Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story
AuthorYasser Usman
CountryIndia
LanguageEnglish
SubjectGuru Dutt
GenreBiography
Published7 January 2021
PublisherSimon & Schuster
Media typePrint
Pages336
ISBN978-93-86797-89-6

Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story is a 2021 Indian biographical book written by Yasser Usman, chronicling the life and career of the Indian actor and filmmaker Guru Dutt. It describes Dutt's birth in Panambur in 1925, his 18-year-long film career, his marriage to the playback singer Geeta Dutt, with whom he had three children, and his death in 1964.

The book was written by Usman in the period of two years. He collected archives of Dutt's accounts and information from Dutt's family members, close friends, and colleagues, compiling them in a book that was later published on 7 January 2021 by Simon & Schuster. It received positive feedback from critics, with most attention directed towards Usman's writing.

Synopsis

The book opens with the success of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962) and its screening at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival. The film, produced by and stars Guru Dutt, won the Filmfare Award for Best Film and became the official submission from India for the 35th Academy Awards. Following a series of information about his depression, it investigates his suicidal death on the morning of 10 October 1964. In the next chapter, the book chronicles Dutt's birth in Panambur on 9 July 1925 to Vasanthi and Shivshankar Rao Padukone. His parents were Konkani-speaking and married in 1920, when Padukone was 20 and Vasanthi was 12. Dutt made his acting debut with Baazi in 1951, and details his commercially successful films, including Aar Paar (1954), Mr. & Mrs. '55 (1955), and C.I.D (1956). The book also discusses his marriage in 1953 to the playback singer Geeta Dutt, with whom he had three children.

Development and writing

In 2004, the journalist-turned-biographer Yasser Usman attended the Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema in Delhi and watched Dutt's films for the first time.[1][2] He confessed he was impressed by the actor's films and described them as "magical". In an interview to Asian Voice, Usman found Dutt's works mostly reflect his life experiences, adding that he "realized [...] how personal his cinema was". At the festival, however, Usman saw that people were talking about how disturbed Dutt was during his life without discussing the reason. He quote this as his motivation to write the book.[3]

"His films, his characters, his emotions were truly rooted in Indian culture and society. He borrowed some finer aspects of Hollywood and European cinema but moulded them in an Indian scenario. Also, he did everything in the mainstream format. He was very particular about the fact that his art should reach the masses. He really cared about commercial success. His films are technically brilliant and do not seem dated even now."

— Usman on Dutt in 2021[2]

The writing took two years, with Usman only collecting few archives of Dutt's interviews as none of them were in the public domain. He also used several of Dutt's accounts in Bengali and Kannada for his research. He tracked down Dutt's family members, close friends, and colleagues, but a few died before he met them.[2][3] Usman had several conversations with Dutt's younger sister, the painter Lalita Lajmi, and was impressed by her detail narration on Dutt's personal life, such as mentioning the dates, people, places and timelines: "I am deeply indebted to her for this crucial documentation. Really thankful that she allowed me an entry into her inner world."[3] She told Usman about Dutt's mental issues which led him to commit suicide and blamed herself for it. She also discussed her sibling relationship with Dutt, mostly that from the 1950s and 1960s, and his on-screen and off-screen life.[4]

Critical reception

Critics were generally appreciative of the work. Writing for The Quint, Nirupama Kotru described it as "honest, clear and based on solid research, unlike most social media posts which would have left Guru Dutt bewildered".[5] Prathyush Parasuraman from Film Companion website wrote, "[Its chapters are] very contained, brief, but in its briefness it betrays the spirit of a good biographer—to make the reader feel."[6] In The Hindu, Mini Anthikad Chhibber opined that the book "is a perfect introduction to one of our most important film makers" for its short chapters and easy-to-read prose. She was also impressed by Usman's ability to "[pepper] the book with many touching remembrances" from Lajmi.[7] Asian Voice called the book "a mirror that reflects the hard hitting realities of cinema ever since its inception", praising its narrative which, according to the review, "shatters the myths, the rose tinted glasses with which we as viewers look up to the film industry".[8] Saqlain Soomro of the Daily Times took note of his "meticulous" research,[9] while the Deccan Chronicle's Partha Chatterjee stated that it is better than Nasreen Munni Kabir's Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema (1996), whose contents mostly talk about Dutt's films only.[10][11]

