Guru Dutt

In 1953, he married Geeta Dutt, a professional playback singer, despite strong family opposition. They were blessed with three children: Tarun, Arun, and Nina. But the couple had an unhappy married life and later separated because of his workaholic nature and partly because of his relationship with actress Waheeda Rehman.

He had attempted suicide a couple of times before his death but was rescued by friends. He died on October 10, 1964 from an over consumption of alcohol and sleeping pills. It is still a mystery whether his death was a suicide or an accidental overdose.

He was born on July 9, 1925 in Bangalore, India, to Shivashanker Rao Padukone and his wife, Vasanthi Padukone. He had three younger brothers, Atmaram, Devidas and Vijay and a younger sister, Lalitha.

His father used to work as a headmaster and later became a bank employee. His mother was a homemaker who gave private tuition and also wrote short stories. He spent his early childhood in Bhowanipore area of Calcutta where Bengali culture and intellect became a part of his personality.

He started his career as a telephone operator at a Lever Brothers factory in Kolkata. But soon he left the job and returned to his parents in Mumbai in 1944.

Later he was hired as a choreographer to work under a three-year contract with ‘Prabhat Film Company’ in Pune. He later went on to become an actor in the company and also served as an assistant director.

In 1944, he acted in a small role as Sri Krishna in the movie ‘Chand’. The next year he worked as an actor and an assistant director in the movie ‘Lakhrani’. In 1946, he served as an assistant director and choreographed dances for the film ‘Hum Ek Hain’.

In 1947, the contract with the film company ended and he was given the job of a freelance assistant with Baburao Pai, the CEO of the Prabhat Film Company and Studio. But soon he was rendered unemployed and wrote short stories for ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’, a local weekly English magazine.

The turning point in his life came, when Dev Anand asked him to direct the movie ‘Baazi’ under Dev Anand’s production company. The film released in 1951 and became an instant hit.

In 1957, he produced, directed as well as acted in the movie ‘Pyaasa’ which was an immediate success and is considered one of his most celebrated works. It is the story of a poet, rejected by an uncaring world, who achieves success only after his apparent death.

In 1959, another one of his classics ‘Kaagaz Ke Phool’ was released. It was a self-absorbed tale of a famous director who falls in love with an actress. The film was a box office disaster in its time but later became a world cinema cult classic in the 1980s.