In Search Of Guru Dutt

At the beginning of the documentary, In Search Of Guru Dutt, the actor is shown walking amongst the ruins of an old haveli

At the beginning of the documentary, In Search Of Guru Dutt, the actor is shown walking amongst the ruins of an old haveli. A haunting song draws him in, as he peers through cobwebs into an open expanse. The scene is from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), which Dutt produced and and acted in, and here, it acts as an apt beginning. It is akin to looking through the cobwebs of time and mystery into the person the late actor-director-producer was.



Nasreen Munni Kabir filmed this documentary for Channel 4 TV, UK, sometime in 1989, and Shemaroo has only recently made it available in a DVD format. What Kabir has managed to create is a thoughtful portrait of the late auteur. She has interviewed those Dutt worked with and was related to. However, with the passage of time, many of them people like Johhny Walker, Kaifi Azmi, Abrar Alvi, and recently Mani Kaul, have passed away. Family members interviewed include Dutt's brother Atmaram, sister Lalitha Lajmi, mother Vasanthi Padukone and colleagues Waheeda Rehman and Dev Anand, with whom he started out and created a successful team, his director of photography VK Murthy and director Raj Khosla.

The documentary uses restored footage of Dutt's films and follows a chronological order to tell his story. While his mother remembers how naughty he was, sister Lajmi speaks of how the two used to watch three movies back-to-back when they got free passes to the theatre.

There are also several personal asides, like the story behind the hit song, Sun Sun Zalima from Aar Paar (1954). Majrooh Sultanpuri had written Sun sun sun sun zaalima pyaar mujhko tujhse ho gaya, but Dutt insisted on replacing 'pyaar mujhko tujhse ho gaya' with 'pyaar hamko tumse ho gaya'. Dutt was grammatically incorrect because 'hamko' could only be used if the plural 'suno' had been used in the beginning, and Sultanpuri pointed it out. But Dutt reportedly said, "Come on, Majrooh, forget it ufffd a song is listened to. Who is going to bother about your grammar?" Dutt had his way and the song became a classic.

Along with the attractively packaged DVD, there's a booklet of rare pictures of the late master and testimonies by others, many of which have been used in the documentary. There is a foreword by son Arun Dutt, who was born in 1956, the time when Dutt is said to have made the transition from lighthearted musicals to serious introspective works, starting from Pyaasa.

Sadly, Dutt's children and singer wife Geeta Roy are not mentioned. The documentary establishes Dutt's contribution to modern Indian cinema well. Close shots capture expressions of actors, and casual dialogue is used through which the film fraternity speaks about how he became depressed towards the end of his life. But not much is said about what kind of domestic turmoil led him to end his life at 39.

Directoru00a0Nasreen Munni Kabir
For Rs 399
Shemaroo

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