The Movies that Guru Dutt Announced and Abandoned

 

One of these aborted projects was Gouri, launched in 1957. Guru Dutt Films Private Limited, fresh from the success of Pyaasa that year, announced a film in Bengali and English. Gouri was to have been directed by Guru Dutt and was billed as the acting debut of his wife, playback singer Geeta Dutt.

Gouri was set in the director’s favorite city, Kolkata. The plot revolves around a successful sculptor of Durga idols who meets a prostitute, who, to him, resembles the goddess. Moved by the woman’s plight, he marries her. They lead a blissful life until one of his friends starts blackmailing him. When his parents find out about their daughter-in-law’s past, they start mistreating her. The woman runs away. 

Two scenes were filmed and music director SD Burman had recorded two songs when Guru Dutt stopped production.

 Had Gouri been made, it would have been India’s first film in the Cinemascope format, rather than his Kaagaz ke Phool two years later.  

Geeta Dutt in Gouri.

Gouri was one of Guru Dutt’s many incomplete projects. Nasreen Munni Kabir suggests in her biography Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema that this indicated “an increasingly disillusioned and fractured state of mind”. Kabir writes, “Guru Dutt’s personal life was in turmoil, and he smoked and drank heavily.” This is borne out by lyricist Kaifi Azmi, who wrote the lyrics for 1959’s Kaagaz ke Phool. Azmi is quoted in the biography as saying, “What he wanted to say in the film [Kaagaz ke Phool] wasn’t clear. His mental state was like that, he wasn’t clear... There were more scenes that were edited out than remained in the completed film.”

Even as Kaagaz ke Phool was underway, Guru Dutt set his assistant, Niranjan, off on another project. The intended film, Raaz, was adapted from the Wilkie Collins classic tale The Woman in White. The film starred Sunil Dutt as an army doctor and Waheeda Rehman in the double role of twins.

Raaz moved in fits and starts, and Guru Dutt eventually replaced Sunil Dutt as the lead. Some scenes were shot in Shimla and two songs were recorded by composer RD Burman, who was making his debut. One track featured three dancing girls and was sung by Geeta Dutt, Asha Bhosle, and Shamshad Begum. But after shooting and editing five or six reels, Guru Dutt shelved the film since he was unhappy with the way it was shaping up.

Raaz, starring Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman.

Another film that got shelved was a Bengali film 'Ek Tuku Chhua' a proposed adaptation of the novel 'Neel Kamal' written by Gulshan Nanda, which was to be directed by Sadiq. One scene was shot but the film was shelved, the reason is unknown.

According to Dutt’s other brother, Devi Dutt, Guru Dutt offered Niranjan another film after the Raaz debacle, titled Moti Ki Mausi and starring Tanuja and future scriptwriter Salim Khan. Moti Ki Mausi hit a wall after Niranjan died from alcohol-related complications.

Some of the projects did finally make it to the theatres with other producers, actors and directors. Professor (1962) was first announced by Guru Dutt a couple of years earlier as a story of a man too young to be a teacher and too old to love. It was to have been directed by Shashi Bhushan with Kishore Kumar and Waheeda Rehman in the leads. Dutt even asked Abrar Alvi to direct the film, but Alvi declined.

Alvi did, however, write the screenplay for the movie, which was eventually made by Lekh Tandon with Shammi Kapoor. Raj Khosla, Guru Dutt’s former assistant, re-worked the shelved Raaz as Woh Kaun Thi? in 1964 with Manoj Kumar and Sadhana.

Sadhana was also supposed to have starred in Picnic, with Guru Dutt. The project was to have been directed by RS Tara, with music by N Dutta. Unlike the other incomplete films, of which nothing remains because of our tragic ignorance of the importance of archiving and preservation, snippets of two songs from Picnic have survived. One is this lovely duet sung by Mohammed Rafi and Asha Bhosle.

https://youtu.be/S87t0_bQJ90

Kitna Rangeen Hai Ye, Picnic.

Following the critically acclaimed Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Guru Dutt attempted an Arabian Nights-style adventure, which was to have been his first film in colour. In an essay titled Classics and Cash, Guru Dutt recalled the shock when he announced Kaneez sometime in 1962 or 1963. “I have been trolled by friends and critics for taking up Alibaba as my next film,” he wrote. “‘From a provocative social theme to Arabian Nights? What a fall, Guru!’ they kept on twitting me. I have to explain every time that I want to show that even Alibaba could be a subject with contemporary significance. 

