on to become the cinematographer on Dutt's next films. The immensely popular music was composed by SD Burman, with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi. “Tadbeer Se Bigadi Huyee Taqdeer Bana Le”, “Yeh Kaun Aaya Ki Mere Dil Ki”, “Aaj Ki Raat Piya Dil Na Todo”, remain memorable numbers. In fact, the song picturisation was one of the strongest suits of the film and the innovative camerawork was further honed in Dutt's successive films. Dutt met the playback singer Geeta Roy on the sets of the film and their dynamic was one of starkly opposed personalities. Roy was an extrovert while Dutt was the opposite, brooding and quiet. However, after much opposition from Roy's family, the two ultimately got married in 1953 at Amiya Kutir, Santa Cruz. Roy was a leading star at the time and Dutt was just beginning to establish himself in the industry. She was a tremendous help to him and introduced him to music composer OP Nayyar.

Following the success of Baazi (1951), Guru Dutt directed another commercial hit, Jaal (1952) starring Dev Anand and Geeta Bali in the leading roles. Dutt made a brief appearance in the film as a fisherman. In the same year, he set up his production company HG Films with Geeta Bali's sister, Haridarshan Kaur. The company produced only one film, Baaz (1953), and Dutt played the male lead for the first time. A lavish costume drama, set in 16th-century Malabar against the backdrop of Portuguese rule, Baaz collapsed at the box office, costing the producers a significant sum of money. Hereafter, Dutt and Kaur parted ways and he set up his own company, Guru Dutt Films Pvt Ltd, effectively gaining independence to pursue his creative interests.

Made under the banner of Guru Dutt Productions, Aar Paar (1954) starred Dutt and Shyama in the lead roles. Directed by Dutt, the cinematography was by VK Murthy and the screenplay was written by Nabendu Ghosh, with dialogues by Abrar Alvi. Featuring a romantic comedy and the use of melodrama with social realism, the film blended genres to create an entertainer, resulting in its commercial success. An urban crime thriller, Aar Paar is a key film of the Bombay Noir genre, an adaptation of the Hollywood crime and caper films for Indian audiences. The genre is primarily associated with the works of Guru Dutt though films like KA Abbas' Anhonee (1952), ML Anand's Bewafa (1952), Pramod Chakravorty's 12 O'Clock (1958), Vijay Anand's Kala Bazar (1960) are prominent examples.

Guru Dutt's next box-office success came with Mr & Mrs 55 (1955), a social comedy which was directed by and starred Dutt. Based on a play, Modern Marriage, written by Abrar Alvi, the film featured Madhubala as the female lead. Influenced by a Hollywood film starring Cary Grant and Bette Davis, the film drew heavily on the screwball comedy tradition but Dutt found a way to weave social commentary within the narrative. The witty dialogues and memorable songs like “Babuji dheere chalna, pyaar mein zara sambhalna", were a hallmark of the film. Like his earlier film Aar Paar, Mr & Mrs 55 foregrounded the underdog figure, one who wishes to break into the life of the upper class but on his own terms.

Cultivating the talent around him, Guru Dutt offered his assistant Raj Khosla the opportunity to direct his first film under the Guru Dutt Films banner. Although Khosla had previously directed Milap (1955), the crime thriller C.I.D. (1956), starring Dev Anand, Waheeda Rehman, and Shakila, became a massive hit, consolidating the commercial future of the production company. The film marked Waheeda Rehman's debut in Hindi cinema, as she has previously worked in Telugu and Tamil films. Dutt met her in Hyderabad and immediately cast her in his next film, Pyaasa (1957). Even though C.I.D. was not directed by Dutt, it followed the style of the urban crime caper film that he had established. The presence of noir elements and the song picturisations too exhibited his style. The songs “Kahin pe nigahein, kahin pe nishana”, “Ankhon hi ankhon mein ishara ho gaya” and “Leke pehla pehla pyar” were hit numbers composed by OP Nayyar, with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. C.I.D. was shot simultaneously alongside Pyaasa at Kardar Studios.

