GURU DUTT PROFILE:
Original Name: Guru Dutt Shiv Shankar Padukone
Commonly Known Name: Guru Dutt
Born: July 9, 1925
Born: Oct 10, 1964
Nationality: Indian
Birth Place: Bangalore , karnataka , India
Religion: Hindu
Hair Color: Black
Marital Status: Separated
FAMILY:
Father: Shivshanker Padukone
Mother: Vasanthi
Brother(s) : Atmaram
Sister(s) : Lalita
Ex-Spouse : Geeta Dutt
Son(s) : Arun, Tarun
Daughter: Nina
Occupation: Bollywood Actor / Director
Hobbies: Hunting
Languages Known: Hindi, English , Kannada ,Bengali
Education: Matriculation, Uday Shankar's dancing school at Almora
Debut Film: Baazi
Other facts: professional dancer
GURU DUTT ENTRY TO THE BOLLYWOOD FILM INDUSTRY:
Commonly Known Name: Guru Dutt
Born: July 9, 1925
Born: Oct 10, 1964
Nationality: Indian
Birth Place: Bangalore , karnataka , India
Religion: Hindu
Hair Color: Black
Marital Status: Separated
FAMILY:
Father: Shivshanker Padukone
Mother: Vasanthi
Brother(s) : Atmaram
Sister(s) : Lalita
Ex-Spouse : Geeta Dutt
Son(s) : Arun, Tarun
Daughter: Nina
Occupation: Bollywood Actor / Director
Hobbies: Hunting
Languages Known: Hindi, English , Kannada ,Bengali
Education: Matriculation, Uday Shankar's dancing school at Almora
Debut Film: Baazi
Other facts: professional dancer
GURU DUTT ENTRY TO THE BOLLYWOOD FILM INDUSTRY:
Guru Dutt was born on July 9, 1925 in Bangalore, Karnataka to a middle class Brahmin Saraswat family from Mangalore. His father Shivshanker Padukone worked as a school headmaster and then in a bank in Bangalore and his mother Vasanthi taught in a school, gave tuitions and also wrote short stories and translated Bengali novels into Kannada. Vasanthy was only 16 when Guru Dutt was born. He had a tough childhood with financial difficulties and the strained relationship between his parents worsened the situation. As a child he had bad experiences, the hostility from his mothers brothers family, a frightening encounter with an insane uncle and the death of his seven month old brother. Young Guru was maybe effected by it all which may explain his introverted nature, later reflected by the tortured characters in his films. He had two brothers and two sisters. One of his brothers Atmaram became a producer and director later in life and his sister Lalitha Lajmi a famous painter.
Guru Dutt's family moved to Calcutta and he had his basic education there. Financial constraints did not allow him to study further than matriculation which he completed in 1941. Guru was creative from a young age, was interested in photography, had a natural inclination for dancing & emoting and loved music especially Hindi and Bengali folk film music. Guru Dutt joined the 'Uday Shankar India Culture centre' in Almora on a five year scholarship with the help of his uncle B. B Benegal who was a pillar of support financially and was an artistic influence to the Padukone kids. In between Guru took up a job as a telephone operator in a mill for a short spell of time. Gradually Guru Dutt began to organize his own dance compositions.
After his dance training at Almora, he got a break in films as a dance director on a three-year contract at Prabhat films, Pune. Along with choreography he assisted directors and even acted in small roles for some films at Prabhat. In 1944, he acted in a small role as Sree Krishna in Chand, in 1945 he acted as well as assisted director Vishram Bedekar in 'Lakhrani' and in 1946 he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for the film Hum Ek Hain. Then in 1947 he assisted Director Anadinath Banerjee for the film Mohan produced by the Famous Pictures and Studios at Mumbai.Guru Dutt & Madhu Bala in Mr & Mrs 55. After his contract with Prabath was over, Guru Dutt returned to his family in Matunga. He was out of work for almost a year. During this time, GuruDutt who had a flair for writing in English used to write short stories and send them to Illustrated Weekly for publishing. It was then that he wrote his first draft of Pyaasa (Thirst) which was later to become one of his masterpieces. He then managed to get a job as assistant director to Amiya Chakravarthy, a leading director at the time in his film Girls School and in 1950 he assisted Gyan Muherjee in Bombay talkies film Sangram.
Finally in 1951 he was called to direct his friend Dev Anand's second production Baazi, a crime thriller based on a promise made when they worked together at Prabhat, that he would give a film produced by him to Guru for direction. Baazi was a huge success and was a trendsetter for several similar crime films that followed.
It was during the recording of the song Tadbeer se bigdi hui of 'Baazi' that Guru Dutt met the famous playback singer Gita Roy. There blossomed a romance between them which culminated in marriage on 26 May 1953 at Geeta’s mother’s home in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The couple had two sons Tarun and Arun and a daughter Nina. But by 1957, their marriage was on the rocks. They were not at par intellectually and Guru being a workaholic was not meant to have a family or to take the subsequent responsibilities. Dutt's alleged affair with his leading lady Waheeda Rehman also worsened matters.
Even though he had his share of success and failure in his work, his personal life was in a mess. By early 1964, he was separated from his wife and was living alone and had also started drowning himself in alcohol. On October 10, 1964 Hindi film world suffered a great loss.Guru Dutt at the young age of 39, succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills although doubts still linger as to whether his death was accidental. The prevailing magic of his films even now decades after his tragic end, testifies the skill of this genius who lived much ahead of his times.
After his dance training at Almora, he got a break in films as a dance director on a three-year contract at Prabhat films, Pune. Along with choreography he assisted directors and even acted in small roles for some films at Prabhat. In 1944, he acted in a small role as Sree Krishna in Chand, in 1945 he acted as well as assisted director Vishram Bedekar in 'Lakhrani' and in 1946 he worked as an assistant director and choreographed dances for the film Hum Ek Hain. Then in 1947 he assisted Director Anadinath Banerjee for the film Mohan produced by the Famous Pictures and Studios at Mumbai.Guru Dutt & Madhu Bala in Mr & Mrs 55. After his contract with Prabath was over, Guru Dutt returned to his family in Matunga. He was out of work for almost a year. During this time, GuruDutt who had a flair for writing in English used to write short stories and send them to Illustrated Weekly for publishing. It was then that he wrote his first draft of Pyaasa (Thirst) which was later to become one of his masterpieces. He then managed to get a job as assistant director to Amiya Chakravarthy, a leading director at the time in his film Girls School and in 1950 he assisted Gyan Muherjee in Bombay talkies film Sangram.
Finally in 1951 he was called to direct his friend Dev Anand's second production Baazi, a crime thriller based on a promise made when they worked together at Prabhat, that he would give a film produced by him to Guru for direction. Baazi was a huge success and was a trendsetter for several similar crime films that followed.
It was during the recording of the song Tadbeer se bigdi hui of 'Baazi' that Guru Dutt met the famous playback singer Gita Roy. There blossomed a romance between them which culminated in marriage on 26 May 1953 at Geeta’s mother’s home in Santa Cruz, Mumbai. The couple had two sons Tarun and Arun and a daughter Nina. But by 1957, their marriage was on the rocks. They were not at par intellectually and Guru being a workaholic was not meant to have a family or to take the subsequent responsibilities. Dutt's alleged affair with his leading lady Waheeda Rehman also worsened matters.
Even though he had his share of success and failure in his work, his personal life was in a mess. By early 1964, he was separated from his wife and was living alone and had also started drowning himself in alcohol. On October 10, 1964 Hindi film world suffered a great loss.Guru Dutt at the young age of 39, succumbed to an overdose of sleeping pills although doubts still linger as to whether his death was accidental. The prevailing magic of his films even now decades after his tragic end, testifies the skill of this genius who lived much ahead of his times.
GURU DUTT FILMOGRAPHY:
* Picnic (1964)
* Sanjh Aur Savera (1964)
* Suhagan (1964)
* Bahurani (1963)
* Bharosa (1963)
* Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962)
* Sautela Bhai (1962)
* Chaudhvin Ka Chand (1960)
* Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
* 12 O'Clock (1958)
* Pyaasa (1957)
* Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955)
* Aar Paar (1954)
* Suhagan (1954)
* Baazi (1951)
