The tragic life of an Indian cinematographic genius

The emblematic Indian director and actor Guru Dut was only 39 years old when he died in 1964, but he left behind a cinematographic heritage that continued to resonate decades later.

Born on July 9, 1925, in the southern state of Karnakak, next week marked his birth centenary. But the man behind the camera, his emotional turmoil and the struggles for mental health remain largely unexplored.

Caution: This article contains details that some readers may find disturbing.

The creator of classic Hindi films such as Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool – Film School Staples for their harmless topics – Dutt built a deeply personal, introspective style of moving, which was a novel in the era after independence.

His complex characters often reflect his personal struggles; His subjects touched universal motives, inviting the audience to stand up to uncomfortable realities through ghostly beautiful cinema.

The beginning of Dutt was humble and his childhood was marked by financial difficulties and a tumultuous family life. After his family moved to Bengal to Eastern India for work, a young Dutch became deeply inspired by the culture of the region, and this would shape his cinematographic vision later in his life.

He cut off his surname – Padukone – after entering the Bombay film industry in the 1940s. He made his debut not as a director, but as a choreographer, but also works as a telephone operator to finish the edges. The turbulence and uncertainty of the decade – the struggle for India’s independence has intensified – influenced the ambitious prospects of the director.

It was during this phase that he wrote Kashmash, a story rooted in artistic powerlessness and social disappointment, ideas that will later form his cinematographic masterpiece Pyaasa.

Dutt’s friendship with colleague wrestling Dev Anand – who soon rose to fame as an actor – helped him get the chance to direct his first film in 1951. The noir thriller, Baizi, drives him into the spotlight.

He soon found love with the famous singer Geeta Roy, and in many accounts these early years were his most savvy.

After Dutt launches his own film company, he scored hits in the back with romantic comedies Aar-Paar and Mr & Mrs. 55, both presented it in the lead roles. But longing for artistic depth, he began to do what his decisive film – Pyaasa would become.

The difficult, pursuing film explores the struggle of the artist in a materialistic world and decades later, he will be the only Hindi list in the magazine of the Time magazine of the 100th century the largest films of the 20th century.

The late younger sister of Duth, Lalita Leimi, who cooperates with me when I wrote his biography, said that the Saas was her brother’s “dream project” and that “he wants to be perfect.”

As a director, Duth liked to “create” the film, as he was shaped by the kits, making many changes to the script and dialogues and experimenting with camera techniques. While he was known for being scraping and redirecting scenes, it reached alarming levels during the Piaas – for example, he shot 104 taking over the famous culmination sequence.

He would shout and get rid of when things don’t work out, Lymie said.

“The dream was avoided. The abuse and dependence on alcohol had begun. In the least, he began to experiment with sleep pills, mixing them in his whiskey. Guru Dutt gave his best to make the Pias – his dreams, her dreams,” she said.

In 1956, when his dream project approached the completion, 31-year-old Duth tried to commit suicide.

“When the news came, we rushed to the Pali Hill (where he lived),” Laji said. “I knew he was in trouble. He often called me, saying we should talk, but he won’t say a word when I got there,” she added.

But after his discharge from the hospital, no professional support from the family is sought.

Mental health was the topic of “social condemnation” at the time and with big money riding on the Piaas, Laji said the family was trying to move forward without fully encountering the reasons for his brother’s internal struggles.

Issued in 1957, the Piaas is a critical and commercial triumph that catapulted a doo to the star state. But the director often expressed a sense of emptiness, despite his success.

Pyaasa vk Murthy’s chief cinematographer recalled Dutt, saying: “I wanted to be a director, an actor, make good movies – I have achieved everything. I have money, I have everything, but still I have nothing.”

There was also a strange paradox between Duth’s films and his personal life.

His films often portray strong, independent women, but off -screen, as Laji recalls, he expects his wife to accept more traditional roles and wants to sing only in films produced by his company.

In order to continue its company to flourish, Dutt had a simple rule: every artistic gambling game must be followed by a commercial film for banking.

But difficult with the success of the Piama, he ignores his own rule and dives straight to make his most personal, expensive and semi-autobiographical movie: Kaagaz Ke Phool.

He tells the story of the unfortunate marriage of the director and the confused relationship with his muse. He is ominously ending with the death of the director after he fails to reconcile with his sharp loneliness and doomed relationships.

Although he was now welcomed as a classic, it was a commercial failure at the time, according to reports, he did not overcome a blow.

In the Channel 4 documentary in search of Guru Dut, his co-star Wahida Rehman remembered that he said, “Life Mein Do Hi Toh Cheezen Hai – Kamyaabi Aur failureS (There are only two things in life: success and failure) There is nothing between them. “

After Kagaz Ke Fall, he never directed a movie again.

But his company recovered over time, and he made a strong return as a producer with Chaudhvin Ka Chand, the most successful movie in his career.

He then launched Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam, directed by his reliable screenwriter Abar Alvi. At that time, Lajmi said, his personal life was in severe turmoil, marked by mood swings.

The film deepens in the loneliness of a woman caught in a deserted marriage to Filaland, often a tyrannical landlord in a gorgeous but feudal world.

The screenwriter Bimal Mitra recalls that Dutt told him about his fight with insomnia and reading the sleeping pills during this time. Until then, his marriage had collapsed and mental health had worsened. Mitra recalled many conversations with the constant refrain of Guru Dutse: “I think I’ll go crazy.”

One evening Dutt tried to take his life again. He was unconscious for three days.

Limi says that after that, on the doctor’s advice, his family called a psychiatrist to ask about the treatment of DUT, but they never followed. “We have never called the psychiatrist again,” she added with regret.

For years, she believed that her brother was silently crying for help, maybe she felt trapped in a dark space where no one could see his pain, so dark that even if he could not find a way out of her.

A few days after Dutt’s disposal, the shooting for Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam resumed, as if nothing had happened.

When Mitra asked him about the incident, Duth said, “Nowadays, I often wonder what excitement they are, what the restless, that I was very inclined to commit suicide?

The film was successful, became an official entry into India at the Berlin Film Festival in 1963 and also won a national award.

But Dutt’s personal struggles continued to grow. He separated from his wife, and although he continued to act in films, he struggles with deep loneliness, often turning to alcohol and sleeping pills for relaxation.

On October 10, 1964, Dutt, 39, was found dead in his room.

“I know he always wished for it (death), he longed for it … And he received it,” writes his co-star Waheeda Rehman in The Journal of Film Industry, 1967.

Like the main character of Pyaasa, the real recognition came to Dutt only after he was gone.

Cinema enthusiasts often wonder what could have lived in a long time; He might continue to reshape India’s cinematic landscape with his visionary, poetic works.

YASSER USMAN is the author of the biography of Guru Dut: an unfinished story