Guru Dutt: The tortured genius behind classics Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, who died at 39 of ‘melancholia’

Kaagaz Ke Phool, the first cinemascope film in India, had a disappointing run at the box office upon its release in 1959, and its failure is said to have affected him so much that he quit film direction. But Raj Kapoor had predicted the film’s cult status and told Dutt, “Don’t worry, you have produced the picture 15 years too early.”

Madhubala and actor Guru Dutt in Mr and Mrs 55. (Express archive photo)

Guru Dutt’s fascination towards art and culture dates back to the time when he was just 10. His mother Vasanthi Padukone once recalled how he got angry at her when she refused to take him to the popular dancer Uday Shankar’s show in Kolkata. She also remembered him as a “naughty and stubborn child.” She shared in the documentary, In Search of Guru Dutt, “He had an inquisitive mind. Sometimes I used to go mad answering his questions. He never listened to anyone and would do what pleased his heart. He used to get angry easily and was impulsive.”

But this impulsive, short-tempered man grew up to be a responsible person. He gave up his dream of going to college and getting a degree. He appeared for his Matric exams with his mother and both cleared the exam in the same year. But after that, at 16, he had to take up the job of a telephone operator in a mill because of his family’s financial condition. He used to earn Rs 30 per month. “When he got his first salary, he bought something for everyone. He bought a frock for me, a coat for our father, and a Bhagavad Gita for his school teacher. He was generous since always,” Dutt’s younger sister Lalitha Lajmi shared with Prasaar Bharti.

However, his dream of learning dance, music and drama was fulfilled by his uncle BB Benegal, and he was sent to Uday Shankar’s School of Dancing and Choreography in Almora in 1941, where he won an annual scholarship of Rs 75. But Dutt had to return to his family in Bombay (now Mumbai) after being expelled due to an alleged relationship with the company’s leading lady.

But soon he was hired as an assistant dance director at Pune’s Prabhat Film Company. Here began Dutt’s journey in the Hindi film industry. At the Prabhat Studios, Dutt developed a lifetime bond with Dev Anand during a chance meeting.

“In 1946, I was on the payroll of Prabhat Film Company and was playing the lead in my first film, Hum Ek Hain. One day, as I was walking out of the studio, I saw a young man of about my age entering, and we exchanged polite hellos. A few seconds later, he turned and stared at my shirt. I looked at his. I realised he was wearing my shirt and I was wearing his. Obviously, the washerman had interchanged them. We had a hearty laugh and embraced each other,” Dev Anand told journalist Shaikh Ayaz. He had also mentioned that during his love affair with Suraiya, Dutt was his dearest friend and confidante.

Dutt and Anand also promised each other that whenever they will taste success, they will make each other a part of it. “We promised each other that the day I became a producer, I’d take him on as a director, and the day he directed a film, he’d cast me as a hero. And I’m not a promise-breaker. I did launch Guru as a director in Navketan’s Baazi in 1951,” Anand shared.

Guru Dutt, Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman. (Express archive photo on 03.08.1956)

After Baazi’s success, the filmmaker directed Jaal (1952) and Baaz (1953), Aar-Paar (1954) and Mr & Mrs 55 (1955) and CID (1956). But, these films couldn’t satiate the creative hunger of Dutt. He felt he was in “solitary confinement” which ended only with the release of Pyaasa.

In a 1957 Filmfare interview, he said, “When I joined films, the wanderer in me was put into a solitary confinement and the door of my ‘prison’ was opened only after the release of Pyaasa.” While making films, he also gave Hindi cinema talents like Johnny Walker (comedian), VK Murthy (cinematographer), and Abrar Alvi (writer and director) their debuts. Waheeda Rehman, whom he cast in Pyaasa, was also said to be his find.

Baazi not only gave Dutt a flying start to his career, but also introduced him to the love of his life Geeta Roy, who sang the film’s song ‘Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Takdeer Bana De’. The two fell in love and his sister Lalitha became the cupid of their love story as she delivered Dutt’s letters to Geeta. After three years of courtship, the two got married in 1953.

“We met for the first time during the making of Baazi and it was three years later, during the making of Baaz, that we were married. From Baazi to Baaz it was just a matter of dropping the ‘I’ and converting it into a ‘We’,” Geeta Roy, who changed her name to Geeta Dutt, was quoted as saying by Yasser Usman in his biography Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story.

Guru Dutt with his wife Geeta Dutt and children Arun and Tarun. (Express archive photo)

Before tying the knot, Geeta and Dutt decided that she will continue her career as a singer in the film industry. But things changed after marriage and Dutt started objecting to her singing. He wanted her to sing only in his films. Hence, their fights became frequent and they grew apart. Geeta Dutt took to drinking and gradually distanced herself from Guru Dutt. Some time in 1963, Dutt moved to a flat on Peddar Road, Mumbai and Geeta, with her three children, shifted to an apartment near Mehboob Studios, in Bandra.

Though an alleged affair with Waheeda Rahman was often said to be the reason behind his troubled marriage, his sister Lalitha told Filmfare, “Guru Dutt’s speculated relationship with Waheeda has become a sort of a myth today. She’s been unnecessarily blamed for his disturbed marriage. Maybe, Guru Dutt saw a muse in Waheeda. Love is a difficult emotion to define. And let me tell you he did not commit suicide over either of the two women.” She revealed in the same interview that her brother had “suicidal tendencies, he had attempted suicide twice before.” She said, “The second time he was admitted to the Nanavati Hospital and had slipped into a coma for three days.”

Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt. (Express archive photo)

As per his brother Devi Dutt, he had an ‘ego’ that caused troubles for him and his son Arun believed his father had a “negative thought process and morbid thinking”.

Dev Anand also said that Guru Dutt “suffered from melancholia.” The renowned filmmaker couldn’t look at life beyond success and failure as he once said, “What’s life about, friend? It’s only about two things – success and failure. There’s nothing in between.”

Abrar Anvi recalled his last evening with Dutt in ‘Ten Years With Guru Dutt’. He revealed that Dutt was drinking since 5.30 in the evening and was upset since Geeta refused to send their daughter to Dutt’s place. He retired into his room after dinner at 1 am and at 3 am came looking for Abrar. When he didn’t find him, he took another bottle of whiskey with him into his room and locked the door.

Guru Dutt with director Abrar Alvi on the set of the film Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam. (Express archive photo)

The next morning, Geeta Dutt called several times to speak with him, but he was long gone. While Abrar noted that he died due to troubles in his personal life, his brother Devi told Filmfare, “Guru Dutt was facing serious income tax problems. He was on the verge of bankruptcy. He was worried about the studio going away.”

Today, after watching some of his cult classics, one can’t help but agree with Dev Anand’s words, “He should have made more films. He had so much in him.”