An Indo-Asian News Service critic lauded Usman for providing "a richly-layered account that takes a deep dive into the journey of a lonesome, troubled genius who was endlessly being pulled in contrary directions throughout his life."[12] News18 hailed, "With Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story, author Yasser Usman reconstructs a mesmerizingly tragic story of Guru Dutt and his equally accomplished wife and singer Geeta Dutt."[13] The Marathi newspaper Loksatta commended Usman for "[trying] find the threads of the study-research by searching for the undiscovered things",[14] and Business Standard's Chintan Girish Modi added that Usman had brought "a fine understanding of the overlaps between Dutt's personal and professional life" without "resorting [...] gossip" and "[bringing] perspectives from various people who were contemporaries" of the actor.[15] Reviewing for The Telegraph, Devdan Mitra praised the work as "an honest effort to portray the man behind the auteur even if some stories will always remain unfinished."[16] Sathya Saran of The New Indian Express, however, was critical of the book:

"... there is despair over the fact that an author who is capable of much better work should glean so heavily from available material to stitch it together so clumsily. The fact that he gives credit in some places, but lifts entire passages almost verbatim in others without acknowledgement, opens this book up for a case of blatant plagiarism. Surprising a publisher of standing like [Simon & Schuster] took the risk."[17]

The Hindustan Times featured Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story in their listing of "The Most Interesting Reads of the Week".[18] The Telegraph included in their year-end listing of the "Page Turners of 2021".[19]

Publication history

Region Release date Format Ref.
India 7 January 2021 Amazon Kindle [20]
Hardcover [21]

References

  1. ↑ Negi, Manjulaa (17 July 2004). "Cinefan is now Osian's Cinefan". Hindustan Times. Press Trust of India. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Bose, Sushmita (11 March 2021). "Guru Dutt was an immensely poor communicator in real life". Khaleej Times. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Saxena, Shefali (26 January 2021). "'Beyond their stardom, the stars are humans'". Asian Voice. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Usman, Yasser (15 January 2021). "Essay: Frozen in time and memory; Conversations with Guru Dutt's sister". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  5. ↑ Kotru, Nirupama (5 February 2021). "Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story Sensitively Portrays Dutt's Legacy". The Quint. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Parasuraman, Prathyush (27 January 2021). "Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story By Yasser Usman Is A Commercial Biography Which Makes Up For Depth In Pace". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  7. ↑ Chhibber, Mini Anthikad (26 March 2021). "'Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story' review: Black, white and shades of grey". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  8. ↑ "Book Review: Guru Dutt An Unfinished Story". Asian Voice. 26 January 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Soomro, Saqlain (27 May 2021). "Representation of an unfinished life". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  10. ↑ Chatterjee, Partha (20 June 2021). "Book Review | The eloquent outsider, lovingly remembered..." Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. ↑ Kabir, Nasreen Munni (1 September 1996). Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-01-95638-49-3.
  12. ↑ "'Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story' a richly layered account of a troubled genius". The Times of India. Indo-Asian News Service. 21 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Kidwai, Rasheet (17 January 2021). "'Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story' Reconstructs a Mesmerizingly Tragic Story of the Legendary Filmmaker". News18. Archived from the original on 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  14. ↑ "परिचय: गुरुदत्तचं गूढ..." [Introduction: Guru Dutt's mystery...]. Loksatta (in Marathi). 20 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  15. ↑ Modi, Chintan Girish (9 February 2021). "What went wrong in Guru Dutt's marriage?". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  16. ↑ Mitra, Devdan (13 August 2021). "A life behind the scenes". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  17. ↑ Saran, Sathya (8 August 2021). "Guru Dutt's 'An Unfinished Story': An unsuccessful attempt". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "HT Picks: The most interesting reads of the week". Hindustan Times. 8 January 2021. Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  19. ↑ "Page Turners of 2021: Biography and Memoirs". The Telegraph. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  20. ↑ Usman, Yasser (7 January 2021). Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story. Noida, India: Simon & Schuster. ASIN B08P27PRGD.
  21. ↑ Usman, Yasser (7 January 2021). Guru Dutt: An Unfinished Story. Noida, India: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-93-86797-88-9.
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