Are Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari
Matalab Ki Duniya Hai Saari
Bichhade Sabhee, Bichhade Sabhi Baari Baari
As child grows up, only thing they been taught is learn, adapt, survive, and get succeed in life. Once they grow up and succeed, they go after wealth, power, fame, and luxury. All their luxury and wealth doesn’t stop them to feel arrogant (proud??) about it. All their intelligence doesn’t stop them to form opinions and principles. Sometimes self-esteem, pride, and principles make them stiff-necked and that could force them to feel different than general population. Feeling different than others and proud of principles, people often wander away from reality, and that could force them to alienate themselves from the society.
Guru Dutt’s Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) examines artist’s alienation and disillusion of the society. At the same time, it also examines the plight of the artist in a highly opportunistic world of film industry and oppressive society of pre-independence India.
Story
Suresh Sinha (Guru Dutt) is a prolific director with success, fame, and power in Bombay film industry in pre-independence era. Although things are rosy for him, due to his principles, he is having domestic problems with his wife Veena Verma, only daughter of millionaire Rai Bahadur Verma, who is against filmy world. Suresh is also unable to meet his own daughter Pammi (Naaz) in boarding school, who is madly in love with her dad.
During his visit in Delhi, he accidentally meets girl named Shanti in rainy night. Tracing Suresh’s steps and looking for employment, Shanti comes to Bombay and meets Suresh. Suresh found her perfectly fit as Paro’s role in his next film, Devdas. During filming of Devdas, Shanti and Suresh come closer and fall in love.
Reading gossip regarding Shanti and Suresh’s affair in film magazine, Pammi runs away from school to meet her dad in Bombay. She meets Shanti and blames her that because of her she will never able to reunite her parents. Despite her unconditional love for Suresh, Shanti decides to quit films. Even after Suresh found out what Pammi have done, he could not stop Shanti leaving town because of his love for his daughter. Suresh understood Shanti’s sacrifice, but finds it difficult to withstand the pain of her separation. As Shanti leaving town wasn’t enough for Suresh’s problem, he lost court-case regarding Pammi’s custody.
With all sort of domestic problems, Suresh takes on drink. With huge self-imposed depression and heavy alcohol drinking, he loses his interest in work and becomes his own worst enemy. After series of failure of his films as director, producers try to treat him as dirt. Proud Suresh couldn’t bear his failure and forced to leave film studio. Continuous consumption of alcohol leads his entire estate being auctioned to pay off his debts until he becomes a homeless drunk.
As things got worse and he becomes old, he visits Ajanta Studio by remembering his old glory days until he quietly passes away in director chair in studio.
Analysis
Kaagaz Ke Phool is highly artistic, deeply intelligent, immensely thought-provoking film with extremely powerful story. I often think pride and arrogance are two sides of the coin. In most cases, one person’s pride is other’s arrogance. When people proud of something, they do unthinkable against norm social rules, and that force other to think as arrogance. In the same breath, there is blurry line between pessimism and realism. Many times people who are pessimistic are realistic. If their thoughts match general population then it’s realistic and if their thoughts are isolated from others then it’s pessimistic. Kaagaz Ke Phool is study of all these complex terms like pride, arrogance, pessimism, and realism.
Kaagaz Ke Phool is equally boring film for mainstream moviegoers. It starts with brisk speed with engrossing story flowing almost uniformly until 2/3rd of the film and then suddenly narrates Suresh’s freefall with some slow-paced incoherent moments until it once again picks it up in final minutes with exceptional climax. For parallel cinema lovers, this doesn’t matter much but it does test traditional moviegoer’s patience. It’s no wonder that its box office fate was much similar to its artistic companions like Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker, Yash Chopra’s Lamhe, and most recently Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Khamoshi.
Kaagaz Ke Phool reminds me of two of classic Hollywood movies – Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. It seems Kaagaz Ke Phool is highly influenced from Citizen Kane. Be it storyline of epic tragedy of self-destruction of visionary man, who ruins himself or be it landmark cinematography of long steady shots, unusual angles, and amazing use of light and shadow. Take a look at very first shot when camera shows Guru Dutt from Ajanta Studio’s statue or when camera moves towards Waheeda when she visits studio very first time or dark forefront shadow when Guru Dutt ask for liquor first time or classic use of beam of lights in “Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam” song. This list is endless and Kaagaz Ke Phool is nothing but visual masterpiece. Kaagaz Ke Phool’s primary theme is much similar to David Lynch’s weird masterpiece Mulholland Drive. Both movies premised in film industry where reality is overshadowed by illusion, fame, fantasy, and glamour. Only difference is protagonist in Kaagaz Ke Phool renounce treacherously enchanting world and protagonist in Mulholland Drive fantasize her fascination of glamorous world.
Kaagaz Ke Phool was way ahead of its contemporary movies in terms of production values – be it the direction or the cinematography or the background score or the set design or the costumes or the hairstyles, or the makeup, or framed as India’s first film to be shot in Cinemascope. In acting department, Guru Dutt portrayed introvert filmmaker Suresh’s larger than life role with utmost conviction. A classic beauty of 50s and 60s, Waheeda Rehman as Shanti was at her best. She looks earthy and stunningly beautiful as sympathetic and sensitive lady. Scenes involving Johnny Walker are totally irrelevant to the film.
Guru Dutt’s movies are known for great music and Kaagaz Ke Phool was one of his best. S.D.Burman’s sentimental music along with Kaifi Azmi’s poignant lyrics are memorable - Geeta Dutt’s Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hasi Sitam, Md. Rafi’s Dekhi Zamane Ki Yaari, Hum Tum Jise Kehta Hai, Ek Do Teen, and San San San Woh Chali Hawa. Special mention for excellent background score especially “Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Hasi Sitam” tune played out during Waheeda and Guru Dutt’s companion scenes.
Conclusion
Guru Dutt is one of the highly revered directors of golden period of Indian Cinema. As I already said earlier, Kaagaz Ke Phool was huge box-office failure. After film’s failure, Guru Dutt refused to direct any films thereafter. Although he continued as an actor and gave one more classic as Sahib Bibi Aur Gulam, he committed suicide in 1964 at young age 39, foreshadowing his own act in Kaagaz Ke Phool marking film as unfortunate autobiography. Guru Dutt was truly genius and this landmark film is proof of his command over film medium. I truly believe that if moviegoers embraced this film at that time then he could have single-handedly changed course of Bollywood cinema. Kaagaz Ke Phool is must see for true cinema lover.