Guru Dutt presented the filming of songs as an art, in which the songs melodiously carried the story forward.
It is morning and there is silence in the studio. Like every day, film director Suresh Sinha comes to spend time in the empty studio an hour before the shooting. Like the studio, his life too looks luxurious but empty. His film’s heroine Shanti is sitting behind him knitting a sweater. Shanti knows that Suresh is married but a new relationship is forming between them. Both are alone in the crowd and understand each other easily. They start talking to each other. But the real thing still remains unsaid. But when the director is Guru Dutt, then even those unspoken things find words and Kaifi Azmi’s lyrics start flowing on the screen like a river. Like the characters, this song is also bound by the limits of decorum. When a film is made from Guru Dutt’s imagination, the result is no less than magic.
Ever since talking films started, there has been a flood of songs in films. As soon as the producers realized that films could run on the basis of songs, many times songs started being inserted. At that time, songs were often used to provide breaks in the story. At that time, actors and actresses were adept at singing, so the entire focus was on singing. But Raj Kapoor and then Guru Dutt and then Vijay Anand blended the songs with the script and changed the approach of filming songs. Guru Dutt also had another advantage.
Between 1941 and 1944, Guru Dutt worked with the great dancer Uday Shankar, where he received training in dance and choreography. Later, when he started working in Prabhat Film Company, he worked there also as a co-director and choreographer. It was from here that Guru Dutt got associated with film songs. Such a unique confluence of dance and direction was created in him, which had never been seen before in Hindi cinema. People could see a glimpse of this confluence in his first film Baaghi (1951). In the film, Dev Anand is leaving a club due to the fear of losing a gambling bet. In the same club, Geeta Bali, playing the guitar, sings in an attempt to stop him from playing another game, ‘Tadbeer se badi hui deedir bana le, apne pe bharosa hai to ek daav laga le’. In this, the audience does not even know where the dialogue ends and where the song begins. In Guru Dutt’s films, songs became visual and experience rather than just a means of listening. This experience had nothing to do with grandeur. But these were completely different in appearance.
Shantaram’s songs were also grand and dramatic. But those songs needed a bigger canvas. But the background of Guru Dutt’s songs was related to the everyday life of the common man. It could have been a car garage (‘Sun Sun Sun Sun Jalima’, Aar Paar, 1954), the footpath of Bombay (‘Dil Par Hua Aisa Jadoo’, Mr and Mrs 55, 1955) or a moving vehicle (‘Yeh Lo Main Hari Piya’, Aar Paar, 1954) or even a Nawab’s mansion (‘Badle-Badle Mere Sarkar’, Chaudhvin Ka Chand, 1960) also. Guru Dutt’s imprint was indelible in every song.
But many celebrities had contributed in making these songs memorable. First come the lyricists, some of whom are Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Kaifi Azmi and Shakeel Badayuni. The songs written by him worked to take the story forward and were given O. Musicians like P. Nayyar, Sachin Dev Burman, Hemant Kumar and Ravi composed the best tunes. But his companion and cinematographer V.K. played a major role in bringing these songs to life. By Murthy. The credit goes to Murthy for making Guru Dutt’s vision come true on screen. Taking full advantage of black and white cinematography, Murthy performed some tricks with chiaroscuro lighting techniques and camera movements that left people in awe. Be it ‘Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam’ from Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) or ‘Saqiya Aaj Mujhe Sleep Nahi Aayegi’ from Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam (1962). These songs seem to play eye-to-eye with the light on the screen and the shadows of the characters. In fact, the lighting of these songs also serves to reflect the state of mind of both the story and the characters.
Guru Dutt never gave his name as a director after Kaagaz Ka Phool failed to work. But his co-director and screenwriter Abrar Alvi had written in one of his books that the songs of Chaudhavin Ka Chand and Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam were filmed by Guru Dutt. It is the wonder of Guru Dutt that in the song titled Chaudhavin Ka Chand, the romance of the new couple on the bed has been filmed in a unique way. Whereas in Saheb Biwi Aur Ghulam’s ‘Na Jao Saiya’, the same bed becomes a symbol of love’s request. In Mr. and Mrs. 55, even in the crowded streets of Bombay, they share the experience of their new love with a friend, saying ‘such a magic has happened on the heart’. Whereas in Pyaasa (1957) he sows the seeds of a new love story by saying ‘Baat kuch ban hi gayi’ in a deserted street of Calcutta. In this song of Pyaasa, it seems that Gulabo is pulling Vijay with an invisible thread and taking him towards her room. She tries to drown Vijay in her intoxication by turning back again and again. She considers him a customer and does not know that Vijay is the same poet whose poems are in her hands. In the end something turns out to be the case. In an interview, Mala Sinha had said that Guru Dutt’s contribution in making songs was very important.
Perhaps Guru Dutt was the first Hindi actor in the country who took proper training in dance. That’s why he was able to do light dance steps in films like Aar Paar and Mr. and Mrs. 55 with ease. He himself was the choreographer of these songs. Being adept at dancing, he had a good sense of rhythm which was reflected in the songs, characters and camera movements. If he had allowed the song of his life to continue for a few more years, perhaps the story of Hindi cinema would have been different. But today only the echoes of those songs are left, which Guru Dutt created with his skill.
