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Bollywood Saturday: Guru Dutt’s death anniversary brings a certain nostalgia among thespians and students of cinema about his classics such as Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mr And Mrs 55 and Aar Paar. Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, considered to be the legendary filmmaker’s masterpieces are known for their tragic moments and dealing with sensitive social issues that were ahead of its time in real sense. Guru Dutt always brought unconventional narratives in his storytelling which was unique and in contrast with the vision of his contemporaries like B R Chopra, Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and others. Guru Dutt, also an impressive and underrated actor still has a certain connection with late actor Dilip Kumar. Dilip Kumar was known as the tragedy king because of his filmography, especially with regard to his classics Mughal-E-Azam and Devdas. The duo however, were to collaborate in Pyaasa which never happened.
Guru Dutt had written a script by the working title Kashmakash. The filmmaker went to Dilip Kumar for the narration and the latter was impressed by the script. Dilip Kumar, known for doing one film at a time much before Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan made it cool demanded Rs 1.5 lakh as his signing amount which was too much for a filmmaker like Guru Dutt who had just started and was about to make his first film with a megastar like Dilip Saab. Guru Dutt told Dilip Kumar about the same. Dilip Kumar assured the director that his team of distributors will take care of everything. Guru Dutt, however, disagreed and said he himself has his team of loyal distributors and he cannot abandon them. The two later agreed to do the film together and Dilip Kumar promised to come for the Mahurat shot.
Guru Dutt kept waiting for Dilip Kumar but he was busy sitting in the nearby building where the narration of B R Chopra’s Naya Daur was taking place. It is believed that Guru Dutt and B R Chopra were competing rivals at that time. Guru Dutt sent his assistants multiple times but after a while realized that Dilip Kumar may not come to the sets. Guru Dutt discussed with his team and declared, “Come what may, now I will play the protagonist in this film.” This is how Pyaasa became immortal in Hindi cinema.
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone, better known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian film director, producer, actor, choreographer, and writer. Guru Dutt is still praised for his usage of close-up shots, lighting, and depictions of melancholia.
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