A genius maverick called Guru Dutt who was way ahead of his times

Guru Dutt, the man who dominated the black-and-white era of movies in Bollywood with his exceptional approach to movie-making was born on July 9. The actor, producer, writer, director, and choreographer died too young at 39 and his death was one of the biggest setbacks as more and much better could have come out from him if he had lived longer.

Even in a small career span of around 18 years, Guru Dutt came up with such a high-quality body of work that it is regarded as the best in Bollywood and is a part of the syllabus for students studying movie-making.

His name was changed in childhood

Guru Dutt was born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone. But his name was changed in his childhood following an accident and since then he came to be known as Guru Dutt Padukone. While he was born in Padukone, Karnataka to a Brahmin family, his parents relocated which is why his growing-up years were spent in Kolkata. Many other film personalities who later followed him into film industry like Shyam Benegal, Kalpana Lajmi, and Amrita Rao are related to him directly or indirectly.

Guru Dutt started off as a choreographer first

Guru had a flair for dancing and studied the art at Uday Shankar’s School of Dancing and Choreography in Almora. After doing various jobs, he got a contract with the Prabhat Film Company where he met two of his lifelong friends and actors- Dev Anand and Rehman. His career went through quite a hiccup during his stay with Prabhat, even after the contract was renewed. It was his friend Dev Anand who offered Guru Dutt a job in his film production company Navketan after Prabhat came into losses.

Dutt made his debut as a director with Dev Anand ’s Baazi which also starred Geeta Bali as the female lead. And Bollywood got its genius director who went on to produce, direct and write some of the biggest all-time hits like Aar Paar, Mr & Mrs. 55, CID, Pyaasa, and Sailaab. However, when his Kaagaz Ke Phool flopped badly he lost confidence in his directorial capabilities and since then only produced movies under his production.

Guru Dutt was a genius, a rebellion

Be it innovative techniques, good music, introducing a new talent, or adding realism to the cinema when other makers were relying on escapist entertainment, Guru Dutt was a rebel and way ahead of his times. He never made movies so that they became a hit or twisted the endings or storylines so that they ended like happily ever after.

Guru Dutt was not afraid to make movies that showed real feelings and ended sadly even if it meant being away from the regular norms of filmmaking that Bollywood continues to follow even today.

Interestingly, even in today’s era of modern cinema when everyone is talking about woman empowerment but more business is exploited through glamour of actresses, Guru Dutt gave some very powerful woman characters to Indian cinema. Some of the most iconic women characters created by Guru Dutt include Geetabali as a sexy vamp in Baazi, Waheeda Rehman as a prostitute in Pyaasa, Madhubala as a rich heiress in Mr and Mrs 55, and Meena Kumari as an alcoholic Choti Bahu in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam