I had the enormous pleasure of seeing Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (The Thirsty One, 1957) on the big screen in Mumbai last week
A poster of the film Pyaasa
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I had the enormous pleasure of seeing Guru Dutt's Pyaasa (The Thirsty One, 1957) on the big screen in Mumbai last week. Not only is this film a great classic, but also a popular, beloved one. Pyaasa has been in Time magazine's All Time 100 Best Movies, and in Sight & Sound's Critics' and Curators' worldwide poll in 2016. What's more, I saw it at a regular theatre, Cinepolis (formerly Fun Republic), a DCP of a gloriously restored black and white version by Ultra Media. The best part: while there were people of my generation, the hall was full of young people in their 20s and 30s, and people kept clapping now and then. Youngsters clapping for Pyaasa in 2017? It was extraordinary.
Director-producer Guru Dutt exquisitely blends mainstream song and dance in an arthouse film that questions how our society values art and poetry. And, can you even imagine any other top director-producer, like Mani Ratnam, Rajkumar Hirani or Sanjay Leela Bhansali, dancing in his own film? But, Guru Dutt swung his hips in the waltzy Hum Aap Ki Ankhon Mein: he's a bit stiff, like a penguin on its first date, but with those swoony clouds and magical stairway to the moon, we don't care.
Briefly, for those who haven't seen it: Pyaasa is about an impoverished poet Vijay ("victory") who struggles to get published; his brothers kick him out of the house; publishers, too. The only ones who care about him and his poetry are Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), a prostitute, who later gets his poems published, and a tel maalishwala (Johnny Walker), both people from the margins. Vijay meets his ex, Meena (Mala Sinha), who had abandoned him to marry a rich publisher (Rehman). Rehman gives Vijay a menial job to taunt his wife. Later, when Vijay lends his coat to a beggar who is run over by a train, people assume Vijay is dead. When the real Vijay insists he is Vijay the poet, he is sent to a lunatic asylum, from where he escapes to attend his own memorial, where those who had scorned him, now pay him glorious tributes. Disillusioned by a world that values wealth more than decency, honesty and art, he leaves with Gulabo for a future which is uncertain, but probably happier. Guru Dutt values the prostitute as the only true artistic connoisseur.
The film is elevated by memorable performances by Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha and the entire cast, with superb dialogues by Abrar Alvi, and glorious, landmark photography by VK Murthy. Above all, it has haunting songs with lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi and music by SD Burman, including Jaane Kya Tune Kahi, Jaane Woh Kaise Log The, Sar Jo Tera Chakraye, and that eternal anthem, "Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye (What if you win this world?)."
The screening had been organised by 1018mb, which programmes films according to public demand. If enough people want to see a film they can secure or have in their catalogue, they will screen it. PVR Vkaao also has screenings by public demand. Here's what a millennial (or thereabouts) thinks of Pyaasa. Rhea Chakraborty, just 24, a beautiful actress who acted in Mohit Suri's Half Girlfriend, said: "Pyaasa restored my faith in what is possible in our cinema.
If this is what Guru Dutt could do 50 years ago, why did we go downhill from there? Guru Dutt's character says big, meaningful things straight up, yet he doesn't sound preachy. He showed me I can be how I want to be; I should take matters in my own hands - write good scripts or find good directors. Actually, I was quite depressed that day, but after seeing Pyaasa, I have a renewed faith and hope in my work, in film, even in this country!" Guru Dutt! Thou shouldst be living at this hour.
Meenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival, award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshishedde@gmail.com.
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