Guru Dutt gave a new dimension to film making by using music to express melancholy

Even six decades after his death, his classics remain relevant for the film lovers

- BY TIRTHANKAR MITRA

Talk of organising a retrospective of films of Guru Dutt, it will be welcomed. The audience would be all ears, at a proposal to make a show of films of Guru Dutt. And there is good reason for it as here was a man who turned melancholia into art.

He turned his camera to the painful realities of life. His music showed how the pathos, the struggles and the failures can be turned into a fusion of melody long remembered after the audience leave the halls. Guru Dutt who was born in 1925, completes his 100th year on July 9, 2025. He had a short life passing away in 1964 at the age of 39.

The thespian did not mind portraying in his films dark forces visiting India a decade after Independence. He was deeply aware of the travails of the young nation and the desires and aspirations of its people. But he had his own style of telling stories which was distinct compared to the other directors of that period like Raj Kapoor. Dutt had the uncanny ability to weave a story through the pains and agony of the characters.

Guru Dutt chose to look beyond euphoria. The storylines of his films widely varied travelling a long way from slick one like Baazi, frothy comedy like Mr and Mrs 55 and of course some of most gentle tales on celluloid about feudal decadence as in Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam .The two classics on screen about unrequited love and failure in the backdrop of melancholia - Pyasa and Kagaz ke Phul, stand apart.

Not quite at peace with himself even in his hours of joy and success, film making became s refuge to Dutt’s wandering soul. ‘An introvert, he chose to express his emotions through his works. He played all the roles in a few films produced by him-hero, director, story writer as also music director. He chose his team from odd circles and made them the best one in 1950s and early 60s.