Kaagaz Ke Phool: Chronicle of Guru Dutt's descent from hope to surrender
Inspired by European filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini, whose existential narratives left a profound impact, Guru Dutt leveraged the success of films like 'Mr & Mrs' 55 (1955) to pursue more introspective stories. The result was two cinematic masterpieces: 'Pyaasa' (1957) and 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' (1959).Primarily, both films probe life's meaning and human response to rejection. Within a short span, Dutt offered contrasting answers, with 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' foreshadowing the personal tragedies that would mark his own life.Same Questions, Different AnswersIn 'Pyaasa', Vijay (Guru Dutt), a struggling poet ignored by a materialistic society, delivers a defiant answer. In the film's climax, he appears at his own memorial, after he is presumed dead, and ridicules people celebrating his now-famous poetry. Standing in the theatre doorway, evoking a Christ-like silhouette, Vijay renounces the world's hollow acclaim, declaring, 'Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye toh kya hai?( Even if I gain this whole world, what is it truly worth?)' For Vijay, society devalues humanity, rendering its recognition meaningless.
Facing an angry crowd after scorning their hypocrisy, Vijay rejects society's suffocating norms. 'Burn it down, turn it into ashes, this is your world, handle it yourself, it is of no use to me,' he declares.When asked why he is throwing it all away, he responds, 'I won't find peace here.' Choosing authenticity over fame, he walks into the sunset with Gulabo, a sex worker who embodies genuine humanity.'Pyaasa's ending is Vijay's refusal to be crucified by a selfish world, bent by its rules and expectations. It is his way of saying: 'I spit in your face.'advertisementYet, in 'Kaagaz Ke Phool', Dutt offers a starkly different response, negating his own optimism, saying, 'I quit.'The central premise of 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' is the same: an artist's rejection by society. In the classic, his descent into ignominy comes after the highs of success as an acclaimed director of blockbusters.How does Suresh Sinha, the protagonist, deal with the crisis? Instead of defying society, Sinha (Guru Dutt) accepts defeat and spirals into darkness, embracing loneliness and alcohol.In the film's climax, he runs away from Shanti (Waheeda Rehman), the woman who loves him, and offers a glimmer of hope. Living in poverty, consumed by failure and shame, Sinha returns to the empty film studio where he once reigned. There, in a heartbreaking scene, he dies alone in the director's chair, a broken man defeated by society and his own failures.From Optimism To Self-Destruction'Pyaasa's Vijay embodies the artist's rebellion, a refusal to compromise integrity for societal acceptance. It is an optimistic, almost romantic vision of the artist's ability to rise above the world's flaws. In contrast, 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' is a darker, more introspective exploration of despair and depression that ultimately leads to self-destruction. This shift reflects Dutt's evolving worldview.advertisementIn 'Pyaasa', Dutt deals with questions of existence like famous philosopher Albert Camus. He accepts life's absurdity, but refuses to be defeated by it. He decides to carry on defiantly, choosing to find meaning in his struggle. By contrast, in 'Kaagaz Ke Phool', he embraces nihilism—the idea that life is absurd, not worth living, and resignation is the only way out.How did Guru Dutt go from defiance to surrender within a span of two years?
A deeply sensitive person, Guru Dutt overdosed on pills during the filming of 'Pyaasa', narrowly escaping blindness. The film's critical and commercial success failed to rescue Guru Dutt, who had by then descended deep into depression and alcoholism. 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' is a tragic echo of Dutt's final years, a disturbing self-fulfilling prophecy.Every scene of 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' is a glimpse into Dutt's mind. Just before the end, when he meets Shanti after a long break, he raises a glass in celebration. 'When the effect of all other intoxicants—fame, success, wealth, love—wears off, this is the only thing that remains,' he says. It is a chilling admission of his hollow life—a fractured marriage, the scars of his growing closeness to Waheeda Rehman, and his addiction.advertisementIn another scene, Sinha's footsteps on a beach are erased by waves, signifying the fleeting nature of human imprint on time. When his daughter comes to see him, Sinha evades her, refusing to present to her a broken, defeated man–- 'Kya leke milen duniya se, aansoo ke siva kuch paas nahi? (What do I have to offer the world, except tears — I possess nothing else).'In the final moments, Sinha flees Shanti—a striking contrast to Vijay's embrace of love in search of peace, choosing isolation. It is a choice that underlines Sinha's pessimism: in the end, nobody stays. In the background, Mohd Rafi's voice rises to a crescendo, 'Fly away, don't sit in the gardens where only paper flowers bloom...Matlab ki hai duniya saari, bichhde sabhi, baari, baari.'
