GURU DUTT-A Creative Genius

Remembering Guru Dutt on his 91st Birth Anniversary

Today, July 9th happens to be his Birth Anniversary. And we wish him a very Happy Anniversary, because a creative genius never dies. He lives on in his works. Some of us will always – Hum aap ki aankhon mein, is dil ko basa de toh for him as he continues to live through his cinema.
Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone (9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964), better known as Guru Dutt, was an Indian filmdirector, producer and actor.He is most famous for making lyrical and artistic films within the context of popular Hindi cinema of the 1950s, and expanding its commercial conventions, starting with his 1957 film, Pyaasa. Several of his later works have a cult following. 
Guru Dutt was the eldest of five children born to Vasanti and Shivkumar Padukone, a Burma Shell employee. The Padukones ' Kannadiga Saraswats from Karwar, a beautiful coastal town in Karnataka ' spent more than a decade in Bhawanipore in Calcutta, where Guru Dutt finished his schooling. Not surprisingly, Guru Dutt spoke fluent Bengali and carried a distinct stamp of Bengali culture in his work.
As a child, Guru Dutt was fond of two things: dance and animals.This love remained till he died.But it was his love for dance that laid the foundation of a career in cinema.At the age of 16  Guru Dutt joined Shankar's dance academy in Almora on a scholarship of Rs 75.The dance troupe was disbanded during the Second World War because of financial problems, and Guru Dutt finally joined V. Shantaram's Prabhat Film Company, then a formidable film production house, in 1945. It was here that he met three of his close friends, actors Dev Anand and Rehman and director Raj Khosla, all on Prabhat rolls then.When Guru Dutt joined the Prabhat Studio, he was taken as a choreographer but soon a small role as an actor was given to him as Shri Krishna in a movie"CHAND"(1944).
In 1945, he acted as well as assisted director Vishram Bedekar in Lakhrani, and in 1946 he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for P. L. Santoshi’s film, Hum Ek Hain here he met Dev Anand,both of them became close friends.

In 1947, Dutt moved to Mumbai, where he worked with two leading directors of the time, with Amiya Chakravarty in Girl's School, and with Gyan Mukherjee in the Bombay Talkies film Sangram. Then, Dev Anand offered him a job as a director in his new company, Navketan,Thus, Guru Dutt's first film, Navketan's Baazi, was released in 1951.Baazi was an immediate success. Guru Dutt followed it with Jaal and Baaz. Neither film did well at the box office, but they bring together the Guru Dutt team that performed so brilliantly in subsequent films. He discovered, and mentored, Johnny Walker (comedian), V.K. Murthy (cinematography), and Abrar Alvi (writing and directing), among others.It was BAAZI during its making he met Geeta Roy who later became GEETA DUTT  

 He is also credited for introducing Waheeda Rehman to the Hindi cinema. Baaz was notable in that Guru Dutt both directed and starred, not having found a suitable actor for the principal character

In 1955 his own film AAR PAAR was released,it was a hit.This was followed by the 1955 hit, Mr. & Mrs. '55, then C.I.D., Sailaab, and in 1957, Pyaasa - the story of a poet, rejected by an uncaring world, who achieves success only after his apparent death. Guru Dutt played the lead role in three of these five films.

In 1959  Kaagaz Ke Phool failed at the box office and Dutt was devastated. All subsequent films from his studio were, thereafter, officially helmed by other directors since Guru Dutt felt that his name was anathema to box office.

Though he gave many hit films as a producer but he didn't try direction.Chaudhwin Ka Chaand(1960) and Sahib Bibi Aur Gulaam(1962) were commercially Hit,as an Actor his films Bharosa,Bahurani and Saanjh Aur Savera were hit.His last movie as a Producer was Baharein Phir Bhi Ayengi (1966) which was released after his death.

Guru Dutt had an unhappy marital life. According to his brother Atmaram, Guru Dutt was "a strict disciplinarian as far as work was concerned, but totally undisciplined in his personal life".At the time of his death(10th Oct 1964), he had separated from Geeta and was living alone. Geeta Dutt herself died in 1972 at age 41, after excessive drinking which resulted in liver damage.. 

A Song From Un Released Movie Of  Guru Dutt with Sadhna in PICNIC 1964