Nasreen Munni Kabir, Who Has Directed A 46-Part Series Movie Mahal, Speaks On Guru Dutt News24 –

Nasreen, Guru Dutt would have been a 100 on July 9?

Sadly he left us long back.

Even more sadly, his reputation hinges mainly on the  great Trilogy?

Yes, Pyaasa, Kagaz Ke Phool, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. That’s because people in those days loved tragedies. I personally feel Mr & Mrs 55 was better than all three.

Why do you say that?

Mr & Mrs 55 was breezy, romantic  and so Hollywood. It was Guru Dutt’s most Hollywood film. And his  chemistry with…

Madhubala?

No Johnny Walker. They made the best buddy-pair on screen. Guru Dutt insisted on having Johnny Walker in his films .

Mostly as comic relief, though personally I don’t think Johnny Walker fitted in well in Kagaz Ke Phool?

He didn’t. In fact to be honest, I  feel  Kagaz Ke Phool is  scripturally  problematic. What lifted it were the songs,  and the lighting  and  V.K Murthy’s camerawork. His core team  contributed  massively to  Guru Dutt’s  cinema.  While the songs in  Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam carry Guru Dutt’s stamp through and through,the talkies portions have Abrar Alvi’s stamp.

Abrar Alvi claimed to have ghost directed Pyaasa?

Yes he did say that he once walked into the set of Pyaasa and took over. Do you think Guru Dutt would allow anyone on the set while shooting? It is so irresponsible to make these claims which no one could verify. Why can’t Abrar Alvi be happy with what he actually did in Guru Dutt’s cinema?

If you had to choose the one  song as your favourite from Guru Dutt’s repertoire which would it be?

Yeh raat yeh chandni phir  kahan and its companion piece Chandni raatein pyar ki baatein. The way the two merged into one  another seamlessly…I don’t know how Guru Dutt and Sachin Dev Burman achieved it. This is the first audio-memory song in our cinema. Look at the song Udhar tum haseen ho in Mr & Mrs 55 and Na jao Saiyan in Sahib Bibi Sur Ghulam….they revolve around a car and a bed, respectively.

Waheedaji thinks Guru Dutt was miscast as Bhoothnath in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam?

I disagree. He was the perfect Bhootnath, a ghostly figure who was allowed entry into the  inner chambers of a feudal household where the women stayed. I would say Waheedaji’s track with Guru Dutt in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was a…

Distraction?

Yes, a sort of distraction. Do you know the song Bhanwara bada nadaan hai was re-shot when Guru Dutt was not happy with the way it was shot the first time?

Where would you place him in Hindi cinema?

At a place where sadly, today’s audience cannot reach him. Just look at Pyaasa. Waheedaji’s character  Gulabo is so relevant even today. The protagonist Vijay is written off as dead and buried by his family.  But Gulabo who has nothing to  gain from it, takes it upon herself to publish Vijay’s poems  posthumously. I think we need that kind of selflessness more than ever.

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