advertisementCelebrating Guru Dutt's LegacyGuru Dutt would have turned 100 this July 9. But, in 1964, at the age of 39, he died of an overdose, widely believed to be intentional, in a haunting parallel to Suresh Sinha's demise. His tragic end reveals 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' as a painful dialogue within Guru Dutt's mind, his struggle with personal and professional rejection, and his ultimate resignation.Through 'Pyaasa' and 'Kaagaz Ke Phool', he laid bare his soul, inviting audiences to introspect, confront the same questions that haunted him: What is the purpose of life, and is it worth pursuing? His divergent answers underline humanity's enduring dilemma.Though he surrendered to despair, his unflinching honesty, cinematic genius inspire us to embrace defiance, creating our own legacy. On Guru Dutt's birth centenary, the biggest tribute to the great filmmaker would be to hail Vijay as humanity's role model, and show the middle finger to life's struggles. 'Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai?'- Ends
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Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Javed Akhtar says Guru Dutt had Indian cinema's ‘greatest visual sense' but has a problem with Kaagaz Ke Phool: ‘When a filmmaker allows his personal life to…'
It has been over six decades since Guru Dutt passed away on October 10, 1964, but his works remain timeless, with filmmakers still getting inspired by his films, his visual sense and that unmistakable play of light in his cinema. On his 100th birth anniversary today, lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar opens up on Guru Dutt. Javed Saab, I can't think of anyone more qualified than you to speak of Guru Dutt as we observe his 100th birth anniversary. Is it really a hundred years? His films are timeless. They are celebrated to this day as masterpieces. And rightly so. His visual sense, the way he framed his characters in a song. Aap Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam mein dekh lijiye…Na jao saiyyan chuda ke per cent of the song is shot on a bed. Who could do that except Guru Dutt? Did you ever get a chance to meet Guru Dutt? I came to Mumbai with the dream of becoming another Guru Dutt. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks after I came to the city. But his legacy follows and haunts me, as it follows every thinking filmmaker and artiste. I don't think there is any major filmmaker in Hindi cinema who is not influenced by Guru Dutt. Also Read | Guru Dutt @ 100: Here's looking at the man behind the artist His reputation hinges mainly on two films? Yes, Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool. But even if you look at his lighter films like Mrs & Mrs 55, Jaal or Aar Ya Paar, the songs, the way he shot them was simply unbelievable! A whole song in Mrs & Mrs 55 was about a car. He didn't need to go to Switzerland to find aesthetic visuals. They were all in his mind. His visuals and the lighting of the songs. Every frame is a masterpiece in 'Waqt ne kiya kya haseen situm', 'Yeh raat yeh chandni phir kahan' or 'Dekhi zamane ki yaari' in Pyasa. How did he do it ? There is no identifiable location. It's all in his mind. What he imagined is what we see. How would you rate Guru Dutt as compared with the other greats? There were many other great directors like Raj Kapoor, Bimal Roy and Mehboob Khan. But none could match Guru Dutt's visual sense. I would say he went beyond the screenplay. Please explain. All other great directors needed a strong screenplay to make their classics. Guru Dutt didn't really need a screenplay to make a great film. His cinema went far beyond the written word. It was all there in his mind. He could put on screen exactly what he visualized in his mind. From among his two most celebrated classics, I have a problem with Kaagaz Ke Phool. But in Pyaasa, the visuals and lighting will be talked about for as long as cinema exists. Also Read | GURU DUTT @ 100: Granddaughters recall their grandfather's legacy What are your problems with Kaagaz Ke Phool? I feel when a filmmaker allows his personal life to impinge on his cinema, the work becomes self-indulgent. This, according to me, was the case with Kaagaz Ke Phool. That said, no one can deny Guru Dutt's place among the greatest visionaries of Indian cinema, if not the greatest.
