Talk of organising a retrospective of films Vasantkumar Shivshankar Padukone and it would fall on deaf ears. But the audience would be all ears, at a proposal to make a show of films of Guru Dutt.
And there is good reason for it as here was a man who turned melancholia into art. He turned his camera to the painful realities of life.
If in the process dark forces visiting his country a decade after its independence were portrayed in his works , Dutt did not mind. His films and the technique of making them is not dated even as his 100th birth anniversary is scheduled to be observed today.
Guru Dutt chose to look beyond euphoria. The storylines of his films widely varied travelling a long way from slick whodunnit like Baazi, frothy comedy like Mr and Mrs 55 and of course some of most gentle tales on celluloid about feudal decadence as in Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam and of course the two classics on screen about unrequited love and failure in the backdrop of melancholia -Pyasa and Kagaz ke Phul.
Not quite at peace with himself even in his hours of joy and success, film making became s refuge to Dutt’s wandering soul. An introvert, he chose to express his emotions through his works.
The most remarkable feature of his film craftmanship was the subtle use of light and shadow. It was stunning and his audience which cuts across generations will agree with a loud aye.
There is no need to look back at his films as period pieces. Based on themes that remain contemporary in the 21st century, the inner turmoil of the protagonists of Dutt’s films almost threatened to spillover with a dramatic effect.
But they never did so, remaining cinematic throughout. Dutt’s staunchest acolytes and harshest critics will be unanimous on this point
There were nothing escapist in the classics in celluloid in which he acted. The credits sometimes did not have his name as a director.
But viewing Dutt’s performance as Bhutnath, a country bumpkin with a heart of gold in Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam or a poet Vijay whom everyone thinks to be dead in Pyasa or in Kagaz ke Phul as a film maker, Suresh Sinha who has lost the Midas touch, one and all will give a standing ovation. For his realistic acting and the masterful touches from behind the camera remain unmistakable.
It would be not be an exaggeration to say that complacency never visited Dutt in his seven year career as a filmmaker. He lived and died a dissatisfied artist whose works in celluloid speak of his skills and glories even when he is not more.
Dutt seems to be at odds with success of films. Yet there were few filmmakers of his time who matched the calibre of this man who was a consumate actor, a trail blazing director and a capable producer.
Dutt who had trained under Uday Shankar knew a thing or two about singing and dancing. Modern day film makers can enrich themselves with a learning experience post a long, hard look at the Pyasa scene in which a new comer Waheeda Rehman in the role of Gulabo, the street walker lips the song Jaane kya tune kahi, Jaane kya maine suni as a Dutt in the role of down and out poet Vijay trails her cluelessly.
Doubtless Dutt had a better understanding of the form read film making than his contemporaries. The shot taking and editing process place him in a class of his own.
Remember Bhutnath’s interactions with Waheeda Rehman enacting Jaba and Meena Kumari in the role of Choti Bahu which was one her most iconic performances. Bhutnath’s performance is layered as he shared the screen with Jaba by whom he is smitten and Choti Bahu, he reveres.
Gulabo arrives at the publisher’s office with Vijay’s manuscripts. On being asked where she lives mumbles “Sona” but stops short of saying she lives in Sonagachi, Kolkata’s well known red light district is another pointer to Dutt’s eye for detecting social discrepancies and their fallout on creativity
The poetic worth of Vijay’s verses are weighed with the place they are from. The bringer is loath to say it though it is of interest to the questioner,Rehman putting in a polished performance as the publisher who happens to be the husband of Vijay’s old flame enacted by Mala Sinha.
Dutt was a director who turned new comers into stars. And long after his passing Rehman and Johnny Walker continued to be performers to be reckoned with.
The master director’s signature were tracking shots and eloquent close ups. Use of light and shade with looming shadows adding to the melancholia added to his repertoire.
Cinematographer V K Murthy was Dutt’s able collaborator. Arguably as Suresh Sinha walks into the film studio where he once shot hit films or the song Waqt Ne Kiya song filmed on exquisite Wahida in Kagaz ke Phul are cases in point.
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam has Abrar Alvi in the directorial credit but the film is stated to be ghost directed by Dutt. And enacting the central character of this portrayal crumbling feudalism, he had a difficult act to follow.
Dutt spent sometime of his early life in Bhiwanipore in south Kolkata. Another all time great Bengali screen legend Uttam Kumar was growing up nearby had essayed the same role in the Bengali version of this film based on a Bimal Mitra novel.
His marriage to singer Geeta Roy did not bring in marital peace. His nights were spent in the company of alcohol and a film script as he chose to spend his hours away from film making within a box
The melancholic man had cut himself off from life when he was not behind the camera was 39 when he stepped into the land shadows. But many decades after he passed into the big sleep Guru Dutt Padukone continues to be a man who was ahead of his times.
Dutt was a director who turned new comers into stars. And long after his passing Rehman and Johnny Walker continued to be performers to be reckoned with.
The master director’s signature were tracking shots and eloquent close ups. Use of light and shade with looming shadows adding to the melancholia added to his repertoire.
Cinematographer V K Murthy was Dutt’s able collaborator. Arguably as Suresh Sinha walks into the film studio where he once shot hit films or the song Waqt Ne Kiya song filmed on exquisite Wahida in Kagaz ke Phul are cases in point.
Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam has Abrar Alvi in the directorial credit but the film is stated to be ghost directed by Dutt. And enacting the central character of this portrayal crumbling feudalism, he had a difficult act to follow.
Dutt spent sometime of his early life in Bhiwanipore in south Kolkata. Another all time great Bengali screen legend Uttam Kumar was growing up nearby had essayed the same role in the Bengali version of this film based on a Bimal Mitra novel.
His marriage to singer Geeta Roy did not bring in marital peace. His nights were spent in the company of alcohol and a film script as he chose to spend his hours away from film making within a box
The melancholic man had cut himself off from life when he was not behind the camera was 39 when he stepped into the land shadows. But many decades after he passed into the big sleep Guru Dutt Padukone continues to be a man who was ahead of his times.
