Waheeda Rehman Birthday Tribute | How a chance meeting with Guru Dutt catapulted the course of her career from a dancer to celluloid star

As Waheeda Rehman celebrates her 88th birthday, here is a recap of an accidental meeting with filmmaker Guru Dutt that transformed the journey of the gifted dancer from Chengalpattu to a Bollywood legend.

The timeless beauty of Indian Cinema -- Waheeda Rehman -- who made her debut almost seven decades ago and went on to act in cult classics like Pyaasa, Guide and Kaagaz Ke Phool, turns 88 today (February 3).

An accomplished Bharatanatyam dancer, Waheeda was born in the small town of Chengalpattu, which is roughly 60 km away from Chennai, before moving to Rajahmundry near Hyderabad, apparently to pursue her career as a dancer, but she was destined to become an acclaimed actress in the 'Maximum City' — Mumbai.

Waheeda won many accolades including the National Award for Best Actress and civilian honours like Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, before being conferred with the country’s highest award in the film industry — the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2023.

It is presumed that if you have two sets of skills which complement each other, they invariably help in shaping one’s career and that is precisely what worked out in Waheeda’s case, with her dancing skills proving to be a perfect match for her acting prowess.

Being a dancer, Waheeda tackled the song sequences on screen with aplomb and grace — classic examples being the Piya To Se Naina Laage Re number from the 1965 masterpiece Guide, Rangeela Re from Prem Pujari and the chartbuster Kahin Pe Nigahein Kahi Pe Nishana from C.I.D., which became such a rage that Waheeda, who was only a supporting actress in the film, stole the limelight from heroine Shakila. Her dancing pedigree also comes to the fore in Pyaasa hit Jaane Kya Tune Kahi which only she could have done, as being a dancer, Waheeda was more than familiar with the power of silent expressions.

Waheeda was the youngest of four sisters, and with her father passing away when she was just 13, the family moved from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh. The move was to help Waheeda master Bharatanatyam. It was then that a close family friend and producer gave Waheeda the first chance in the tinsel world — a song-and-dance number in a Telugu film Rojulu Marayi.

After the success of Rojulu Marayi, Waheeda got her first break as a lead actress in the 1955 film Jayasimha, opposite actor-turned politician N T Rama Rao. 

With her impressive dance performance, in Rojulu Marayi, Waheeda had become an overnight star and then came the meeting with Guru Dutt that changed her life forever.

Dutt, who by then had made a name for himself in the Bombay film industry, was in Hyderabad, looking to remake a Telugu movie in Hindi. When his car broke down, Dutt had to extend his stay in the city and fate played its hand. As Dutt and his good friend Abrar Alvi were sitting in distributor’s office in Secunderabad, there was a big commotion outside.

Sathya Saran narrates in her book Ten Years with Guru Dutt: "Guru Dutt was keenly watching some youngsters as they surrounded a car which had stopped over there. The door opened and a girl came out of the car. Guru Dutt looked at the distributor quizzically to which he replied. ‘She is Waheeda Rehman’."

This was around the same time when Dutt was looking for a heroine to play the lead role in what would turn out to be his magnum opus Pyaasa. The rest, as they say, is history, with Waheeda and her mother having a meeting with Dutt soon which would go on to change the fortunes of her life forever.

Waheeda was paired with many actors, including Dev Anand, Raj Kapoor and Sunil Dutt, but nothing could match the on-screen chemistry which she shared with Dutt.

Their relationship was as complicated as some of the characters they portrayed in movies like C.I.D., Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, and Chaudvin Ka Chand.

The remarkable career which has seen her act in more than 90 films in different languages saw her segue from black and white to colour, and from lead roles to character cameos.

Waheeda was last seen in the 2021 sports drama Skater Girl.