Scroll.in
an hour ago
- Scroll.in
‘Confused product of a confused brain': When Guru Dutt cast a spell over everyone
The film 'leaves one confused because it is a confused product of a confused brain', the reviewer complains. Also, 'It is a picture which lacks coherence, a clear and cognizable theme and, consequently, any emotional appeal whatsoever.' Finally, the movie is 'pretentious in tone and dull and confusing in effect'. Many films have been misunderstood in their times, only to be given their due belatedly. And yet, the Filmindia magazine's overwhelmingly negative review of Guru Dutt's Pyaasa is confounding, especially since Pyaasa, despite – or more likely because of – its melancholic poet-hero and themes of rejection and disillusionment resonated strongly with audiences when it was released in 1957. Pyaasa is now regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made. The celebration of Guru Dutt's centenary – he was born on July 9, 1925 – will refocus attention on the eight features he directed. Pyaasa, starring Guru Dutt as the poet Vijay, who is cheated out of fame and accepted only by the sex worker played by Waheeda Rehman, will likely be recognised once again for the masterpiece that it is. Guru Dutt's penultimate movie is a staggering feat on all levels – the performances, SD Burman's music, Sahir Ludhianvi's lyrics, cinematographer VK Murthy's beautiful compositions. Guru Dutt's command over his craft, his sensitivity for the aesthetics of cinema, have never been better. However, none of this was evident to the Filmindia reviewer, the magazine's editor Baburao Patel. A critic who revelled in eviscerating films and their makers, Patel had a special distaste for Guru Dutt. Patel attacked the films that Guru Dutt directed as well as produced, such as Raj Khosla's C.I.D. (1956). C.I.D. was 'thin as air and unconvincing as a Russian prisoner's confession'. Patel, who liked to twist the knife in deep, added that the stylish Indian noir film was 'a cheaply and stupidly conceived, unpalatable crime picture'. Patel similarly dismissed Guru Dutt's Mr. and Mrs. 55 (1955) as an example of the filmmaker's 'usual glamorized jugglery'. Mr. and Mrs. 55, starring Guru Dutt and Madhubala, is a breezily charming, if dated, film about an impecunious cartoonist who marries a clueless heiress. The movie is in the vein of Hollywood's screwball comedies, with zingy repartee and beautifully filmed tunes that underscore Guru Dutt's talent for making song interludes part of the larger story. For Patel, the film was 'an odd mixture of some silly satire, mild comedy, ludicrous characterizations, popularly tuned songs, and the usual laboriously dandified song takings which seem to have become Guru Dutt's stock-in-trade'. Not for the first time in his reviewing career, Patel confused artistry for phoniness and cinematic bravura for flashiness. Baburao Patel founded Filmindia in 1935 and quickly established himself as an enfant terrible. Patel used his authority to not only provide contrarian views of the Hindi and other language industries but also fulminate on politics, the economy and perceived social ills. For several decades of its existence until it shut down in 1985, Filmindia was one of the most powerful purveyors of the Hindi and other language industries, Sidharth Bhatia writes in The Patels of Filmindia – Pioneers of Film Journalism (Indus Source Books). Patel ran the magazine with his third wife, the actor and singer Sushila Rani Patel. 'Baburao was an extraordinary editor – he practically wrote the entire magazine himself until Sushila Rani came and shared some of the burden with him,' Bhatia writes. Patel's stentorian and carping voice was on every page, whether in the industry news tidbits, the gossip columns, the opinion section written under the pseudonym Judas, or the reviews. 'Kaagaz Ke Phool Inflicts Severe Boredom' was a considerably less nasty headline than the one for another film released in 1959, Dil Deke Dekho ('Rape of Indian Culture') or the description of Marine Drive from 1955 as 'a disgrace to our country'. Ironically, one of Guru Dutt's oft-repeated remarks was 'don't bore me.' Patel trashed Kaagaz Ke Phool, about the vagaries of show business, as 'an ineffective glycerine tear shed over the transience of a showman's glory'. Guru Dutt too acknowledged the movie's drawbacks, telling Filmfare that it was 'too slow and went over the heads of audiences'. After the Kaagaz Ke Phool debacle, Guru Dutt did not direct a film again, instead getting heavily involved with his productions. Baburao Patel seemed to approve of this decision, lavishing praise on M Sadiq's Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960) and Abrar Alvi's Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). Patel described Chaudhvin Ka Chand as 'feelingly written and lovingly mounted', as well as 'the scintillating result of a good story and skilful presentation' that was 'likely to be long remembered by picturegoers'. These words apply more accurately to Pyaasa. The source of Baburao Patel's grudge against Guru Dutt is unclear. Sushila Rani Patel shed some light on the matter when she spoke to filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur for a biopic he was planning on Guru Dutt in 2008. Dungarpur conducted scores of interviews with Guru Dutt's collaborators, including Abrar Alvi and VK Murthy, and people who knew the director and his wife, Geeta Dutt. Sushila Rani Patel told Dungarpur and his research team that Guru Dutt knew her sister Sumati in the 1940s, when they were both at the dancer Uday Shankar's cultural school in Almora. Patel also revealed that she was related to Guru Dutt's sister, the painter Lalita Lajmi – Lajmi's husband Gopi Lajmi was Patel's nephew. 