Desi Train

GURU DUTT: THE GURU OF CINEMA (Part 1)
by Kartik Krishnan

Jaane woh kaise log they jinkey pyaar ko pyaar mila….
Humney toh jab kaliyan maangi kaanton ka haar mila…..
Before: “Who the hell is this guy ???? Have heard so many people(senior members of family and friends - chachaji, mausaji, short fim makers, strugglers) screaming hoarse about this guy….I do a google search and find out.. he’s directed a couple of films (6 as director and a couple as producer). much much less than Hrishikesh mukherjee/ RGV/Manirathnam/Raj Kapoor/K Balachander/Gulzar/Yash Chopra/Ramesh sippy etc etc… SO WHAT THE BLODDY HELL IS BIG ABOUT HIM ??????”
This is what I used to think about a year back….Then i saw a serial on Sony where Om puri used to be anchor - Biographies - ek kalaakar ki kahani…I got intrigued…Did more google search ….saw his film pyaasa (courtsey my north indian mousa’s younger brother - referred as chacha). That was the time when movie bug had slowly hit me…Gulzar….ManiRatnam…Tarantino..Hrishikesh mukherjee…Speilberg…were the most viewed ones. Over the next couple of months i saw all his movies (listed and discussed here)…and the more i saw them..the more and more i started relating to him and understanding him…the more i started loving his cinema….Mind you…black and white cinema had never intrested me before that !!!

After: Every time some body MENTIONS guru dutt…I’m immedieately transported to his visuals..his songs..the characters..the lines…the cinematography…the lyrics…the music…the era…His name now comes in the list of ‘Eklavya’ whenever i write any thing…a short story/play/script …f**k even when I’m writing a technical piece document about the installation of Project Server for my office (IT)company (sic). I want to go again and again from the before phase to the after phase. I’ve done that for all the rest of the film makers mentioned above.. Relive the magic….the charm..and lament..on the possibilites if only the man had lived a couple of DECADES more …
(I’m not covering three of his initial efforts Baazi, Jaal, and Baaz because they were hardly good cinema by guru dutt’s standards, and also because this post would have become a mini website in itself !!!)

Here’s my ode to the man…(quotes courtsey imdb, upperstall.com and Guru Dutt- A Life in Cinema by Nasreen Munni Kabir) :
“He was really lost. He was lost to cinema…he was lost to life” - Raj khosla (assistant Director and associate of Guru Dutt)
SPOILERS AHEAD

Aar Paar: (1954)———————————————————————————————-

“Kalu (Guru Dutt), a taxi driver who was sentenced to prison for speeding, is released two months before his term for good behavior. His old employer refuses to let him drive his taxi again. Wandering the streets, Kalu helps a young woman Nikki (Shyama) to fix her car. Kalu goes home but his brother-in-law will not have a convict in the house so he finds himself on the streets. Kalu visits a club to deliver a message for Captain on behalf of a former jail mate. He gets a job at Nikki’s father’s garage and love blossoms between Nikki and him. When her father finds out, he kicks Kalu out. Kalu asks Nikki to elope with him but she hesitates and by the time she decides to do so, he has already left. Kalu returns to the club and takes up a job with Captain and his band of crooks which includes a dancer (Shakila) and a Parsi barman, Rustom (Johnny Walker). Captain is planning a Bank robbery and thinks Kalu would be useful in driving the getaway car. The cabaret dancer takes a fancy to Kalu but sees he loves Nikki. She seeks revenge and persuades Captain to have Nikki kidnapped. With Rustom’s help, Kalu manages to rescue Nikki and have the gang caught. He is a true hero and Nikki’s father gladly agrees to their marriage.”

Script-dialogues by Abrar Alvi (which other films did he write for apart from guru dutt productions) is pretty taut and insightful. The MP born Kalu talks in the accent as per his background - (”Yaaron ka haal hai” rather than saying “mera haal hai”….”Tumney safa safa mana kiya” rather than “Tumney saaf saaf mana kiya”). The garage owner talks in his own punjabi accented bombayya hindi. The street children/dancers(Elaichi-Jagdeep-yes surma bhopali from sholay).

Abrar alvi says that he was pretty dissapointed with the way dialogues were written in those days. The writers words/lingo seemed forced upon the actors and it seemed irritating to see a prince and a pauper speaking in the same grammer. Dialogues have to reflect the personality and background of the character.
Actually Abrar alvi was shown the rushes of guru dutt’s flop film Baaz. Guru dutt asked him about his opinion of the film.
Abrar evaded with : “Aap bahut photogenic hain”
Guru Dutt: “Kuch Actogenic bhi hain ya nahin ???”

