We all remember the song "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" with this song Geeta Dutt became famous That was in 1947 with the release of 'Do Bhai' music was given by S D Burman. 1947-1949 saw Geeta Roy rule as the number one female playback singer in the Hindi film industry as she moved from strength to strength. She married Guru Dutt in 1953 whom she fell in love with during the recording of the songs of' Baazi'(1951).
In 1957 Guru Dutt started a film 'Gauri' in Hindi and Bengali with her as the heroine. This film was supposed to be shot in the new cinemascope technology. It is said that a lot of expensive types of equipment were ordered from abroad and the shooting began with a lot of expectations from Geeta DuttThe shooting of the film began and a few reels were shot. Based on the available information, at least one song sung and acted by Geeta was recorded. To much dismay of Geeta, Guru Dutt decided to scrap the film. It was a case of shattered dreams for Geeta who had pinned her hopes on this film. The words "Mera Sundar Sapna Beet Gaya" sung by her almost ten years ago had become true.
 Geeta Dutt In Gauri Since the film was supposed to be a musical, it is said that two songs were recorded for the film but were never released on discs. it was the legendary S D Burman (whom Geeta used to call "Kaka" (Uncle) with affection). Geeta Dutt is reported to have recorded a song "BANSHI SHUNE AAR KAJ NAI SE JE DAKATIA BANSHI" for the film Gauri. The record version was probably never published. This is confirmed from a 1958 Bengali magazine article by Colin Paul. Later S.D. Burman himself recorded the song in his own voice at around 1960/1961 and it was a hit. The song has lyrics by Gouri Prasanna Majumdar and music by S D Burman himself. The same tune was later used for Shakti Samanta’s film Anuraag (1972) where Lata Mangeshkar sang the song "Neend Churaye Chain Churaye Daka Dale Teri Bansi" for Moushumi Chatterjee making her debut in Hindi films. The film Gauri got shelved and the original tunes were probably never heard by anyone. The shelving of the film Gauri had a severe impact on Geeta as a person. A truly spirited woman she was, she continued to sing memorable songs as if nothing had happened, but for sure she was hurt deep inside in her heart. Those days Guru Dutt was in love with Waheeda Rehman, their family life was in trouble. Guru Dutt broke with Geeta Dutt for the sake of Waheeda Rehman. Waheeda never reciprocated her love to Guru Dutt since he was a married man with children. Moreover, she respected him as a Great artist and nothing else. At this juncture, it is hard to imagine Guru Dutt’s state of mind. He was caught between two situations. Breaking up with his wife and not getting attention from Waheeda. Finally, Guru Dutt found the easy way out. He apparently committed suicide on October 10th, 1964 After Guru Dutt's untimely death in the year 1964, Geeta Dutt suffered a lot of financial, health related and personal problems. She was practically left with no money (being made insolvent from Guru Dutt Films due to the debacle of the film "Sailaab" earlier) and three children to support. The days of her career as a leading playback singer were over and she was not getting many singing assignments. Between the years 1964 and 1967, she sang less than a couple of dozen songs, mostly in obscure and/or low-budget films. Going by the rule of the film industry, one and all had deserted her. Even those people whom she had helped building their careers had conveniently forgotten her. The composers for whom she sang several hit songs turned back towards her. She was forced to do stage shows and radio jingles and even those were not a great success. It was a sad story to see a top playback singer being treated like this by the film and music fraternity. It is reported that she decided to venture into other areas of films and music. She was to compose the music for a film under the moniker "Pyaasi" and it is said that she even recorded a song in her own voice. We do not have any information if any records of songs she composed were released or not. This was the time, when she decided to try her hand at acting one more time, this time in her mother tongue Bengali.  Cover of Badhu Baran's Booklet Geeta Dutt got a role in a Bengali film titled Badhu Baran in the year 1967. The film was directed by Dilip Naag. The film introduced Rakhee (who later became Rakhee Gulzar and went on to become a popular actress in Hindi films) to the film world. The film was made by D.S. Productions The film had an impressive star cast in Pradeep Kumar paired with Geeta Dutt. Based on the available information, the film did not do too well at the box office. A good amount of interest was among the music and film lovers who watched this film to see their favorite singer Geeta Roy acting in a film. The film ran for about 5 or 6 weeks or so in Kolkata.  Elegant Geeta ji in Badhu Baran The music of the film was composed by the legendary and brilliant composer Kamal Dasgupta. It is a pity that the composer chose to have Geeta sing just one song for this film. The song she sang is "Amar alor o shishu o andhar ja"This turned out to be Geeta Dutt's last recording in a Bengali film Song of Badhu Baran 1967 She tried to resume her singing career. But Asha Bhonsle had already overtaken her. Geeta Dutt started drowning her woes in alcohol. Her health kept failing as she drank more and more alcoholic drinks..ultimately she died on July 20th 1972 due to cirrhosis of the liver at the tender age of 42. Geeta Dutt was a brilliant playback singer of Hindi films, strikingly beautiful with dreamy almond eyes, who left us nearly 50 years ago. Despite possessing a rich voice, her career was heavily marred by bad luck and an unhappy marriage. The last recorded song of Geeta Dutt was a duet with Talat Mahmood in the 1972 film Midnight which went unnoticed. In this film she sang a solo also. Song of Midnight 1972 |
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