A profound turning point in Guru Dutt's career was his masterpiece, Pyaasa (1957), a shift from his commercial films and a move towards contemplative artistic expression. A deeply personal story, the first draft of the film had been written during Dutt's yearlong period of unemployment and disillusionment after leaving Prabhat Studio. The story of Vijay, a poet struggling for recognition, was the initiation of his trilogy of films that engaged with the internal turmoil of an artist and his place in society. Pyaasa became a big success, affirming Dutt's creative and artistic endeavours, and propelling him to the pantheon of serious filmmakers to watch out for. But the road to making the film was paved with tremendous personal struggle as just before the film's completion, Dutt had his first documented suicide attempt, fuelled perhaps by a deterioration in his marital life and his creative uncertainty. The poet Vijay's theme of defeat and oblivion has been interpreted as being extremely personal and reflective of Guru Dutt's own inner turmoil.

The period post the release of Pyaasa (1957), was marked by a series of incomplete films, Gouri, Raaz and Professor. The failure of these films to see the light of day was most attributable to Guru Dutt's creative indecision, and anxiety for artistic perfection. Gouri was intended to be a remake of the 1943 eponymous film by Kidar Sharma. Guru Dutt wished to make a bilingual film, in Hindi and Bengali, and in CinemaScope, which would have made it the first such endeavour in India. His wife, Geeta Dutt, was to play the lead role. The film was set in Calcutta and the story revolves around a sculptor who makes idols of the goddess Durga. During the making of the film in 1957, a major conflict took place between the couple, resulting in an extremely upset Guru Dutt disappearing for one week. The film was shelved and led to financial loss for the company.

12 'O' Clock (1958) was a film in which Guru Dutt acted but the film was not produced by his company. The crime thriller was directed by Pramod Chakravorty (Guru Dutt's brother-in-law) for producer GP Sippy. Dutt played a lawyer in the film, opposite Waheeda Rehman and Rehman. The film's unit members were mostly from Guru Dutt's production unit, as Dutt wanted to give Chakravorty a break as a director.

An ambitious production by Guru Dutt Films, Raaz was a suspense thriller based on Wilkie Collins's novel The Woman in White. The shooting of the film began in 1959 in Simla with Waheeda Rehman playing a double role of two sisters. Sunil Dutt was initially signed as the male lead but after the shooting began, Guru Dutt decided to play the lead role himself. The film was being directed by Guru Dutt's assistant, Niranjan and S.D. Burman was the music composer. Dissatisfied with how the film was taking shape, Dutt decided to scrap the film after almost five reels had been filmed.

The next film taken on by Guru Dutt Films, only to be later abandoned, was Professor. An adaptation of the 1939 American film Bachelor Mother, Kishore Kumar and Waheeda Rehman, were supposed to play the leading roles in the film. Dutt offered the film to Abrar Alvi to direct, but Alvi reportedly declined and the film was ultimately abandoned. Later, producer FC Mehra made the film in 1962 with Shammi Kapoor in the lead role and the film went on to become a huge commercial success. Abrar Alvi was credited for the screenplay of the film.

After a spate of lack lustre films and false starts, Guru Dutt embarked on what has been seen as his most experimental and self-reflective film, Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959). A continuation of the themes engaged with in Pyaasa (1957), the film was a semi-autobiographical story of a successful director, Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt), who loses his muse, his career, and his family, ultimately dying alone in his director's chair. Released at Maratha Mandir and New Empire theatres in Bombay, the film takes a critical look at the fickle nature of fame. With the film, Dutt realised his desire to make the first Indian film in CinemaScope, although it was also shot in 35mm. The wide screen of CinemaScope amplified the notion of a lonely, helpless person and the use of depth of field gave the images greater density. The visual style and technical achievements of the film were par excellence, particularly the elaborate tracking and crane shots reminiscent of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane. The exquisitely shot songs, written by Kaifi Azmi and composed by SD Burman are timeless classics, especially “Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam”, and “Dekhi zamaane ki yaari, bichhde sabhi baari baari”, which Azmi believed echoed Dutt's own story. The film tanked at the box-office and although Dutt did not care much about the commercial failure of the film, he was crushed by the audience's rejection of his deeply personal work. The impact of this was so dire that Dutt decided never to direct a film again. Ironically, the film gained recognition after his death, becoming one of the masterpieces of Bombay cinema.

