'Guru Dutt Was Very Down To Earth'

'I always considered him as a director, never an actor. Do you know he always considered other actors for his films first?'
'For Pyaasa, he wanted to cast Dilip saab; only when Dilip saab refused did Guru Duttji decide to do the role himself.'

Celebrating Guru Dutt's birth centenary on July 9 with this must-read excerpt from the book, Kagaz Ke Phool and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam: The Original Screenplay by Dinesh Raheja and J Kothari.

"If you talk about me today, it's because of these films," says renowned actress Waheeda Rehman about the five films produced by Guru Dutt, CID, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Chaudhvin Ka Chand and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam.

Here, Waheeda looks back at her eight year-long association with Guru Dutt, and says, "I felt Guru Duttji was miscast in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam; he looked older than the role. Shashi Kapoor had an innocent face; he would have looked young and vulnerable."

In a scene from Kaagaz Ke Phool, a film director played by Guru Dutt auditions you, and a panel of studio executives assess your character's screen potential. Did you have to undergo a similar audition?

No. They shot my photographs from various angles but I wasn't asked to mouth lines. They selected me instantly thereafter. However, there was a five month wait before the screen test.

Guru Duttji is my mentor as far as Hindi cinema is concerned, but my first film appearance was in a dance number in the Telugu film, Rojulu Maraayi.

I was in Hyderabad and Guru Duttji arranged for a meeting with my mother and me.

Guru Duttji hardly said a word. Four-five months later, Guru Duttji's office contacted us and asked us to travel to Bombay for a screen test.

Guru Duttji took some photographs and signed me on a contract for three years.

During your association with Guru Dutt, you saw him in the role of a director as well as an actor. Do you think Guru Dutt made a better filmmaker or actor?

I always considered him as a director, never an actor. Do you know he always considered other actors for his films first?

For Pyaasa, he wanted to cast Dilip saab; only when Dilip saab refused did Guru Duttji decide to do the role himself.

For Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Guru Duttji wanted to cast Shashi Kapoor in the role of Bhootnath.

However, Guruji wanted bulk dates from Shashiji because he had already built a huge set and had acquired Meena Kumari's dates.

Shashiji couldn't spare the required dates even though he was still a newcomer.

Guruji spoke to Biswajeet too.

Eventually, the titular Ghulam was essayed by Guru Dutt, and he seemed apt for it.

No, I did not think so. I felt Guru Duttji was miscast in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam; he looked older than the role.

Shashi Kapoor had an innocent face; he would have looked young and vulnerable.

He was appropriate to portray the naïve Bhootnath, who is fascinated by the Bibi, played by Meena Kumari.

As an actor, what was it like to be directed by Guru Dutt?

Guru Duttji was a very understanding director. He would explain the scene and then leave it to the artiste.

He would laugh and caution: 'Don't copy me, I performed like a man would.'

Raj Khosla, with whom I worked in CID (1956), was a very good director, but he was not very understanding of a newcomer's mindset.

While shooting a close-up, I would be asked to remain still and just move a flicker; and as a result I would grow very stiff.

Guru Duttji explained to me the degree of movement required in the shot.

Fortunately, I preferred to underplay; and Guru Duttji too never believed in excess.

You achieved stardom thanks to the success of Pyaasa (1957). Was it a challenge thereafter to play a naïve ingénue in Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)?

I never felt or behaved like a star. In my personal life, I would wear a salwar kameez and sport two plaits.

My director, Guru Dutt, was very down to earth too, Mala Sinha, my co-star in Pyaasa, pushed me to take care of my looks, makeup, hair and costume; and not leave these details entirely to the director.

She was very sweet.

Was Guru Dutt sensitive to an artiste's state of mind?

My mother, whom I was very close to, died around two months before we began shooting for Kaagaz Ke Phool.

One day, I had to shoot the scene in which Naaz, who played Guru Dutt's onscreen daughter, asks me to step out of her father's life.

I had to respond with 'Duniya main na mera koi rishtedaar hai na dost-saheli.'

Each time I would say these lines, I would burst into tears.

Naaz, who was a star in her own right by then, was irritated.

Guru Duttji announced 'pack up'. I felt guilty that shooting was being cancelled to accommodate me, and protested, but Guru Duttji wouldn't heed me.

What was your reaction when you saw how cinematographer V K Murthy had lit you in the song Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam?

V K Murthy was the hero of Kaagaz Ke Phool, Guru Duttji came second.

It was incredible how Murthy created the famous beam of light in Waqt Ne Kiya Kya by placing a mirror on the skylight of the set.

Guru Duttji and Murthy were great collaborators but would fight very often.

Guru Duttji would demand impatiently, 'Murthy, yaar, jaldi karo.'

In Kaagaz Ke Phool, Guru Dutt is shown to be devastated after the public violently rejects his film.

We came to know at the premiere that the film had not been accepted.

Now when I attend cinema-related events in India or abroad (I went to Japan some years back), people cannot stop praising Guru Dutt and Kaagaz Ke Phool.

It is a long-held belief that the failure of Kaagaz Ke Phool led to Guru Dutt producing the commercial musical, Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960).

No, this is totally untrue.

Chaudhvin Ka Chand had already been planned before Kaagaz Ke Phool failed.

Despite its success, why did Guru Dutt reshoot the song Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho in colour, and add it to the film much after its release?

Somebody suggested that we should reshoot the popular title song in colour to give a boost to the collections. We had to show the film to the censors all over again.

After viewing the song, they exclaimed, 'Oh, my God! Look at Waheeda's eyes, they are so red, they look sensual!'

Guru Duttji patiently explained to them that shooting in colour required harsh lights, and this resulted in the eyes looked red despite the application of Chamomile tea and ice.

Finally, the censors came around. If the Censor Board of that time were to see today's films, they would have a heart attack.

• Part 2 of the Interview: Guru Dutt To Waheeda: 'You Don't Look Like A Woman...'

Kind Courtesy: Kagaz Ke Phool and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam: The Original Screenplay by Dinesh Raheja and J Kothari. Published by Om Books International in association with Vinod Chopra Films