All the Hindi film lovers, do remember the birthdays of Rekha and Amitabh Bachchan on the 10th and 11th October every year. But, not many are aware that 10th October is also death anniversary of a Bollywood legend called Guru Dutt. Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone was born on 9 July 1925 in Bangalore( Now, Bengaluru) and was later known as Guru Dutt, when he spent his childhood in Calcutta (Now,Kolkatta), became part of Hindi film industry.
He was a well known actor, producer and director, known for some of his classics like Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool , Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam and Chaudhvin Ka Chand. His two films , ‘Pyasa’ and ‘Kagaz Ke Phool’ are now included among the greatest films of all time, both by Time magazine’s “All-TIME” 100 best movies and by the Sight & Sound critics’ and directors’ poll, where Dutt himself is included among the greatest film directors of all time.His approach to film making was totally different. Guru Dutt always believed in perfection. His creativity can be noticed through films like ‘Pyasa’ and ‘Kagaz Ke Phool’.
After doing a job in Kolkatta, he soon joined his parents in Mumbai in 1944. His uncle found him a job under a three-year contract with the Prabhat Film Company in Pune , in 1944. This is how his film career began. There was a time, when he wrote short stories in English ,during his free time and they were published in a popular weekly. Guru Dutt played a small role as Sri Krishna in Chand in 1944. In 1945, he acted as well as played assistant director to Vishram Bedekar in Lakhrani, and in 1946 he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for P. L. Santoshi’s film, ‘Hum Ek Hain’.
After ‘Hum Ek Hain’ which was Dev Anand’s debut film, both became good friends and spent some time together in Prabhat film studios, Pune. Thus, Guru Dutt’s first film, Navketan’s ‘Baazi’ , was released in 1951 . This as followed by films like ‘Jaal’, ‘Aar Paar’ and so on. Rest was a history. But, the talented actor and film maker died during his sleep on 10 October 1964.He was only 39 then. But, his memorable work, is still appreciated by film lovers.