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The 31st Kolkata International Film Festival organised a speech and a photographic accumulation of Guru Dutt, arsenic portion of a tribute to observe the hundredth commencement day of the iconic Indian filmmaker.
Titled ‘Guru Dutt: The Melancholic Maverick’, the speech connected Sunday (November 9, 2025) evening featured eminent movie writers and personalities speaking connected Guru Dutt’s beingness and work, including movie scholars Shoma A Chatterji, Moinak Biswas, filmmaker Ramesh Sharma, and movie journalists Roshmila Bhattacharya and Sathya Saran. The league was being moderated by movie writer Ratnottama Sengupta.
“He was a bold antheral who experimented, astir similar Orson Welles. He experimented with lenses, with lighting. He was sculpting his films done what existent cinema is going to be… He celebrated melancholy. It was portion and parcel of [his films], the dichotomy of symptom and angst,” award-winning filmmaker Ramesh Sharma said astatine the seminar successful Kolkata’s Sisir Mancha.
Guru Dutt, calved Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone connected July 9, 1925, continues to beryllium known arsenic 1 of India’s pioneering filmmakers, who besides often wore the chapeau of an actor, producer, choreographer, and writer. He spent immoderate of his younger years successful Kolkata. Some of his astir salient films are Pyaasa (1957), Kagaz Ke Phool (1959), and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962).
He added that Dutt was archetypal and foremost a societal commentator and that the symptom successful his films described the ‘hypocrisy’ of the state successful its nascent years.
“It was astir an editorial remark by Guru Dutt that unless and until you marque a facile, elemental commercialized movie you couldn’t succeed… Guru Dutt was up of his time. He was talking astir the nonaccomplishment of India’s motivation compass. He is arsenic applicable contiguous arsenic helium was then. Today we person mislaid our motivation compass. Our filmmakers nary longer marque films that question society,” Mr. Sharma said.
He besides highlighted the relation of Urdu poesy successful Dutt’s films and the nexus betwixt the foremost Urdu poets of the state astatine the time, similar Kaifi Azmi and Sahir Ludhianvi, and the auteur’s filmography.
Film student Moinak Biswas spoke astir the discourse successful which Dutt started working, during the 50s which helium described arsenic the infinitesimal that heralded a caller section successful India cinema, with caller show styles, caller benignant of cinematography, music, screenwriting etc.
The movie historiographer added that determination was an influx of stalwart artists from the Indian People’s Theatre Association and the Progressive Writers Association who Guru Dutt was moving intimately with astatine the time, including screenwriters, choreographers, and poets.
“It’s a infinitesimal wherever a caller cadre of artists and technicians started working. Because the workplace strategy of the New Theatres, Prabhat, Bombay Talkies was astir replaced by a caller accumulation statement by the aboriginal 50s erstwhile Dutt started working, determination was scope for innovation and experimentation,” Mr. Biswas said.
Journalist and writer of the publication ‘Ten Years With Guru Dutt’, Sathya Saran, spoke extensively astir Dutt’s turbulent narration with manager and screenwriter Abrar Alvi, who scripted and/or directed respective of Dutt’s celebrated films.
“Here was a relationship that was truthful heavy that Abrar had heavy regret implicit losing that relationship contempt Guru Dutt hurting him severely successful galore ways. In the archetypal fewer films, Dutt did not springiness him immoderate recognition for screenplays, lone for dialogue. He did not springiness him acting roles adjacent though helium sometimes wanted to act… Dutt ne'er gave Abrar the acknowledgement that should person been fixed to idiosyncratic of specified aggravated talent,” Ms. Saran alleged.
She added that successful the 1962 movie Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, manager Abrar had helped Dutt ‘break’ into the relation of Atulya Chakraborty ‘Bhootnath’, a villager who had moved to Kolkata successful the crippled of the film.
“Anybody tin archer that 2 radical person [directed] immoderate of the scenes. Pyaasa besides had 2 minds moving connected it, and 2 originative minds are amended than one,” Ms. Saran added, referring to the duo’s turbulent originative collaborations.
Film student Shoma A Chatterji highlighted that the pistillate characters successful Guru Dutt’s films portrayed affectional tenacity, strength, and complexity and that some him and his directors emphasised connected treating their heroines arsenic quality beings.
Journalist Roshmila Bhattacharya spoke astir Guru Dutt’s farmhouse successful Maharashtra wherever helium would reportedly emotion to walk leisurely clip with quality and workplace animals and highlighted the heavy melancholy and affectional complexities that Dutt’s adjacent acquaintances would subordinate him with.
Notably, an accumulation connected Guru Dutt and different movie personalities with centenary tributes is ongoing astatine Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala successful the Nandan premises arsenic portion of the 31st Kolkata International Film Festival.
