100 Years Of Guru Dutt: Exploring The Deep Recesses Of His Mind: Part 1

On his momentous birth centenary, here is a tribute to Guru Dutt: the visionary director, sensitive actor, captivating storyteller, and imaginative master of song picturisation, by delving into his artistic oeuvre and exploring the deep recesses of his mind. Here is a man who plumbed into the abyss of human emotions, made his audience dive into it to make them emerge with a chastened state of mind.

FROM HOME TO WHERE HEART IS

Guru Dutt aka Vasant Padukone was born to intellectual, lower-middle-class Saraswat Brahmin parents on 9 July, 1925. Of the six children born to them, Shashidhar was the eldest one who died within six months of his birth due to severe bouts of fits. Vasant was the second, and at the suggestion of the family priest Swami Ramdas at Anand Ashram, Mysore, his name was changed to Guru Dutt; those born after him were Atmaram, Lalita, Devdas (later changed to Devi Dutt), and Vijay.

Guru Dutt studied up to matric in Calcutta, and because of his exposure and upbringing there, he imbibed the Bengali culture and custom and soon became Guru Dutt (note the space between the name and honorific). The appendage ‘Dutt’ in his rechristened name Guru Dutt led people to believe that he was a Bengali and not a Konkani.

Guru Dutt was scholarly but not studious; he had an innate talent and creative mind. From childhood, he had a predilection for music, dance, drama, and other forms of fine arts.

At the recommendation of a cousin (related to renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal), he joined Uday Shankar’s dance academy in Almora in 1941 and worked there for four years. The academy closed in the mid-40s when the political situation in the country became more turbulent.

Thereafter, Guru Dutt had a brief stint as a telephone operator in Calcutta. To hone his artistic skills, he left the job and moved to Bombay, and finally to where his heart belonged and passion resided, i.e., the world of films.

DUTT DANCES HIS WAY TO DIRECTION

With the help of a family friend, he joined the restructured Prabhat Films and worked as an assistant dance director, besides doing a small role in Lakhrani (1945), directed by Vishram Bedekar. He then assisted Amiya Chakravarty in Girls School (1949) and Gyan Mukherji in Bombay Talkies’ Sangram (1950), though his name did not appear in the credit titles. Guru Dutt had the highest regards and respects for Gyan Mukherji and considered him as his Guru and mentor. He dedicated his first classic film Pyaasa to his Guru. More about the Guru-Gyan connect later!

While working in Prabhat, the struggling duo Guru Dutt and Dev Anand (who made his debut as an actor in Prabhat’s Hum Ek Hain) became friends. During one of their interfaces, they entered into an unwritten agreement that the one who became successful first would give the other a break. And, as promised, Dev Anand, after having made a mark as a promising actor in over a dozen films, signed Guru Dutt to direct his second home production Baazi (1951), made under his Navketan banner. The rest is a classic history!

GURU DUTT

THE GREY DUSK OF GURU DUTT

Guru Dutt, with his inborn predilection towards darkness, took an affinity to embrace despair, devastation, despondency, and dusky disdain, both literally and psychologically! On one hand, inspired by the noir films of Hollywood, he made shadowy crime thrillers replete with lyricism and romanticism. On the other hand, he carried forward this sensitive style of story-telling and made classic films which were self-reflective and self-portraits of a defeatist; suffused with subtlety and symbolism and infused with dark poetry of the death wish! Dutt’s the way he was!! Let’s take a peep into the Creative Pehlu of the Cosmic Persona: Guru Dutt.

BAAZI (1951): WONDERFUL ALL THE WAY

As per the promise between Dev Anand and Guru Dutt, the former entrusted the responsibility of direction of his second home production Baazi to Guru Dutt, much against the wishes of his elder brother Chetan Anand. That was a big gamble which paid off in a bigger way!

Soon after the country’s independence, during the period of economic restructuring, several conscientious filmmakers like Amiya Chakravarty, Bimal Roy, Gyan Mukherji, Raj Kapoor, Zia Sarhadi shifted focus to films based on urban life and urban realities and portrayed what the city had to offer to the emerging youth: on one hand, dreams, hopes, promises, and opportunities, and on the other hand, crime, exploitation, felony, lawlessness, sleaze, and slums. Baazi was one of the first films made with the crime backdrop, though Gyan Mukherji had explored the theme much earlier in Bombay Talkies’ super hit crime-based Kismat (1943).

DARING DEVELOPMENT

Guru Dutt cast Dev Anand in a new light and with a distinct image in Baazi, which marked a significant deviation from his earlier films and roles. He cast him as a cool and quick-witted, confident and courageous, honest and holistic (even in the dishonest profession that he was in), smart and suave, small-time gambler, which suited Dev Anand’s city-bred, modern, urbane, dashing, and debonair looks. This character gave a new definition, dimension, and depth to crime, law, and punishment.

