'Mr & Mrs 55 was breezy, romantic and so Hollywood.'
Guru Dutt left us too soon, at the age of 39.
Author and producer Nasreen Munni Kabir directed a 46-part series Movie Mahal, In Search of Guru Dutt, discusses Guru Dutt's films and the songs with Subhash K Jha.
Nasreen, Guru Dutt would have been 100 on July 9.
Sadly he left us long back.
Even more sadly, his reputation hinges mainly on the great trilogy.
Yes, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. That's because people in those days loved tragedies.
I personally feel Mr & Mrs 55 was better than all three. I would like to make it clear that Mr & Mrs 55 is my personal favourite from all the Guru Dutt films, and I don't mean to undermine the other Guru Dutt classics.
Why do you say that?
Mr & Mrs 55 was breezy, romantic and so Hollywood. It was Guru Dutt's most Hollywood film.
And his chemistry with... Madhubala?
No, Johnny Walker. They made the best buddy-pair on screen. Guru Dutt insisted on having Johnny Walker in his films.
Mostly as comic relief, though personally I don't think Johnny Walker fitted in well in Kaagaz Ke Phool.
He didn't. In fact to be honest, I feel Kaagaz Ke Phool is scripturally problematic. What lifted it were the songs, and the lighting and V K Murthy's camerawork.
His core team contributed massively to Guru Dutt's cinema.
While the songs in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam carry Guru Dutt's stamp through and through, the talkies portions have Abrar Alvi's stamp.
Abrar Alvi claimed to have ghost directed Pyaasa.
Yes, he did say that he once walked into the set of Pyaasa and took over.
Do you think Guru Dutt would allow anyone on the set while shooting?
It is so irresponsible to make these claims which no one could verify.
Why can't Abrar Alvi be happy with what he actually did in Guru Dutt's cinema?
If you had to choose the one song as your favourite from Guru Dutt's repertoire, which would it be?
Yeh Raat Yeh Chandni Phir Kahan and its companion piece Chandni Raaten Pyaar Ki Baaten from Jaal. The way the two merged into one another seamlessly ...
I don't know how Guru Dutt and Sachin Dev Burman achieved it.
This is the first audio-memory song in our cinema.
Look at the song Udhar Tum Hasin Ho from Mr & Mrs 55 and Na Jao Saiiyan Chhuda Ke Baiyan from Sahib Bibi Sur Ghulam....they revolve around a car and a bed, respectively.
Waheedaji thinks Guru Dutt was miscast as Bhoothnath in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam.
I disagree. He was the perfect Bhootnath, a ghostly figure who was allowed entry into the inner chambers of a feudal household where the women stayed.
I would say Waheedaji's track with Guru Dutt in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was a...
Distraction?
Yes, a sort of distraction. Do you know the song Bhanwara Bada Nadaan Hai was re-shot when Guru Dutt was not happy with the way it was shot the first time?
Where would you place him in Hindi cinema?
At a place where sadly, today's audience cannot reach him. Just look at Pyaasa. Waheedaji's character Gulabo is so relevant even today.
The protagonist Vijay is written off as dead and buried by his family.
But Gulabo, who has nothing to gain from it, takes it upon herself to publish Vijay's poems posthumously.
I think we need that kind of selflessness more than ever.
