Guru Dutt-Matinee Idol

Image via Wikipedia

Guru Dutt or Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone,born on 9th July 1925 was a Bollywood actor,director and producer.His films like Pyaasa and Kagaz Ke Phool need a special mention as they are considered as one of the best all time movies,the title has been accredited to these films by the Time magazine itself.guru Dutt too,is counted among the greatest film directors of all time and is referred to as India's Orson Welles.

Guru Dutt's father was Shivshankar Rao Padukone and mother- Vasanthi Padukone.They were originally settled at Panambur in present Karnataka.Guru Dutt had a tough time as a child with many financial difficulties in the family.He had witnessed a lot of bad experiences.He faced a lot of animosity from his maternal uncle and his family,a scary confrontation with his psychotic maternal adopted uncle and suffered the trauma of the death of his seven month old brother. Earlier named Vasanth Kumar,he was renamed as Guru Dutt after a childhood accident since the family thought it would be more auspicious for him.His family grew as he welcomed the arrival of his siblings,Atmaram,Devidas and Vijay( younger brothers) and a younger sister Lalitha.

Guru Dutt moved to Bhawanipore in Calcutta(now Kolkata) since his father got a job there as an administrative clerk at the Burmah Shell.He completed his schooling in Bengal and as a result could speak Bengali fluently.He cut short his name as simply Guru Dutt when he moved to Bombay(now Mumbai) and a lot of people,because of his surname thought he was a Bengali.

Guru Dutt's uncle got him a three year contract with the Prabhat Film Company in Poona(now Pune) in the year 1944.He met his two best friends there,Dev Anand and Rehman.The actor pitched in to do small roles like Sri Krishna in Chand,he also worked as an assistant director to Vishram Bedekar in Lakhrani and assisted and choreographed dances for the film Hum Ek Hain, directed by P.L.Santoshi.The contract ended but his mother got him a job as a freelance assistant to Baburao Pai(CEO of Prabhat Film Company and Studio).After that,Guru Dutt remained unemployed for almost ten months.It is during this time where he penned the story of "Pyasa" (an autobiography) which was earlier named as "Kashmakash" and worked simultaneously as a short story writer for The Illustrated Weekly of India

Guru Dutt's first movie as a director was offered to him by Dev Anand who by then had become a big star.Dev Anand asked Guru to direct a film under the former production banner Navketan.It is when the film Baazi(1951) was released.

His other films include Chaudhvi Ka Chand(1960),12 O'Clock(1958),Mr. & Mrs. 55(1955),Aar Paar (1954),Suhagan(1954),Baaz(

1953),Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam(1962),Baharein Phir Aeyengi(1966)

He died on 10th October 1964 when he found breathless in his bed in the rented apartment at Peddar Road,Mumbai.The reason was stated as mixing of alcohol and sleeping pills.