A man ahead of his time, Guru Dutt is among the few artistes who have made a mark in the history of Indian cinema. An actor, director and producer, this man was perhaps the most brilliant package of talent we ever had. Guru Dutt has left the image of a somber and self-destructive romantic hero haunted by failure and death. Guru Dutt marked the Indian film industry by a completely different personal approach that is being rediscovered and admired even today. He is remembered in the history of Indian cinema as the brooding passionate romantic who tried to reflect the changing social situation in India in the fifties.

Some facts about Guru Dutt and his life:

Guru Dutt was born as Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone in Bangalore.

Dutt spent his childhood in Kolkata where he grew so close to the culture and intellect that he adopted the name Guru Dutt.

Initially, he worked as a telephone operator at the Lever Brothers factory in Kolkata.

His critically acclaimed movies, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool have reserved a place in Time magazine's "All-TIME" 100 best movies. The movie  Pyaasa was however rejected by the Indian audience when it had released.

He is also known as the Orson Welles of India.

In 2010, he was included among CNN's "Top 25 Asian actors of all time".

In the year 1944, Guru Dutt got a small role portraying Lord Krishna in the movie Chand. In 1946, he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for P. L. Santoshi's film Hum Ek Hain.

He also worked as a freelance assistant for Prabhat Film Company and Studio. However, after that, for almost 10 months, Guru Dutt was unemployed and stayed with his family at Matunga, Mumbai.

When he was unemployed, Guru Dutt developed a skill for writing in English, and wrote short stories for The Illustrated Weekly of India. During this time, he wrote the script of Pyaasa which was originally named Kashmakash.

Guru Dutt has received great recognition in France, Japan and Germany, where his films have been re-released to full houses. It is believed that Guru Dutt gave the close-up shot to the Indian cinema. It was also known as the Guru Dutt shot.

Guru Dutt died at the early age of 39.

Guru Dutt left many unfinished projects with his death. Baharein Phir Bhi Aayenghi, Picnic and Love and God were few among them. Picnic remained incomplete and Love and God was released 20 years later with Sanjeev Kumar replacing Dutt in the leading role.