The Immortal Geeta Dutt - Page 12

Thank you! I never knew there was an article here about Geeta Dutt..... thanks for the song links too.

esh Raheja

When one watches Aar Paar (1954), one rues the fact that Guru Dutt let melancholic films circumscribe his horizons in his latter years as actor-producer-director. The joie de vivre of his early films like Aar Paar and Mr & Mrs 55 is infectious. If he had alternated between the two genres -- comedy and tragedy -- the audience would probably have been more gratified. And who knows -- perhaps even Dutt's own personality would not have turned so drastically towards melancholia.

Aar Paar, a thriller that explores both light and dark shades, opens with taxi-driver Kalu (Guru Dutt) being released from jail two months before the end of his term because of his exemplary behaviour. Kalu, we learn, had been booked for rash driving. An element of intrigue is immediately brought into play when a fellow inmate requests Kalu to deliver a coded message to his boss, the underworld don Captain.


Kalu tries to find honest work, but both his employer and his brother-in-law ostracise him. The wheels of fortune get him a job in a garage that belongs to Lalaji (Jagdish Sethi).

When he is not tinkering with spanners and tyres, the tinkling laugh of Lalaji's sprightly daughter Nikki (Shyama) fills Kalu's spare hours. One day, an enraged Lalaji finds the twosome in an intimate clinch. He hits the roof and gives Kalu the boot.

CREDITS

Producer Guru Dutt

Director Guru Dutt
Music O P Nayyar
Cast Shyama, Shakila , Guru Dutt

An encounter with the mysterious Captain results in a brand new taxi and a brand new job for Kalu, who is unaware he is soon going to be part of Captain's conspiracy to loot a bank.

The director throws a red herring that would have done Agatha Christie proud by making us participate in a bank robbery sequence that eventually proves to be a trial run of the proposed heist.

Back at the garage, Lalaji's chess partner reveals Kalu's convict background. Nikki is disillusioned. She spurns Kalu when he comes over to show off his brand new Dodge, but becomes putty in his hands when he drags her to the police station and elicits a character certificate from the benign jailer.

In one of the many small touches that elevate the film, the preceding scene establishes the jailer's character -- he has just been ticked off by his senior for being partial to his prisoners.

Kalu approaches Lalaji for Nikki's hand in marriage, but Lalaji turns lal peela (gets furious). A cabaret dancer (Shakila), who is Captain's aide and has a secret crush on Kalu, advises him to elope with Nikki. Kalu flippantly decides to toss a coin to help Nikki make a decision. "Aar ya paar [This way or that]," he says, rather boorishly. Nikki agrees to elope.

On D-day, however, a nervous Nikki fails to keep her rendezvous with Kalu. After which Kalu keeps Nikki at bay, while the cabaret dancer (they forgot to give Shakila's character a name) tries to latch on to him. Kalu's sidekick Elaichi (an adolescent Jagdeep) attempts to bridge the distance between Kalu and Nikki, but Kalu's fragile male ego makes him insult Nikki.

Nikki boomerangs back into Kalu's life when Captain holds her hostage to coerce Kalu into participating in the bank robbery. The climax has the mandatory car chase (a 1950s noir staple), after which Kalu rescues Nikki.

Guru Dutt makes a bold show of non-compliance with formula in Shakila's character. She sheds a tear for the hero, but refuses to lay down her life for him or repent for her deeds at the end. Minutes before she is arrested by the police, she even fires a round of gunshots at Kalu and Nikki!

Dutt also maintains a fast and furious pace like his protagonist's speedster habits. But he shoots his scenes with care. When Shyama, after much hesitation, finally decides to elope, the director shows her racing to the door only to be fleetingly blinded by the headlights of Kalu's departing car.

Abrar Alvi's sparkling dialogues get an additional sheen from the usage of different dialects -- Rustom speaks Hindi with a Parsi touch, Lalaji resorts to rustic Punjabi, while Kalu speaks a quaint blend of Bambaiya Hindi and pidgin English ("Thank you very much, kindly").

O P Nayyar's hit songs are snugly encrusted in the film. In the title song, the director establishes the hero's fascination with the heroine with the aid of a perky number sung by a clued-in construction worker (Kum Kum). The other songs are shot in a garage, a car, a club and a zoo -- in real places, real time.


Song Singers

Kabhi aar kabhi paar
Shamshad Begum

Yeh lo main haari piya
Geeta Dutt

Babuji dheere chalna
Geeta Dutt

Hoon abhi main jawan
Geeta Dutt

Ja ja ja bewafaa
Geeta Dutt

Mohabbat kar lo
Geeta Dutt, Mohammed Rafi

Sun sun sun zaalima
Geeta Dutt, Mohammed Rafi


In latter years, this film's assistant director, Raj Khosla, became synonymous with masterful song picturisations, just like his guru, Guru Dutt.

In his first success as a hero, a camera-friendly Guru Dutt exudes a wry casualness. Shakila, in keeping with the noirish mood of her portion of the film, is enigmatic. Shyama looks happy as a lark in the breezy moments and wistful as a pained doe in the lovelorn scenes. She makes an attractive picture in baggy garage overalls.

Sidelights:

* Raj Khosla and Guru Dutt's brother Atma Ram assisted Guru Dutt during the making of Aar Paar. Dutt gave Khosla a break as an independent director in CID (Dev Anand, Shakila, Waheeda Rahman). Atma Ram had to bide his time till 1964, when he directed Kaise Kahoon (Nanda, Biswajeet).

