Guru Dutt's enduring cinema legacy

Journalist-writer Sathya Saran believes that Guru Dutt will become even more important to filmmakers who are trying to break away from the formula.

"I think there is a renewed interest in Guru Dutt. There are new kind of directors, who are looking at ways to break away from the formula and they are looking at blue prints. When you look at good cinema, Guru Dutt and Bimal Roy's films are obvious blue prints," said Saran, who wrote a book on Guru Dutt's long time friend and scriptwriter, Abrar Alvi.

Director Tigmanshu Dhulia recently paid a tribute to Guru Dutt's 'Sahib, Bibi Aur Ghulam' in 'Sahib, Bibi Aur Gangster', a modern retelling of the relationship between the man, woman and the servant.

Sudhir Mishra, the director behind cult hits like 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi', 'Dharavi' and 'Chameli', counts Guru Dutt a huge influence.

So does Anurag Kashyap, who had even planned to make a film on the filmmaker's troubled relationship with his wife Geeta Dutt and muse Waheeda Rehman.

Guru Dutt, real name Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone, was born on July 9, 1925 in a Konkani Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family in Karnataka.

He did not have a happy childhood as it was marked by financial difficulties, strained relationship between his parents and other problems, which would continue to haunt him throughout his life.

The director, who often played lead roles in his films besides directing and producing, is famous for his lyrical use of camera. He mastered the extraordinary interplay of light and shadow, which became his signature style.

Remembered most for his all-time classic 'Pyaasa', about a talented poet neglected by loved ones and society, Guru Dutt, by the end of his short but eventful career, stood as an icon.

'Pyaasa' was named by 'Time' magazine as one of the 100 best films of all time a few years ago.

Guru Dutt is often credited with ushering in the golden era of Hindi cinema with his classics.

His film 'Kaagaz Ke Phool', semi-autobiographical and about the doomed relationship between a director and actress, was a huge commercial failure at the time of its release.

The director, who had a devoted a lot of money and passion in the film, could never recover from its loss. He was so disappointed with its poor performance that he stopped directing films, fearing he was unlucky as a director.

The film became a cult after his death and it remains one of his finest works.

Though his style is very visible, the other films to come out from his production house were helmed by others.

The cinema legend, who was found dead on October 10, 1964, suspected to be a suicide, was 39 when he died.