Pyaasa

Guru Dutt's work of art

Spoiler Alert;
I had known about this movie for a while as it was on Time magazine's "100 greatest movies" list, now I know why. Yes, as one reviewer mentioned the subtitles could have been much better, but this is not the fault of the people who made the movie. There is a translation for the song "Jaane kya tune" on You tube if your interested [I am going to get an Indian friend to translate all the other lyrics].

This movie is one of the most powerful movies ever made. Guru Dutt and all the other actors are so natural in their roles, there is no overacting like you see from alot of the present day Bollywood "actors" [Aamir Khan you are excluded]. What can I say about the beautiful, haunting music by S D Burman and the deep, moving lyrics of Sahir Ludhianvi brought to life by M. Rafi and Geeta Dutt?
"Yeh Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaaye, To Kya Hai?" This means loosely "so what if I gain this world?" the poet goes on to mention all the evil and falsehood in this world and asks "why would I want the glory of this material world?"
What decent person in today's world has not asked this question at some point? I was so moved by Dutt's performance in the scene where he walks in on his "memorial service". The reaction on the faces of the different people in his life was so priceless e.g Waheeda Rehman's character who having thought till that moment that she had lost the one man she ever loved becomes radiant with joy.
The movie captures the struggles of the pure and good hearted in an often heartless world. In the end though as the movie shows, the struggle is worth it, no earthly riches can buy you peace of mind and unconditional love. April 13, 2008

Such a Waste

I agree with the previous review, this is a gem in classic Indian cinema. Unfortunately this review is of the product and not the movie. I have three issues.

First is the transfer quality of sound and image, which are sub-par. Way sub-par.

Second is the translation, and this is the real sticking point. The translation is horrid. I mean, bad grammar, lines left untranslated, and '"e;' instead of "". Example the word love is supposed to be in quotes, and it shows up "e;love"e;. This happens multiple times, obviously no one bothered to WATCH THE FRIGGIN' FILM before releasing it.

Finally, and still related to translation, is the fact that none of the songs are translated. This is especially problematic since the story is about a poet, and all of his poems are recited as songs. What I figure must be some of the most important parts of the film are completely unavailable to me. They are crucial to the story, I gather, but without translation it's impossible to tell.

This film is great, and is worthy of viewing, if you can get your hands on a good version, but this ain't it. I'd reccomend waiting for a better version so as to watch it properly. Hopefully we'll get such a version soon. April 11, 2008

Guru Dutt's best film, and one of the greatest Indian films ever made...

This is one of the most poetic, sad, beautiful, melancholy films I have ever seen. It is one of my favorite Bollywood/Indian films, and it's still considered a classic today. I would even place it in a top 100 list if I had to compile one. Guru Dutt is probably the most underrated filmmaker/star in India, as he died young (at 40 or so), and his films were very different than the usual happy, happy, joy, joy Bollywood cinema that most of us are used to. This film, along with Paper Flowers (aka Kagaaz de Phool) are considered his best films, and they deserve every bit of praise that comes their way. Guru plays a struggling poet here. Because of a misunderstandgin he is mistaken for dead, and his fame skyrockets after people think he's dead. It's a very accurate depiction of humanity. The most moving scene here is actually one of the songs (the songs in Guru Dutt's films move the films along beautifully, and they are never intrusive, like they are on a lot of Bollywood films) with its unbelievably haunting chorus of "where are those who claim to be proud of this land?" as Guru's character is wandering through an avenue of vice. This film is a poetic masterpiece, and deserves to be better known... September 20, 2007

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