Like many avid cinegoers, I too have a long list of classic/cult
classics/all time great movies that I have heard people rave about but never
gotten to actually watch them (or in many cases, couldn’t complete them). Mother
India, Mackena’s Gold, Mughal-e-Azaam, Good Fellas, Raging Bull, Salaam
Bombay, China Town, Dombrivali Fast,
Bicycle Thieves, a lot of Hitchcock’s classics, Roja, Mirch Masala, No country for old men, Awaara, Amelie, Ardh Satya, My left foot,
Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Apocolyspe Now,...... and the list goes
on.... Until recently this list also included the likes of Star Wars series, Pyscho, Life is beautiful, There will
be blood, The lady vanishes, Godfather 2 and some others that I fail to
recall right now. I would say it’s been a great “movie classics catching up”
year. I partly owe this catching up to the fast food junk-esque cinema that has
been served by two of my regular movie eating joints: Hollywood and its Hindi
speaking Indian cousin, who shall remain nameless here. Primarily because I
want the readers of this blog post to gather around at cocktail parties, all
dolled up in suits and dresses, drinks in hand to speculate about the identity
of this mysterious and unheard of cinema! (Audience: LAUGHTER)
Two important additions to the list of classics that I added
to my movie watching history this year came from the same film maker. And to
that film maker, may his soul rest in peace, I write this ode. One of the several
that exist. One of the several that shall follow. The late Guru Dutt.
As I typed his name, the song from his movie starts playing in
my head.’ Dekhi zamaane ki
yaari....bichde sabhi....baari.....baari....’. Two of the greatest movie
watching experiences that I had this year was from watching Pyaasa and Kaagaz ke Phool. It was long due. I had been told by my aunts,
uncles, and friends, how truly fantastic Guru Dutt movies are and fortunately
like most things in life, this wasn’t hyped! I was awed. Not just by the emotional
quotient of the two movies which led me to tears, but by the brilliant camera
angles/placements, the music, Mohammad Rafi and Hemant Kumar’s soothing voices,
the dialogues, the performances, Waheeda Rehman’s beauty, the stories, the
direction and most of all the underlying message of the two movies.
While Kagaaz ke Phool
had its weak moments, Pyaasa was
simply flawless! I was engrossed in every scene of the movie. I can’t rave
enough about the songs-‘Jinhe naaz hai
Hind par’, ‘Jaane kya tune kahi,’
Jaane woh kaise’ (which I can’t stop
humming and is now one of my favourites). Not only did all the songs have
beautiful music, brilliant vocals, touching and thoughtful lyrics but were also
so brilliantly picturized. I only realized while watching ‘Hum aapke aankhon me’ that part of the picturisation of the song ‘Zooby Dooby’ from the movie, ‘3 Idiots’ is inspired from here.
While it’s tempting to go on and on about how both these
movies are rightly termed classics and how truly saddening the twilight years
of Guru Dutt’s life were, I labour on to keep on to the
true inspiration of writing this blog post. While enough people raved about all
aspects of Guru Dutt movies, I was dazed that nobody ever told me what a truly
fantastic actor he was! You know those people who command your attention when
they walk into a room? Well Guru Dutt is that to a movie frame! You cannot take
your eyes off. Not only was he incredibly handsome, he was a great performer
with excellent dialogue delivery, style and tone. Guru Dutt will steal
attention from co-actors even when they are ranting off and he’s quietly standing.
I can’t remember the last actor I saw
who had such immense screen presence.
I would like to take
a moment here to potentially re-define the term ‘screen presence’. I have heard
a lot of movie critics’ associate this term with actors like Salman, SRK,
Ranbir, Akshay etc. While I don’t intend to deny the screen presence of these
actors, in my definition the purest form of screen presence is one where the
actor has no cinematic props in the form of chest thumping dialogues, deafening
background score, camera close up, etc but still manages to grab your
attention. A true screen presence is one that commands your attention, not demands
it. It’s easy to grab eyeballs when you have heroic dialogues to mouth with
four item songs, bikini clad women around you and umpteen Madras cut action
scenes in the movie. Guru Dutt had none of those but yet had your attention!
The closest parallel that I can draw to him today is Irrfan Khan. Have you ever
wondered to yourself why he’s considered such a fine actor? Some of his most
prominent movies, Paan Singh Tomar,
Haasil, Namesake, Life in a Metro and Life
of Pi had him play some of the most commonplace characters. Can you mouth
any of his popular dialogues? Can you dance in his signature step? Can you
imitate him? (Apart from the signature “A
bhaiya.....”) Yet he’s usually the most memorable person in almost all the
movies that he stars in! He’s the kind of person who just creeps up into your
sub-conscious. Guru Dutt is all that and a tad more. While I still admire the
Amitabhs, Aamirs, Ranbirs and Hrithiks out there, I urge you to spare a thought
(in terms of actual movie watching) for the Sanjeevs, Irrfans, Gurus,
Iftekaars, Abhays, Daniels of the world!
But I digress. If nobody has ever told you yet, let me be
the first one. Guru Dutt was one of the finest actors of the Indian film
industry! And I say this after having watched only two of his movies (next in tow
is Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam). And if you
don’t believe me, believe CNN! To sum up, I say watch
Guru Dutt movies not just for the movies but for the man himself! RIP Guru.