The failure of Kaagaz Ke Phool caused considerable financial upheaval in Guru Dutt's production company. In order to recover the losses, Dutt returned to popular formulaic films, alternating creative films with commercially appealing ones. In 1960, he produced the Muslim social, Chaudhvin Ka Chand entrusting the direction to M. Sadiq but picturizing the songs himself. Starring Dutt, Rehman and Waheeda Rehman in the leading roles, the film was a love story set in Lucknow. The cinematographer was Nariman A. Irani, as V.K. Murthy was in Europe at the time, to study colour photography. The beautiful title song was picturized in colour as Dutt decided to re-release it with fanfare. The film was an instant hit and became Guru Dutt's most commercially successful film. Its enormous financial success saved his company from financial ruin.

Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), the next significant moment in Guru Dutt's life, brought him critical success while simultaneously marking the peak of his emotional crisis. Based on Bimal Mitra's eponymous novel, the film reflected on the decay of the zamindari system in the early 20th century. Set in Bengal, the plot centres on the tragic fate of Chhoti Bahu (Meena Kumari), who descends into alcoholism in a desperate and unsuccessful attempt to keep her decadent husband (Rehman) at home. While Dutt produced and starred in the film as Bhoothnath, he officially entrusted the direction to Abrar Alvi, though directing the songs himself. Imbued with Dutt's style and continuing the aesthetics developed in Pyaasa (1957), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam uses masterful lighting to dramatic effect. With its themes of homelessness, decay, and the protagonist's path toward death, the film came to be regarded as the concluding chapter of Dutt's tragic oeuvre that included Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool. Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam achieved the success that Dutt had yearned for Kaagaz Ke Phool. It won several Filmfare Awards, the President's Silver Medal, and was screened at the Berlin Film Festival. It was also the last film he helmed for his production house. Despite the success, this period marked the deepening of Dutt's personal crisis, resulting in his emotional devastation and self-destruction. During the making of the film, arguments between Guru Dutt and Geeta Dutt escalated and he made a second suicide attempt during the filming. He took an overdose of sleeping pills, and survived after being in a coma for three days.

After 1962, things seemed to briefly look up for Guru Dutt as his relationship with Geeta Dutt seemed to be on the mend. His daughter, Nina, was born in August 1962 but unfortunately, the happiness was short-lived. In 1963, on Geeta Dutt's insistence, the family's home in Pali Hill was demolished, as she felt that the house was haunted and a ghost was destroying their marriage. This was also the year when Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was screened at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival in June 1963. The film failed to make an impact with an international audience who were unaccustomed to the melodramatic form in India and the historical context of the film. The festival was also a decisive moment that marked the end of Guru Dutt's professional and personal relationship with Waheeda Rehman. By 1964, due to irreconcilable differences between husband and wife, Dutt was living alone in a rented flat on Peddar Road.

After Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Guru Dutt took on acting roles in films produced by others, mainly to supplement his finances and maintain his studio, but these were largely seen as uninspired ventures. This included Mahesh Kaul's Sautela Bhai (1962), T. Prakash Rao's Bahurani (1963), K. Shankar's Bharosa (1963), Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Sanjh Aur Savera (1964), K.S. Gopalakrishnan's Suhagan (1964).

Guru Dutt's final major film production was Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi, undertaken during a stretch of personal and professional despair. Directed by Shahid Lateef, it was based on the Nitin Bose's film President (1937). This was Dutt's last acting and producing assignment before his untimely death, and its tragic final scene mirrored his own state of mind. The film was being shot at his studios in Andheri in early October 1964 and remained incomplete at the time of his death on October 10, 1964. His brother, Atmaram, later completed the film with Dharmendra stepping into Guru Dutt's role.

On the night before his death, Guru Dutt was working at his flat with Abrar Alvi, discussing the last scene of Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi. The scene was the heroine's death scene, where she suffers a heart attack after going insane due to loneliness. Around 12:30 that night, Dutt called Raj Kapoor sounding sad and lonely, asking to meet the following evening. Dutt wanted to show his favorite film, Kaagaz Ke Phool, to Raj Kapoor and discuss its failure. Dutt was found dead in the morning and had died from a lethal dose of sleeping pills.

Guru Dutt's enduring legacy is that of a visionary auteur who tragically achieved his fullest recognition only after his death in 1964. His contribution to Indian cinema, particularly through his trilogy, Pyaasa (1957), Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), established him as a complex filmmaker weaving psychological depth into the commercial Hindi film format. His signature style is marked by sweeping camera movements, evocative close-ups, a masterful command of light and shadow play, and lyrical song picturizations. His films and unique artistic vision continues to inspire future generations of directors.