Songs:OP Nayyar was given a chance (I believe by Geeta Baali - who was seeing guru dutt). And how he came up with some pretty memorable numbers. Babu ji dheere chalna…..sun sun sun zaalima….Kabhi aar kabhi paar (You hear remixed versions of this song these days)….

Special mention to Hoon abhi main jawan…and …Sun sun zalima…both songs are picturised in a garage/room with boxes/cars etc. In fact yeh lo main haari piya.. is shot in a TAXI !!! People wondered how can a song be shot in such locations???? (Lets do a dream location/item number… today’s film makers might say) Guru dutt went ahead with the shoot and the songs actually have a visual imagery. Here the songs are used to move the story forward.

By the way there is an intresting anecdote about Sun sun sun zaalima…Majrooh sultanpuri wrote the lyrics as
sun sun sun sun zaalima
pyaar mujhko tujhse ho gaya

Guru dutt said the words should be lighter..and he suggested
sun sun sun sun zaalima
pyaar humko tumse ho gaya

Majrooh said..thats grammatically incorrect. how can u say sun and then hum tum. It should be suno ….

Guru dutt said “Chodo na yaar majrooh…Gaana sunney ki cheez hoti hai…wahaan kaun hall mein tumhara grammar dekhega???”
And that song became a big hit…

Aar paar wasnt very new in terms of script/screenplay. A film noir story of a poor guy versus rich people /society. but the presentation made the difference here…

Mr and Mrs 55 ———————————————————————————————-

“An impoverished and struggling cartoonist, Preetam (Guru Dutt) encounters Anita (Madhubala) at a tennis match. Anita is controlled by her aunt Sita Devi (Lalita Pawar), a crusader for Women’s Rights who ‘protects’ Anita from men. However Anita’s father stipulates his will that Anita will inherit his fortune only if she marries within a month of turning 21. Sita Devi decides to contrive a marriage which would be followed by divorce so that Anita gets both her wealth and her independence. She hires Preetam to marry Anita unaware he is in love with her. When Anita finds out he is her hired husband, he falls in her eyes. Preetam, frustrated at not being able to see Anita after the marriage, carries her off to his brother’s house in a nearby village. Anita is deeply influenced by Preetam’s sister-in-law, a perfect traditional Indian housewife. However she has already asked Sita Devi to rescue her. Feeling that Anita doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, Preetam fabricates evidence against himself so that his divorce with Anita will come about easily and decides to leave Bombay. Preetam is much maligned in court but by now Anita realizes she loves him. She defies her aunt and rushes to the airport to stop Preetam from leaving. Anita nd Preetam are reunited.”

This movie is a typical romantic comedy. Guru dutt plays preetam, a struggling cartoonist (first of many more artists to come in pyaasa and kaagaz key phool). Poor guy survives his creditors by the help of his friend Johnny walker. Poor guy Preetam falls in love with rich girl(madhubala). Rich girl marries the poor guy out of her aunt’s(a wonderfully cast lalita pawar) persuasion. Slowly she starts discovering the tru meaning of marriage..and starts having feelings for Guru dutt. But guru dutt is forced by lalita pawar to give madhubala the impression as if he’s a debauched (drinking,philandering) individual. Madhubala is dismayed …and just when guru dutt is about to leave for delhi, she realises her aunt’s machinations and rushes to the aiprort to see guru dutt; in an ending now made popular in numerous films like DDLJ, pyaar toh hona hi tha, maine pyaar kyun kiya (sic), Mujse shaadi karogi etc etc ….

This film is an adaptation of a play written by Abrar alvi titled ‘modern marriage’. It is a satire on the falling institution and commercialisation of the sacred institution. So much so that the ‘marriage’ is done at breathneck speed … the couple come to the registrar office (with a hilarious signboard readin - Registry of Birth, Death and Marriage) almost to take away the sobriety and suggest a more mechanical detached feeling behind the sacred institution. Abrar alvi’s dialogues are the very soul of the film.

Sample this :

When lalita pawar comes to confront preetam after he drew a cartoon in the local newspaper depicting himself and madhubala as horses carrying a chariot being driven by lalita pawar with a whip in her hand.

The entire scene has lalita pawar threatening/questioning Guru dutt and guru dutt’s response is hilarious..

