Guru Dutt- the name simply needs no introduction! Touted to be one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of Indian cinema, Dutt's works are considered as a benchmark even today. His stories were deeply personal and had a touch of melancholy which never failed to stir hearts. He's also one of those rare filmmakers who got his due after he passed away.
Guru Dutt was a visionary. The man only directed 8 films during his short career but those films are considered as cult classics today. His first film, Baazi, had a morally ambiguous character in the lead, which was rare in the '50s. Pyaasa & Kaagaz Ke Phool, the most acclaimed films by the director deal with the existential crisis where the protagonist, an artist, wants to rise above the material wants of life.
Whether it was his way of showing deep emotions on screen or his ability to highlight hidden nuances through dialogues and songs, it's safe to say that we've never had a filmmaker quite like him. And chances are, we never won't either. When Hindi film directors were content making socially driven movies back in the 1950s, Dutt came up with tragic stories that magically merged artistic and commercial sensibilities and became box office successes.
However, the fine filmmaker didn’t start out with a career in movies. Dutt’s first job was as a telephone operator in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Soon he quit the boring routine and, with his uncle’s help, found a position in the then flourishing production house Prabhat Film Company. He began as a choreographer, assistant director, and actor, but rose to fame with his first directorial project: Baazi. Dev Anand, his dear friend, fulfilled the promise of producing Dutt’s first film under his banner Navketan.
Everything changed for the actor-director-producer after the release of Baazi. Dutt made films like Aar Paar, Mr and Mrs 55, CID, Sailaab, Pyaasa and Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam that brought him a lot of acclaims. And these are the movies that are most strongly etched, along with the image of the man who made them, in memory forever.
Filmmakers like him grace the film industry once in ages. Guru Dutt, in his short career span, gave us films that hold relevance even today. He saw life as a poem and interpreted it in the most beautiful way he could imagine. He wasn't interested in the materialistic pleasures that came with his success but was always looking for something deeper. Just like the song from Pyaasa:
"Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye toh kya hai"
His films, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool are listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 best movies.