* For Shyama, Aar Paar was a sterling success among her many B-grade ventures. Dutt wanted Shyama for his next venture, CID, but the deal did not go through. She wanted him to increase her price. He refused and substituted her with Shakila.

Music highlights:

* This was O P Nayyar's first success. Geeta Dutt invests a lot of soul in Shakila's cabaret number Hoon abhi main jawan and animates the light numbers with her abundant vivacity. It is a treat to hear her sing the Ja ja ja bewafaa refrain in two versions -- one happy, other sad -- with such 'audible' difference.

* The Nayyar-Majrooh combination hit bull's eye again with the Guru Dutt-Madhubala starrer Mr & Mrs 55 (1955) and CID (1956).

mr. & mrs. 55

guru dutt's 1955 romantic comedy mr. & mrs. 55 contains one of the great comedic lines of indian cinema, when sita devi asks preetam in reference to his work, "are you a communist?" and he answers "no, a cartoonist".

the film centers around dutt as a down on his luck cartoonist, agreeing to marry anita (played by madhubala) so she can inherit a large sum of money. the plan, devised by anita's man hating aunt sita devi (played by lalita pawar) expects that the arranged marriage will end immidately after the money is inherited. the situation becomes complex once dutt and anita realize they are actually in love.

the film definitely took inspiration from preston sturgess, and the screwball romantic comedies of spencer tracy and katherine hepburn. while mr. & mrs. 55 is one of dutt's few out and out comedies, it also relates strongly to ideas carried through much of his work, particularly a strong disdain for many of india's social realities of the time. it's one of several of dutt's films where the main character is a struggling artist who is unable to make ends meet and whose genius is ignored by the public. ironically, this was one of dutt's first hits with both the public and critics.

this song, is titled preetam aan milo, and is sung by geeta dutt. it's actually a song that was a hit years before the film was even made, by a different singer, c.h. atma. geeta's version is dreamy, and i really like how they left some of the background sounds on the LP recording

SHort Summary

Geeta Dutt: Geeta Roy came to Mumbai with her parents from East Bengal in 1942 when she was 12-year old. When she was only 15, music director S. D. Burman offered her a solo in Do Bhai. The music of that film clicked in a big way. The biggest hit of the film was 'Mera Sunder Sapna Beet Gaya', sung by Geeta Roy. Disc sales of the song rocketed to new heights. This gave Geeta loads of offers and she became the top most playback singer of the Hindi film industry. Her collaboration with composer S. D. Burman proved very fruitful for Geeta Roy, later famous as Geeta Dutt after her marriage to Guru Dutt. The team was a legendary one, dishing out hit after hit. Films like Do Bhai, Baazi, Munimji, Nau Do Gyareh, Kagaz Ke Phool, Sujata are just some examples. The jazzy musical score of Baazi revealed a new facet to Geeta's singing. The appeal in her voice and the ease with which she went Western was marvelous to behold. Every song in the film was a raging hit. With Aar Paar, both composer O. P. Nayyar and the singer Geeta Dutt scaled new heights. 'Babuji Dheere Chalna' and 'Yeh Lo Mein Hari Piya' became super hits. Theirs was to be an eventful partnership yielding 18 classical songs. Her sensuousness made her a favorite for rock and role and seductive songs. Though relegated to second position after the rise of Lata Mangeshkar as the greatest playback singer, Geeta managed to hold her own against Lata for more than a decade in the 50s and 60s. After the death of her husband Guru Dutt in 1964, Geeta suffered a nervous break down, which practically finished her career as a singer. She died in 1972 at the age of 41/42

Wow! Thnaks for all this information about Geeta Dutt. She is one of my favorite singers who I feel never quite received the credit she deserved. It was great to see all this information and appreciation of her talents! Thnaks to everyone ! I love you all for this info.

Very good posts everyone, 👏 👏 👏 She was one of my mother's favourite singers, in fact recently I Bought an old gold CD which featured all her popular songs.Thanks once again, i HAVE LEARNT quite a lot about her, I did not know that she died so young.

iam bringing this therad up..recently I came across some of her old pictures..and i pulled out her songs..
lets share about geeta dutt.. i need to go through all the pages .... 😊

came across this book if anyone is intersted..

Yours Guru Dutt : Intimate Letters of a Great Indian Filmmaker/presented by Nasreen Munni Kabir. New Delhi, Roli Books, 2006, 168 p., illus., $40. ISBN 81-7436-388-2.

"In 1951, when filmmaker Guru Dutt was twenty-six years old, he met the talented playback singer Gita Roy. A few days later, when he wrote her a first letter, it marked the beginning of a correspondence that spanned a 13-year-long relationship-from their courtship and turbulent marriage to the troubled years that ultimately led to Guru Dutt's tragic suicide in 1964.

Yours Guru Dutt: Intimate Letters of a Great Indian Filmmaker Presents thirty-seven letters, previously never published, of which the vast majority were addressed to Geeta Dutt, and includes postcards sent to his sons, Tarun and Arun. Guru Dutt's correspondence paints an intimate portrait of the passions and obsessions of a tormented cinema genius.

There is often a divide between an artist and his creations but it is evident that Guru Dutt's films closely echo the inner turmoil that permeates these heartfelt outpourings." (jacket)

below is the link where u can listen to some of geeta dutt bangla songs..

http://www.growingmusic.com/us/h541/a12986460.html

I have read some where that Geeta dutt did some jingles for some soaps (Hamaam and Rexona) - with music by Salil Chowdhury ..does anyone have any knowleadge about them?