Page 22 - SeniorsToday May20
P. 22
Cover Story
Pyaasa
& More
Seniors Today film chronicler Deepa Gahlot picks her
Top 10 Guru Dutt films
1 Baazi (1951):
Movie lore has it that when Dev Anand and
Guru Dutt worked in Hum Ek Hain (1946),
they became good friends and promised
each other that whoever made a film first
would give a break to the other. Dev Anand
set up his production company, Navketan,
and signed Guru Dutt to direct Baazi, in
which he played a gambler; Geeta Bali and
Kalpana Kartik were the leading ladies, SD
Burman composed the hit music. The film,
written by Balraj Sahni, established Guru
Dutt as a director who could tell a story
well using mainstream conventions but not
pandering to popular tastes or trends.
2 Jaal (1952):
When Guru Dutt was offered to direct a
movie by Film Arts, he cast Dev Anand
in the role of a man who brings a touch of
evil into a happy fishing village and breaks
the heart of Maria (Geeta Bali). The film,
written by him, was unusual for the time,
but had a superb song (SD Burman again)
picturisation, which came be a hallmark of
his films.
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