LP: Yeh cartoon tumney banaya hai ???
GD: Jee haan..
LP: Yeh main hoon aur yeh anita hai ???
GD: Jee haan…
LP: Aisi shaklein hain humari ???
GD: Jee haan…
To every question GD replies “je haan” in a matter of fact manner that it irritates lalita pawar and amuses the audience. Heavy, ponderous and melodramatic questions like “how dare u come here ???” are replied with a matter of fact “by taxi”. In the above scene LP is so pissed off that she says…
LP: Tum is layak nahin ho ki koi shareef aadmi tumsey baat karey…ab tumsey mera vakeel hi baat karega
GD: aapka vakeel sharif aadmi nahin hai ???

The entire madhubala meets the Guru dutts bhabhi is simple short and sweet without sounding overly melodramatic. When GD’s bhabhi tells madhubala of the sanctity of marriage (most of the scenes in films about the great india ..the great indian values etc etc ..bore me to death) without actually sounding patronising.
Another brilliant one liner is the line that guru dutt says to his friend johnny walker towards the end when he enquires as to why GD is leaving bombay and going to Delhi ??? (this is my favorite line )

GD : Saudagaron key shaher ko chod main shehzaadon key shaher jaa raha hoon
(I’m leaving the city of traders and going to the city of kings)
Very appropriately, GD is dissapointed with the city(mumbai) where everything including emotions and even marriage is for sale. He, though penniless, considers himself as his master….that no one can rule him and leaves for delhi(the national capital since ages).

This one line brings out his character and his dissappointment with the city and his situations in general. He is not the hopelessly despondent vijay of pyaasa (more on vijay later)… but a satirical humorist who is saddened by the his present state but nevertheless can laugh at himself. Vijay is totally different. And of course Suresh Sinha (kaagaz key phool) is even more different than the two of them. Although it is likely that u may find all the three characters in a bar at the same table (fictitously) yet they are different.

On a side track, Guru dutt had initially Sunil dutt in the mind for Preetam…but when sunil dutt failed to turn up..he cast himself. However, the choice for the lady had to be Madhubala. She looks a million bucks in this film.

Comic relief is also provided by Johnny walker and the overweight catholic house owner tun tun. Continuing with the apparently ‘non heroes’ breaking into a song comes Jaaney kahaan mer jigar gaya jee …which johnny walker sings to his love. This song is set entirely in an office…again no stereotypical place for a song.
Another melodious song in “Udhar Tum Haseen Ho” very well set in tune by O P Nayyar sung by Geeta Dutt and Guru dutt favorite Mohammad. Rafi.

Special mention to the Qawalli
“Meri duniyan lut rahi thi aur main khamosh tha..
Tukdey tukdey dil key chunta yeh mujhe kab hosh tha”.

It is a qawaali sung by street qawwals when guru dutt proves to madhubala that he is debauched. Guru dutt is walking down the road disappointed with himself after having done this much against his own wishes and forced by lalit pawar. This qawalli is indeed a masterpiece by Majrooh sultanpuri and so wonderfully voices Guru dutt’s feelings. But alas it gets lost in the melody of other songs of the film. Thumbs up to Majrooh sultanpuri for writing such a brilliant song.
All in all a pretty entertaining film…Probably the first and only out and out romantic comedy by Guru dutt.

Pyaasa:——————————————————–
————————————–

“Vijay (Guru Dutt) is an unsuccessful poet whose works are not taken seriously by publishers or his brothers who sell his poems as waste paper. Unable to bear their taunting at him being a good for nothing, he stays away from home often out on the streets. He encounters a prostitute on the streets Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), enamoured of his poetry and who falls in love with him. He also encounters his ex-girlfriend Meena (Mala Sinha) from college and finds out that she is married to a big publisher Mr. Ghosh (Rehman) for financial security who hires him as a servant to find out more about him and Meena. A dead beggar to whom Vijay gave his coat and whom he tries to save unsuccessfully from the path of a running train is mistaken for Vijay. Gulabo goes to Ghosh and gets his poems published. Ghosh does so feeling he can exploit the poems and make a killing. But Vijay is alive and in a hospital after the train mishap. Ghosh and Shyam, Vijay’s close friend, refuse to recognise him and he is committed to a mental asylum since he insisits he is Vijay and is thought to be mad. Vijay’s brothers too are bought off by Ghosh not to recognize him and a memorial is held for the dead poet. Vijay with the help of his friend Abdul Sattar (Johhnny Walker) escapes from the mental asylum and reaches the memorial service where he denounces this corrupt and materialistic world. Seeing that Vijay is alive his friend and brothers take side with a rival publisher for more money and declare this is Vijay. At a function to honour him, Vijay sick of all the hypocrisy in the world around him declares he is not Vijay and leaves with Gulabo to start a new life. ”

This is the one of the best films of guru dutt…THE BEST…it made it to TIME magazine as top 100 films of all times along with Apu trilogy and Nayagan. I mustve seen this film so many times…and i feel for vijay every time. I feel for all the vijays in the world (no it isnt the angry young man I’m reffering to). People who are disparaged and condemned, insulted when they are alive but are celebrated after their death. Pieces of art which achieved mass criticism when they were created but later became classics(more on that later). And this is not as if …as farhan akhtar remarked - “tab hota tha…ab nahi…” (Look at what has happened with a certain Mr Anurag Kashyap..in recent times….)

Coming back to pyaasa… Pyaasa was incidently the first film guru dutt conceptualised and wanted to make. The first draft had the character Vijay as a struggling painter and not a poet. The tentative title was Kashmekash (Dillema). (on a side track that’s why if u notice, when guru dutt goes to the college reunioun..he sings …Tang aa chuke hain…kashmekashe-zindagi sey hum). But industry waalas told him to become an established name first and then make this film. He started working on this script along with Abrar alvi. The original cast was Dilip kumar in the role of Vijay. But dilip kumar declined saying that vijay seemed another devdas to him. (Its amazing what some casting decisions can do. Mogambo of Mr India was first offered to Anupam kher, Gabbar Singh was first offered to Danny Denzongpa. Amrish puri and amjad khan became legends after their respective potrayls)
When Guru dutt was discussing the script idea with his assistant Raj khosla (who incidently directed CID for Guru Dutt and later became a film maker)…Raj khosla, who had originally come to bombay as a SINGER !!! … sang a ghazal from Sahir Ludhianvi’s collection of poem “Chakle” (meaning brothels). The moment GD heard it…he said “Raj..this is it…This is Pyaasa”…

Guru dutt roped in Waheeda rehman and mala sinha for the female leads. As always, there was a role for Johnny Walker as Abdul Sattar, the maalishwaala and of course GD’s favorite, the ever suave and stylish Rehman. Its intresting to note that Johnny Walker was initially cast as GD’s treacharous friend Shyaam in the film…but GD backed out later…thinking the audience may not accept a comedian in a villanous role. At the same time…Mehmood (yes …the “Hum kaaley hain toh kya hua Dilwaley hain” guy) wasnt given a comic role. He was there as one of the brothers of Guru Dutt in a negative role. Tun tun as always, played the fat college mate of GD,providing comic relief.

Brilliant Scenes and Dialogues:

Dialogues as always by Abrar Alvi..were poetic and captivating.
The opening scene…when GD is singing a poetry to himself… praising natural beauty..phool…bhanwre… kaliyan…etc. When somebody steps on the bhanwra…crushing it to death.That first scene itself sets up the tempo/mood of the film
GD meets the publisher who disparages GD’s shayari ….”Ghalib - Meer ko padha hai aapney ??” GD -”Ji haan unhey bhi padha hai ..aur Josh -o- Faiz ko bhi ” This is a brilliant metaphorical line everytime an underdog’s credibility is questioned.

GD’s brother interactions - Mahmood saying “Auraton sey kya deetein ladatey ho??? Humsey baat karo ”

GD’s mom saying:”Kahaan tha beta” and GD’s classic reply “Mein achcha tha ma” Talk about Subtext !!

Waheeda’s seductive mannerisms….and the sudden switch in her character when she gets to know that GD has come “khaali haat”
GD - Shyaam relationship: Shyaam saying he had given false testimony in court and earned some money by that. GD asking “Yaad hai bachpan mein ek chidiya ko chot lag gayi thi…toh tuney uski dekhbaal kari thi” Shyaam: “abey tab mein baccha tha” That very instant a prostitute comes into the house for Shyaam….and Shyaam chides GD “Par tu toh abh bhi bachcha hai”

GD having to earn a ruppee coin by doing coolie services to a portly Seth. The seth commenting on the sorrow state of educated yet unemployed youths…gives him money coin…which in turn ironically turns out to be a khota sikka

GD meeting Mala Sinha in a lift….when he gets out …Mala sinha says “Mein toh bhool hi gayi…mujhe uppar jaana hai” What a metaphor !!!!

GD’s flashback shayari sequence when he sees Mala Sinha for the first time in College….and composes a sher ‘extempore’
GD’s poetry getting rejected by Rehmaan in favour of a more lucrative “Saabun ka ishtehaar” (soap advertisement).

At the mushayaira party of Rehmaan…a lady saying “merey pati ki tabiyat theek nahi thi…woh mujhe doctor key paas ley jaaney ko kah rahe they…par mainey unhey kal pey taal siya…itni achchi paarty ko main kaisey mana kar sakti thi” Hypocrysy of PAGE 3 IN 1957. WOW

The urdu poet saying that shayari isnt the ‘jaydaad’ of the rich.
Sadly after GD’s classic jaaney woh kaisey log (more on songs later)…one person spontaneously breaks into praise…but no one else seconds him…Everybody gets back to their merryment. Who wants to listen to Dard bharey sher after all ???

Johnny walker’s scenes…all of them practically !!!

GD drinking fot the first time ….seeing the red light areas….and getting dissillusioned

GD’s death sequence ….

Waheeda meeting mala sinha after GD’s death…wanting to publish his poems. Mala sinha wants to buy them but waheeda refuses to sell…instead wants them to be published. Mala sinha reminds Waheeda that she sells ‘many things’ at a price ….

GD is REFUSED IDENTITY BY HIS OWN BROTHERS…HIS FRIENDS…and he lands up at mental asylum…when he gets to know that his poems have been published…with the help of Abdul sattar…tries to reach the auditorium where his ‘barsi’ (1st death anniversary is being held)

Rehman says “Agar mere bas mein hota toh main apni saari daulat laga kar ..khud ko mita kar…Shayar-e-azam Vijay ko bachata…” going on to say about the mahals, taqkht and taj which wouldve been bestowed on GD.

Of course GD standing at the entry … like Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion …. and brilliant lighting.. and the amazing crowd control. Its usually difficult for film makers to manage crowd scenes….no but not for a detail lover like GD.

The final sequence …..where papers are flowing around in the room…GD leaves ….along with Waheeda ….Oh boy ….will love u Mr VK Murthy for this scene.

And of course ..when GD goes to waheeda and beckons her to come with him …

GD: Chalo…kahin aur chaltey hain….
Waheeda : lekin hum jayengey kahaan ???

GD: Jahaan sey kahin aur na jaana padey…
Abrar alvi didnt want GD’s character to be an escapist…he wanted vijay to stay and fight the system/society…But GD declined… (fighting the system would come later in Bollywood….thanks to Salim Javed)

SONGS:

Sahir ludhianvi has never ever geiven better lyrics …. never ever…pick up each song/nazm. It is a gem in itself. Be it the romantic - Hum aapki aankhon mein…or the naughty Jaaney kya tuney kahi… the soul stirring Jaaney woh kaisey log they (sung by the inimitable Hemant Kumar)…the brain hammering Jinhey naaz hai hind par woh kahaan hain ??? …the frivolous Sar jo tera chakraye (abdul Sattar’s song seems inseprable from Johnny Walker’s persona now)…the bhajan - Aaj sajan mohe ang laga lo…. and of course ..the icing on the cake.. Yeh mahalon yeh takhton….yeh taazon ki duniyan

I have to post this : (extract from Yeh mahalon ..yeh taqhton…)
Har ek jism ghaayal …har ek rooh pyaasi… (every body hurt…every soul dying in thirst)
nigahon mein uljhan ..dilon mein udaasi … (eyes are dumbfounded … sorrow envelopes the hearts)
yeh duniya hai ya alam -e-badwasi … (is this the world or an environment of disgust)
yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai ???(What difference would it make if the world itself lay at my feet)

Beautiful… Never before was the hypocrysy and irony of the world shown in such a new light. It had hardly been 13 years after Indian indepependnce.People wondered as to who this man is and why is he in search of another world …when we just got the world we wanted.

SD Burman matched upto Saahir’s lyrics and Rafi sahib sung his heart out. Most of the songs are set in a ghazal like form….in fact the “Jinhey naaz hain..” and “Tang aachuke”… have minimalistic music.
Ahead of its time…much much ahead of its time …
(To be continued)….

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 10th, 2006 at 7:49 am and is filed under Bollywood.
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