Guru Dutt: Pioneer of Indian film noir

This year marks the birth centenary of the explorer of dark themes. He directed eight films and acted in 14, writes Pranati A S

In an industry thriving on glamour, Guru Dutt was an unlikely filmmaker — a quiet, almost reclusive critic of society. He lived only for 39 years, and yet left an indelible mark on Indian cinema. The social commentary in his films was couched in poetry and melancholy, while his contemporaries were dazzling their audiences with spectacle and dance.

In his first film as director, ‘Baazi’ (1951), with protagonist Madan, Guru Dutt created a new image of the hero in Indian cinema — an underdog who was vulnerable and tough at the same time. Dev Anand played Madan. The story goes that the two had a pact to support each other’s careers. Whoever became popular first would support the other. Dev Anand was an established actor by then. The film also inaugurated a new genre called the Bombay noir. It was a blockbuster hit which took Dev Anand’s NavKetan Films to greater heights.

In the song ‘Aaj sajan move’ from ‘Pyaasa’, Waheeda Rahman’s Gulabo goes looking for Guru Dutt’s Vijay. While directing the scene Guru Dutt told Waheeda to assume Vijay was her father to be able to emote. She was 13 when she lost her father. 

The following year, the two returned with the crime drama ‘Jaal’ set in a fishing village in Goa. It portrayed an angry young hero and failed to entertain the audiences. Another failure followed — ‘Baaz’ (1953). And this time Guru Dutt had himself played the hero. 

He tasted success a second time only with ‘Aar Paar’ (1954), in which he played an aggressive taxi driver. Before he went on to play a cartoonist in ‘Mr and Mrs 55’, Guru Dutt had made a playful commentary about the rich. It was an entertainer with its share of clichés but he had also experimented with the film. Every character speaks a dialect of Hindi — Punjabi Hindi, Indori Hindi, Bombay Christian Hindi and Parsi Hindi, showing the city’s cosmopolitan nature. 

Born in Bengaluru

Vasanth Kumar Shivshankar Padukone, later famous as Guru Dutt, was born in a hospital in Bengaluru on July 9, 1925. In her Kannada book ‘Nanna Maga Gurudatta’, his mother Vasanthi Padukone describes the drama that unfolded on the day he was born. Each child had a number tag and Guru Dutt’s had 9 on it. A nurse brought in a baby with the number 6 and placed it next to Vasanthi, who wasn’t aware of the numbering. The only thing she knew was that she had given birth to a boy. Thankfully all the other babies born that day were girls and Guru Dutt made his way back to his parents!

Choreography days

From a young age, Guru Dutt was drawn to dancing. Inspired by his uncle B B Benegal’s painting ‘The Struggle for Existence’ (a snake coiled around a man), he came up with a snake charmer’s dance where he tried to hold a snake trying to get away, his sister Lalita Lajmi recalled in an interview. He was just 14 then. Benegal had even filmed it against a sunrise in Eden Garden. Guru Dutt then went on to learn modern dance at the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre in Uttarakhand. Soon, he got a job as a dance master in Prabhat Studios in Pune. One of his earliest films as choreographer was ‘Hum Ek Hain’ (1946) starring Dev Anand. 

Johnny Walker, a constant in Guru Dutt’s films, in the song ‘Jaane kahan mera’ from ‘Mr and Mrs 55’.

In ‘Mr and Mrs 55’, two characters are having a conversation when they suddenly switch to singing — ‘Jaane kaha gaya jigar gaya ji’ and ‘Ae ji, dil par hua aisa jaadu’. And ‘Jaane kaha gaya…’ with Johnny Walker and Vinita Bhatt saw Guru Dutt’s best choreography. Guru Dutt didn’t like songs beginning with instrumental music. Most of his songs begin with the lyrics first, and the instrumental music follows. 

Brooding, cerebral 

A taxi driver, a poet, a servant, a cartoonist and a film director are among the roles Guru Dutt portrayed in his short cinematic life. Poetry was an integral part of his films. The exquisite poetry imparted charm to the otherwise brooding personality his roles carried. This is perhaps why Guru Dutt captivates audiences even today.

In films after ‘Mr and Mrs 55’, Guru Dutt became more introverted. ‘Pyaasa’ (1957) was based on Guru Dutt’s story ‘Kashmakash,’ about a poet recognised only in death. It is a powerful comment about the hypocrisy of the art world. It is beautifully conveyed in the song ‘Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye’. ‘Pyaasa’ explored the tragedy inherent in art. It was successful at the box office.  

A scene from ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ featuring Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt. It’s the first Indian film shot on CinemaScope. 

Tragedy beginning

What Guru Dutt had shown in ‘Pyaasa’ came true in ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ (1959). The film bombed when it was released but came to be regarded as a classic after his death. He had dedicated the film to Gyan Mukherjee whom he revered as his guru. Guru Dutt worked with him in Bombay Talkies and was inspired by his style of filmmaking. He lost a lot of money with ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ — the film was shot in CinemaScope, an expensive affair in those days. It was also the first Indian film shot in CinemaScope, which boasted a wider screen.

In journalist Nasreen Munni Kabir’s book ‘Conversation with Waheeda Rehman’, Waheeda who was the leading lady in many of Guru Dutt’s films, says: “If anyone asked me what he loved the most in the world, it was his work. He was obsessed with filmmaking.” So the failure of ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ swept him into a state of depression which eventually led to his death. He decided he would not direct films anymore. He often wondered why he couldn’t reach people with the film. 

Another memorable character he played was in ‘Chaudhvin Ka Chand’ (1960). The film makes a commentary about the burqa (veil) in the Muslim community. After the success of this film, he decided to set his narrative in Bengal — thus came ‘Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam’ (1962).  Although the film has Abrar Alvi’s name as director, it bears Guru Dutt’s stamp and also features his best performance.

In an old article in Celluloid, during his last years, Guru Dutt observed: ‘In the formula-ridden film world of ours, one who ventures to go out of the beaten track is condemned to the definition which Mathew Arnold used for P B Shelly, “...an angel beating his wings in a void”. I believe one who is out to go against the winds has to be prepared for bouquets and brickbats, for triumphs as well as heartbreaks, whether or not one makes a classic or collects the cash. It is this baffling unpredictability that gives edge to the thrill of movie-making.’