'My husband was very fond of pictures with a classic touch,' Patel told Dungarpur. 'He didn't like the masala films.' She did not share her husband's view of Pyaasa, saying that the film 'had something' and deserved its reputation as a classic. Baburao Patel was not swayed by the reputation of a star director or actor, Sushila Rani Patel said in the interview. Her spouse 'wrote fearlessly', she said, adding. 'Whatever he felt, he wrote.' Dungarpur has a theory that the character played by Mala Sinha in Pyaasa is inspired by Sushila Rani Patel. In the film, Guru Dutt's struggling poet Vijay and Sinha's Meena are lovers. Meena later marries the odious publisher Ghosh (Rehman), who sets out to destroy Vijay. Guru Dutt directed his first feature, the crime drama Baazi, in 1951, when he was 26 years old. In his lifetime, he was a successful filmmaker by the Hindi film industry's standards – his movies had popular actors, most of them made good money, the songs were hits. Yet, the reverence that is now accorded to Guru Dutt, the awe with which his innate understanding of cinema is studied, the regard for how he filmed songs – all these only followed his death most likely by suicide on October 10, 1964. He had previously attempted suicide at least twice. His passing at the age of 39 was blamed on a lethal combination of professional setbacks, personal turmoil and possibly undiagnosed depression. In her definitive study Guru Dutt – A Life in Cinema (Oxford University Press), Nasreen Munni Kabir writes: 'The cruel irony of belated recognition has visited itself upon many artists, and if we think of the posthumous recognition of the poet Vijay of Pyaasa, it could be said that Guru Dutt had a premonition of being among such artists; indeed, his contribution to Indian cinema has only been fully recognized some years after his death in 1964.' A deeply complex man by all accounts, of an intense and brooding personality but also generous and affectionate, Guru Dutt was an enigma while alive. After his death, he entered the annals of geniuses who leave too early. Kabir, who also directed the documentary In Search of Guru Dutt (1989), writes in her book on the filmmaker, 'Guru Dutt could not have predicted the impact that he would have in time; not only in India but in many parts of Europe. Death has indeed brought the kind of erasure that echoes his own feelings suggested in Pyaasa – that a dead artist is more greatly valued.' The cover of the Filmfare issue dedicated to Guru Dutt after his passing doesn't even mention his name. The cover has a black-and-white photo of Guru Dutt's half-shaded, pensive face looking into the camera. The text, inspired by Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, reads 'Khuda, Maut Aur Ghulam.' God, death and the slave. 'The interviews [for the proposed biopic] revealed that people thought of Guru Dutt very highly when he was alive, but they also recognised his self-destructive streak,' Shivendra Singh Dungarpur told Scroll. 'His peers – Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, K Asif – had great regard for his work. Guru Dutt was the only outside director who was permitted to shoot Kaagaz Ke Phool at Mehboob's studio.' Although Guru Dutt was frequently described as aloof and focused on his work, he appears to have taken his revenge on Baburao Patel in Kaagaz Ke Phool. Guru Dutt's most autobiographical film is about the tragedy of Suresh Sinha, a successful director undone by self-doubt, a bad marriage, and an extra-marital affair with his new discovery, Shanti (Waheeda Rehman). Suresh's wealthy in-laws look down on his profession and scheme to keep their daughter Veena away from him. Suresh's marital family comprises a bunch of grotesque characters. In one scene, Veena's parents, played by Mahesh Kaul and Pratima Devi, are in their living room surrounded by dogs – a staging that is almost identical to a photograph of the Patel couple that hung in their house in Mumbai, Dungarpur pointed out. 'Guru Dutt was obsessed with the artist Vincent Van Gogh, but he was pre-occupied with himself too,' Dungarpur said. 'I don't think the scene in Kaagaz Ke Phool was an act of revenge as such. Guru Dutt was always taking ideas from real life and giving them an autobiographical touch.' In an essay Classics and Cash, which is reproduced in Kabir's book, Guru Dutt writes about the eternal battle between creativity and commerce. 'Since centuries, the creators of classics have had to pay the price for rising above the rut of prevailing mediocrity and for their daring isolation from the hoi polloi,' Guru Dutt observes. A filmmaker who dares to experiment has to be prepared for an unpredictable outcome, which 'gives edge to the thrill of movie-making', he adds. Although Guru Dutt lost the battle in 1964, he won the war, evident in the continuing interest in and interpretations of his exquisite and haunting films.
