Dutt’s best-known work is a musical-drama with sweeping character arcs as a struggling poet is outcast and exploited by society, leading him into a downward spiral towards oblivion.
Review #2,954
Dir. Guru Dutt
1957 | India | Drama, Musical, Romance | 146min | 1.33:1 | Hindi
PG (passed clean)
Cast: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha, Johnny Walker, Rehman
Plot: Vijay writes unpopular poems about the destitute and poor. Ridiculed by his brothers and scorned by publishers, Vijay finds encouragement in a woman, Gulabo, who helps him to try and get his poems published.
Awards: –
Source: Noble Thoughts
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Poetry; Marginalised Community; Poverty & Struggle
Narrative Style: Straightforward
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Mainstream
Viewed: Screener
Spoilers: No
Probably Guru Dutt’s best-known work, Pyaasa (or ‘Thirst’) is a melodramatic film with sweeping character arcs.
Due to the unexpected absence of his lead actor on the first day of shooting, Dutt decided to star himself as Vijay, a struggling poet whose poems are about what it is like to live in an unempathetic world, one that is full of cruelty, greed and selfishness.
It is not surprising that these poems aren’t appreciated by local publishers because they have little commercial value.
So his works stay languished in files, some unceremoniously tossed into bins, others used as wastepaper… until he meets Gulabo, a prostitute who finds solace in several poems that Vijay had written.
Packed with songs that remain popular to this day, Pyaasa follows the ups and downs (mostly downs though) of Vijay’s invisible life. Whether in matters of love or friendship, Dutt’s pessimism casts a dark shadow on his protagonist’s mental state.
“I confess that I have been crushed by life’s sorrows.”
Despondent, hungry, and yes, thirsty, Vijay’s encounter with Gulabo might have raised his spirits a little, but it is anything but a temporary oasis in a neverending desert of despair.
While Pyaasa does seem like it is a sad film, it is peppered with supporting characters that try to make the best out of each situation, sometimes amusingly.
One of them, a happy-go-lucky man who massages customers’ hair with oil, is a standout. Even those with bad intentions in exploiting Vijay do so with alarming nonchalance.
While I think the film is slightly overlong and much of the storytelling feels utterly direct, hence leaving little room for nuance, Pyaasa goes straight to the heart, imploring us to search within ourselves for our innate capacity for empathy towards one another, especially in the most dire of circumstances.
Grade: B+
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan 