The Guru Dutt legacy: His granddaughters on the man they never met

Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) They have grown up on stories of their grandfather, the fabled Guru Dutt, carry his name with pride and say the best tribute to him would be to work on films that connect with people.

Karuna and Gouri, daughters of Guru Dutt’s son Arun, are both in the film industry and have worked with several filmmakers as assistant directors. As grandchildren of the legendary Guru Dutt and Geeta Dutt, one an actor-filmmaker and the other a singer, the sisters say they don’t introduce themselves when they start a project.

“… We're not like, ‘Oh, you know who I am’... in the end they're like, ‘What? You did not tell us this’, and the reaction is happy and big,” Gouri, 37, told PTI.

As the cinema world celebrates the 100th anniversary of the filmmaker who gave Indian cinema a string of classics, including “Pyaasa”, “Kaagaz Ke Phool” and “Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam”, the sisters discuss his enduring legacy.

“I feel the best tribute we could give to him would be by making films that connect with people and have that resonance. We would like to pay a tribute to him through our work,” added Karuna, 40.

They have, of course, never met either grandparent. Guru Dutt died in 1964 when he was just 39. Geeta Dutt died in 1972 at the age of 41. But they have heard many stories from their father, uncle Tarun. And also from granduncle Devi Dutt and grandaunt Lalita Lajmi, Guru Dutt’s brother and sister.

“He (Guru Dutt) was a disciplinarian. Both the children (Arun and Tarun) were quite mischievous growing up. We also hear that he was very generous as a person,” Karuna said.

“Lalita ji used to tell us that he was very fond of sweets. I remember, Devi uncle once told us that after pack up, he would bring sweets for his crew to celebrate the work of the day. So these are these little things, the stories we've grown up with,” she said.

Gouri added that she admires the legacy of compassion that Guru Dutt instilled in the family, particularly their love for animals.

“His love for animals got passed down to us as well. Like, from our father and then to us, because he also loved animals. He had a lot of animals,” she said.

The two sisters, both aspiring filmmakers, have reservations about chronicling Guru Dutt's life through a biopic or a book.

“I don't know if I'd be able to be objective about it because at the end of the day, he is my grandfather. To make a good biopic on somebody, you do need objectivity to be able to talk about a person's life as a whole. I would love to help, be a part of that process, but not personally make it.

"In terms of books, there's so much written about him. We never met him personally, I don't know what new we would be able to bring or say about him, even if it has to come from his grandchildren's perspective,” Karuna said.

They said they didn’t know how much their legendary grandfather meant to people until they started engaging with the film community where he is a much revered figure.

“It's heartening to see how well loved he is even today, and how many people are speaking about him and wanting to celebrate his birth and his contribution to cinema. As his family, it's a matter of pride because there are so many artists who are so easily forgotten; it's joyous to see how he's being celebrated,” Karuna said.

“I feel like that is the legacy he has left behind... that even after so many years, his writing, his direction, his voice as a director is still relatable and has still found a place in people's hearts,” she said.

Hundred years is a long time but it’s amazing that people remember his body of work as if it was 10 years ago, said Gouri.

The sisters, who were raised in Pune and later moved to Mumbai, recalled the impact Guru Dutt had on the filmmakers they have worked with.

Karuna, who has served as an AD on Anurag Kashyap’s films “Ugly”, “That Girl in Yellow Boots”, and “Gangs of Wasseypur”, said he was working on a screenplay for a biopic on her grandfather.

Kashyap visited her home in Pune to research Dutt’s life, went through family photographs and letters for a biopic that was to be directed by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.

“On one of the days of the shoot, I remember him telling me how daunting he had found the task of trying to capture my grandfather's life in a screenplay. For him, it also came from a moment of being such an ardent fan. 'How do you do justice'? He had found the process quite difficult,” Karuna said.

Gouri, who has worked as an AD on films like “Victoria and Abdul”, “Tenet”, and “Girls Will Be Girls”, said she often hides her connection with Guru Dutt and finds it amusing when people discover it later.

"People who know him have a lot of curiosity, and they are like, ‘How was he like? What was his life? What do you know?’,” Gouri said.

Her favourite Guru Dutt movie is “Kaagaz Ke Phool”.

Karuna’s two personal favourites are "Pyaasa" and "Mr and Mrs 55".

“ ‘Pyaasa’ because I feel as somebody in the creative field, you do understand that sense of disillusionment, you kind of connect to that from that perspective, which I feel like for a lot of filmmakers and writers, that's the feeling for them as well. And ‘Mr and Mrs. 55’, I feel, because it's a very rare opportunity to see a very lighthearted side of him, which most people don't discuss very often. I feel like that is why that is one of my personal favourites.” Gouri said it is heartwarming to hear praise for her grandfather from those she works with.

“Last year, I worked with Sudhir Mishra sir, and he's a huge, huge fan. He said his filmmaking affected by my grandfather's films. It's a lot of admiration. Everybody wants to share their side, their connection, how they connected to his work and how that has affected their work, be it a director or an actor or a musician or anyone.” PTI KKP BK BK MIN MIN