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Remembering Guru Dutt's connect with Madras on his centenary
Today, July 9, 2025, is when Guru Dutt, had he lived wisely and well, would have completed a hundred. And I could not let pass this opportunity to connect my favourite filmmaker with my favourite city. Much of what I write in this article is sourced from Nasreen Munni Kabir's Guru Dutt, a Life in Cinema (OUP, 1996). Though born in Bangalore and a Saraswat by community, it was Calcutta that Guru Dutt most closely associated with. It featured in many of his films, as also did Bombay where he spent much of his working life. But very interestingly, one film alone had a strong Madras connect in terms of its location, though in the movie this is not spelt out explicitly. It is today considered Guru Dutt's finest film – Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959), which was also the greatest commercial failure among his creations. In fact it so hurt him that he never directed another film, believing he brought bad luck. He produced films thereafter and in some such as Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam his touches are very evident, but the credit was always given to others. Kaagaz Ke Phool (Paper Flowers) deals with the rise and fall of a celebrated film director and is set in the glory days of cinema studios. Much of its backdrop, though not all, is provided by Vauhini Studios, Madras, though strangely, its name does not feature in the casting credits. The very opening sequence, where an aged Sinha Sahab, the director, totters into the gates, is shot at the studio. And so are many other scenes, where you can see studio floors, cranes, arc lights, sheds, and a long driveway where props, scenery and often equipment are being transported. It shows us what was always referred to as Vijaya Studios, as it was in its heyday. The final scenes of Kaagaz Ke Phool too show the studios at their best and as the principal character rushes out of the gates, we get a fleeting glimpse of Vadapalani in the 1950s – not a soul anywhere and just coconut trees. Incidentally, the most iconic scene of Kaagaz Ke Phool – the song Waqt Ne Kiya, with dust particles caught in rays of light even as Geeta Dutt's (Mrs Guru Dutt in real life) voice sings in the background, was not shot here. That record goes to Modern Studios, Bombay. For the record, Vauhini Studios was the facility of Vijaya Productions. Though they began separately, they were tightly intertwined by the late 1940s. The films that were produced by the Nagi Reddy-Chakrapani controlled units were always known as Vijaya Vauhini creations, and the vast precinct went by the name of Vijaya Gardens. This was also the home of that very popular children's magazine – Chandamama, in all its languages. A few decades later, Vijaya-Vauhini would become South Asia's largest film production facility. And then, hit by changing trends in cinema, it faded, leaving behind real estate that became hospital, hotel, and much else. Guru Dutt would have relished that, for he focused on dark themes. The absence of Vauhini in the casting credits, and the name Central Studios, Bombay had me puzzled. And that had me rushing to young Shiva Reddy Chirla, who immediately asked his granduncle Viswanatha Reddy, whose father B Nagi Reddy owned Vijaya Vauhini. Confirmation was immediate. And I had one more confirmation – in his unique introduction to the cast and crew of Bommai (1964), the brilliant veena maestro and filmmaker S Balachander shows us a shot of Vijaya Vauhini and it is identical to what Guru Dutt depicts!