With Baazi, Dev Anand started building and cultivating an image suited to his charming persona. In the film, he was the self-respecting and self-oriented outlaw for whom his duty and responsibilities took priority over love and romance. He was serious but not somber, sensitive but not self-effacing. In the next three to four years, he was in a transitory mode, preparing himself for the image of a carefree and casual, flirtatious and flamboyant lover for whom love and romance became a priority and pastime. Baazi set the base and gave way to a flamboyant and freewheeling image with a cutting edge of innocence.

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BAAZI AND THE BAAZIGARS

With the success of the film, even the others associated with the film got a new identity and recognition:

1. Geeta Bali played an unconventional role, that of a club dancer with a crush on the hero, her partner in crime; the role was quite distinct from what she had done earlier in hit films like: Badi Bahen, Dulari, Bawre Nain, and Albela.

2. Kalpana Kartik, a distant relation of Chetan Anand’s wife, was introduced as the leading lady, whom Dev Anand married three years later.

3. S. D. Burman became a composer of commercial reckoning and a mainstay in most of the Navketan films and other films starring Dev Anand.

4. Geeta Roy had till then mostly sung sad and sentimental songs or devotional ditties, which typecast her as a bhajan singer. In Baazi, she got to sing some modern, peppy, and westernised songs. These songs helped her break the bhajan singer image, and in the years to come, she glided roy’ally between the oriental and occidental with effortless ease.

5. Sahir Ludhianvi made a major breakthrough as a mainstream lyricist with his rebellious lines: ‘Darta hai zamaane ki nigahon se bhala kyon’, ‘Insaaf tere saath hai, ilzaam uthaale’. His bold, rebellious voice marked a departure from the existing styles of lyrics writing, offering a fresh and unprecedented perspective that resonated well with music lovers.

Some more cards were at stake which soon became winning ‘trumps’ in the years to come:

1. Raj Khosla started as an assistant director and went on to become one of the topmost directors.

2. Johnny Walker, in a brief role of a drunkard, became an indispensable actor and factor in all films of Guru Dutt except Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam.

3. K. N. Singh consolidated his position as a major villain with Baazi as well as Raj Kapoor’s Awara, released in the same year, both the films sharing a similar message that criminals are not born, but made.

4. V. K. Murthy, who started as an assistant cameraman to the main cinematographer V. Ratra, went on to become Guru Dutt’s favourite cameraman and created a special niche in cinematography with his play of light and shade.

5. Zohra Sehgal did some imaginative choreography, which in the later years came to be known as item songs.

6. Balraj Sahni wrote the screenplay and dialogues and shared the story credit with Guru Dutt. However, for many years, he had a hard time convincing people about his contribution to the film. And above all, Guru Dutt proved himself as a creative director and storyteller, displaying exceptional skill in song picturisation.

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BREEZY BAAZI BEATS

Music played a major role in all films of Guru Dutt, and he integrated the songs seamlessly in an imaginative and innovative manner. The Burman Sahir Geeta-Guru foursome conjured to create evocative numbers like: Ye kaun aaya ki mere dil ki duniya mein, Aaj ki raat piya dil na todo, and Laakh zamanewale. Particular mention is made of breezy songs with imaginative picturisation like Sharmaaye kaahe, ghabraaye kaahe (sung by Shamshad Begum), Dekhke akeli mohe barkha sataaye re, Suno gajar kya gaaye, and the chartbuster Tadbeer se bigdi hui taqdeer banaale.

Incidentally, cupid struck Guru Dutt during the recording of the latter song. Geeta lovingly nudged, “apne pe bharosa hai to ye dao lagaale,” and a vulnerable Guru duly and hopefully staked his heart, winning the ‘royal gamble in the bargain’

The success of the film and popularity of the songs fostered the musical and lyrical bond between Sahir and S. D. Burman. Their iconic pairing lasted through 18 films, from a powerful pravesh in 1951 with Baazi (besides Sazaa and Naujawan) to a painful prasthaan in 1957 with Pyaasa, both landmark films made by Guru Dutt.

With one hit film to his credit, Guru Dutt joined the ranks of marquee names, etching his mark in the filmy firmament.

Whether the crime world, film world, or the maya nagri (Bombay then, Mumbai now) enticing with its maya jaal, there is only an entry — no exit! Guru Dutt, like many others, stayed on, entrapped in this 'jaal' of the glamour world, and he was all set to direct his second film, symbolically titled Jaal.

(Note: Did you like Part 1? Write to us at kabir@fpj.co.in and tell us!)