Kaneez was to have starred Simi Garewal. But this one also failed to make it to the finishing line and was shelved after initial filming. Garewal complained to the Cine Artists Association and ensured that she recovered her dues.

Simi Garewal in Kaneez.

The two films that Guru Dutt left unfinished at the time of his sudden death on October 10, 1964, were his own production, Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi, and K Asif’s magnum opus, Love and God, an epic take on the Laila-Majnu tale starring Guru Dutt as Majnu and Nimmi as Laila. Dharmendra stepped into Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi.

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Unheard Story of Geeta Dutt- The words sang ten years ago became true.

 

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

Two Great Bollywood Stars Born on the Same Date

 

Guru Dutt and Sanjeev Kumar,  the two legendary actors of Bollywood were born on 9th July of 1925 and 1938 respectively. What a coincidence that both died prematurely. Both started their career early in their life. Guru Dutt got a job under a three-year contract with the Prabhat Film Company in Pune when he was just nineteen years of age. Sanjeev Kumar also started his acting career as a stage actor, starting with IPTA in Bombay and later joining the Indian National Theatre. At the age of 22, he played an old man in a play, an adaptation of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. In the following year, in the play Damru directed by AK Hangal, he again played the role of a 60-year-old with six children.

Guru Dutt acted in a small role as Sri Krishna in Chand in 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.. Sanjeev Kumar made his film debut with a small role in Hum Hindustani in 1960.

Even though Guru Dutt and Sanjeev Kumar never worked together, they do share a curious link – K Asif’s Love And God. The film had a long and troubled production history with shooting starting in 1963 with Guru Dutt as Kais and Nimmi as Laila. However Guru Dutt's sudden death in 1964 left the film incomplete and it was shelved. Then, Asif recast Sanjeev Kumar as Kais and resumed production of the film in 1970. Unfortunately, the director K. Asif died on 9 March 1971 at the age of 48/49 and the film was once again left incomplete. Fifteen years later, Asif's senior widow Akhtar Asif decided to release the incomplete film with the help of producer-director-distributor K. C. Bokadia. In a few months, they managed to salvage some usable portions of the incomplete film from three different studios and pieced them together. This cut-paste incomplete version was finally released on 27 May 1986. By the time of the film's release, several of the film's cast members had died, including its leading actor Sanjeev Kumar, who died in 1985.

Guru Dutt in Love &  God

Sanjeev Kumar in Love &  God

Another similarity both had was their love life, both had a troubled love affair. Though Guru Dutt was married to Geeta Roy but fell in love with Waheeda Rehman. Sanjeev Kumar proposed to Hema Malini in 1973 and they remained in touch even after he suffered his first heart attack in 1976. Later an actress Sulakshana Pandit started liking him and proposed for marriage, but both of them remained unmarried. Kumar refused to marry her, as a result of which Sulakshana vowed to never marry anyone.

Their turbulent, tragic, and unlucky-in-love personas haunted the two stars throughout their life, one went in depression and comitted suicide and the other died of heart attack.

Songs of Guru Dutt

Song of Aar Paar 1954

Song of Mr & Mrs 55 1955

Song of Pyasa1957

Song of Kaagaz Ke Phool 1959

Song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand 1960

Songs of Sanjeev Kumar

Song of Anokhi Raat 1968

Song of Raja Aur Runk 1968

Song of Khilona 1970

Song of Seeta Aur Geeta 1972

Song of Manchali 1973

Song of Aandhi 1975

Jaane Woh Kaise Log The Jinke Pyar Ko Pyar Mila

This immortal song of Pyaasa(1957) was written by Sahir Ludhianvi, sung by Hemant Kumar and composed by S D Burman. This song was inspired by the second stanza of our national anthem, according to a book on celebrated music composer S. D. Burman.
"In a conversation with lyricist Pulak Bandyopadhyay, Burman had mentioned that the second line of the national anthem—Punjab Sindh(u) Gujarat Maratha Dravid Utkal Banga—had inspired the line, 'Humne to Jab Khushiyaan Maangi'.
"The reference to the national anthem is so subtle that unless someone points it out, it is next to impossible to spot a similarity."
Pyaasa had 10 songs, two solo songs were sung by Geeta Dutt, and one duet of Geeta Dutt and Mohammad Rafi, all the other were solo of Rafi except this song. In fact, Guru Dutt wanted this song to be sung by Rafi but Burman Dada insisted on Hemant Kumar. Dada knew that this song suits Hemant Kumar, one of the highlights of this song was the aching frailty of Hemant's rendition.  A major argument took place between Guru Dutt, composer Burman Dada, writer Abrar Alvi, and Geeta Dutt. Finally, Dutt, who remained unconvinced, had to give in to the pressure.

This song was picturized on Guru Dutt. He is leaning against a bookshelf, wearing a white shawl, stretching his hands, a wry smile even though he was deserted. Singing in a small gathering organized by his employer Rehman, where he meets his ex-girlfriend Mala Sinha, who abandoned him for wealth by marrying none other than the man currently employing him. 
If you listen carefully you will find a piece of very light music is being played in the background. Burman Dada had arranged the song with delicate piano notes, surprisingly np piano is shown on the screen. 
Once  Burman dada was asked why this song had such little music. He replied that the poetry was the hero of the song and had to be showcased. And it’s true, the soft tune in the background pushes Sahir Ludhianvi’s words to the forefront. Unfortunately, this was the last song of Sahir composed by Dada Burman. They never worked together after this song and film.

Song of Pyaasa 1957

Raj Khosla came to Bombay to become a Singer

He wanted to become a playback singer but destiny made him an ace director of his time. He had learned classical music from the age of six, and as a student, had joined All India Radio, filling in whenever a singer could not make it. He struggled hard to become a singer,  only one composer gave him a song that too after rehearsing went to Mukesh. He did get a song in 1949 film Bhool Bhulaiya, Bulo C Rani composed it, later in Madan Mohan's debut film Ankhen (1950), wherein he sang the quaint 'Rail Mein Jeeya Mora'.
During his struggle days, he became a friend to Dev Anand, who spotted his talent of direction made him an assistant of Guru Dutt at the time of making of Baazi in 1950. He assisted Guru Dutt in Jaal(1952) and Aar Paar(1954).

 in 1954 got a break with "Milap", starring Dev Anand and Geeta Bali. In this film, not only Raj Khosla made a debut as a Director, but a new Music Director, N. Dutta gave debut music. The next film he directed was C I D (1956) which was a hit From here onwards he never looked back. His next two films Kala Pani (1958) and Solva Saal (1958) were back to bach hit. 
He entered into production also, he co-produced and directed Bombay Ka Babu which was again a hit. Till then he directed 5 films in all the 5 films Dev Anand was his hero. The next film he directed was Ek Musafir Ek Hasina in 1962 for Shashdhar Mukharjee with Joy Mukharjee as a hero. The next film he directed was Woh Kaun Thi (1964) with Manoj Kumar and Sadhana.
Khosla explored a variety of styles be it crime thrillers like CID, suspense thrillers like Woh Kaun Thi, and musicals (Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962). Now he tried melodramas (Do Badan (1966) , he was successful in that too. In 1969 he came out with Do Raste and Chirag both the films were hit. The next genre he tried dacoity with highly successful Mera Gaon Mera Desh in 1971 and Kachhe Dhaage in 1973.
He made films after Mera Gaon Mera Desh and had hits like Prem Kahani (1975) starring the then hottest pair of the day Rajesh Khanna and Mumtaz, Nehle Pe Dehla (1976) and Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978). After enjoying big hits like Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki (1978) and Dostana (1980) with Amitabh Bachchan, Zeenat Aman, and Shatrughan Sinha, Khosla ran into some rough weather as his other films started flopping. The last film he directed was Sunny in 1984, which was not a hit.A dispirited Khosla took refuge in alcohol and died in Bombay on 9 June 1991
 He, along with Guru Dutt and Vijay Anand, was among the directors, who were also responsible for song picturizations being taken to a new high in the Hindi cinema of the 1950s and 6os.

Songs were sung by Raj Khosla in films

Song of Bhool Bhulaiya 1949

Song of Aankhen 1950

Songs of Films directed by Raj Khosla 

Song of Milap 1955

Song of CID 1956

Song of Kala Pani 1958

Song of Solva Saal 1958

Song of Bombai Ka Babu 1960

Song of Woh Kaun Thi 1963

Song of Mera Saya 1965

The Story Behind the Song "Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam"

This iconic song from India's first Cinemascope film Kagaz Ke Phool is now 60 years old. This song was picturized on Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt. Geeta Dutt giving voice to Waheeda Rehman. We can feel The"Dard" (Pain) in the voice of Geeta Dutt. What a composition by great S D Burman and penned by another great Kaifi Azmi.
A song bringing forth the tragedy in romance, a song telling us about the inevitability of life in general!.The amazing camera frame by the legendry cinematographer V K Murthy, shadows and light are combined beautifully to create the situation and sad mood of the scene where Guru Dutt and Waheeda meet in an unexpected situation.
The situation of this song was not there in the original script. There were 5 songs for the script, those were already composed and recorded by Burman Da and everybody was relaxed. Suddenly Burman Da started humming a new tune which was light and with a glimpse of sorrow. Guru Dutt, who was sitting next to Burman Da liked this new tune and was deeply touched by this tune, he suggested Burman Da that let's have a song with this tune.
Kaifi Azmi, who was also sitting with them was asked to write for this tune. Kaifi Azmi who seldom write for the pre-composed tunes agreed. He immediately wrote the Mukhda of this song, initially, Guru Dutt was not happy with the Mukhda but Burman Da was very much impressed with the words, he insisted Gutu Dutt think once again, he felt that these lines were enough to bring tears in his eyes.
In the meantime, Burman Da asked Kaifi Azmi to write the two antra of this song. He then beautifully tuned these antra, he thought immediately that Geeta Dutt would give full emotions to this song.

Burman Da called Geeta Dutt and asked her to sing this song in front of Guru Dutt. Guru Dutt liked the song and insisted on Burman Da to get it to record it for this film. The situation for this song was created and then picturized on Waheeda and himself.
When this song was shot, the relation between Waheeda and Guru Dutt were a hot topic. Kaifi Azmi wrote the lyrics with this in mind which later denied that he ever kept in mind about their relationship. However, this song became the highlight of the film.

The booming bass guitar, the soft piano, the tinkling triangle, the flowing strings – the orchestration of that song was mesmerizing. On-screen, a stunningly beautiful Waheeda and a somber, graceful Guru Dutt appearing in an exquisite light and shadow play of haunting black and white images then completed that masterpiece.

In 2018, after 59 years, there is a reference to this song in '102 Not Out'. Amitabh Bachchan who plays a 102-year-old man in the film recorded the track in his characteristic deep and booming voice. The song was arranged by Rohan Utpat and Vinayak K Salvi. 

Song of Kagaz Ke Phool 1959

Song of 102 Not Out 2018

Lata Mangeshkar's Tribute To Geeta Dutt by singing Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam 

           

The Story Behind the Song "Chaudhavin Ka Chand Ho"

In the 1960 Annual Binaca Geetmala, there was a tough competition for the No 1 song, it was between the song "Chaudhavin Ka Chand Ho" and "Zindagi Bhar Na Bhulegi Barsaat Ki Woh Raat". Both the songs were solo and both the songs were sung by Mohammad Rafi. Both were Title songs.
There was a trend in those days that every film must have a title song. This trend was started by Shailendra from the film Barsaat in 1949. In this case, the Mukhada was the title of the film. The composer of this song was Ravi who was also a lyricist but for this film, Shakeel Badayuni was the lyricist. Composer Ravi made the tune of this song with the title as Mukhada but was not finding the exact words to complete the Mukhada, he then talked to Shakeel Badayuni and asked to complete the Mukhada and the song. This song remains one of the most romantic songs of the Hindi Film Industry.
What sets ‘Chaudhvin ka Chand’ apart? The classical romanticism that the song demanded found expression in the ‘period’ scene-setting and cast. But most importantly, the central character of the sequence is Waheeda. This is where it leaves other ‘very good’ or ‘great’ classical romance song-sequences behind.
Chaudhavin Ka Chand was a comeback film of Guru Dutt after the disastrous box office performance of Kaagaz Ke Phool.  He was not the director of this film, he produced the film and gave direction to Mohammed Sadiq. The film was a super hit and became a classic.
Another interesting fact that though the film was in Black & White but this song was picturized in colour. Waheeda Rehman in an interview told that the Censor Board objected to chaudavii.n kaa chaa.nd ho when Guru Dutt re-released a version of the song shot in color? As the color version was being filmed, Waheeda Rehman’s eyes became irritated from the heat of the high-powered lights used during the shoot. Upon seeing the red color of the heroine’s eyes, the Censor Board claimed that the colored picturization of the song contained suggestive and lustful implications inappropriate for audiences.
This song got two Filmfare awards, one for the Lyrics to Shakeel Badayuni and the other to Mohammad Rafi as a playback singer. This was the first Filmfare Award to Mohammad Rafi after debuting 15 years ago. It is the warmth, passion, and soul in his voice that renders this song a timeless masterpiece.

Song of Chaudhvin Ka Chand 1960