Conversations with Waheeda Rehman (6 page)

Pyaasa
is almost sixty years old and has been screened at festivals all around the world. Its reputation has grown enormously over the years, and it deservedly features in
Time
magazine’s list of the best 100 films ever.

Even saying the name ‘Pyaasa’ stirs an emotional reaction in me, as it must do for thousands of others. What do you think it is about the film that is so moving?

WR:
The subject of
Pyaasa
can never date. It’s about human values—and the things people seek in life: love, recognition and self-respect.

When the poet, Vijay, gets the recognition he has craved for, he realizes it has no value for him. He has seen that no one bothered about him when he was jobless and penniless,
and has understood that importance is given to a man’s social standing and not to the person. Meena, the woman he loves, marries Ghosh, putting her selfish needs above love. Greed is everywhere and Vijay’s own family is no better, as he finds out that his ruthless brothers are also after the money they can make from his newfound fame.

Screenshots from
Pyaasa
. Photograph courtesy: Arun Dutt.

Some years ago
Pyaasa
was screened in Tokyo, and I asked the head of the Japan Foundation Asia Centre, who had organized the Guru Dutt season there, why he loved the film. He said: ‘This is everyone’s story. These experiences are beyond national cultures.’

NMK:
It is also a film about an artist’s place in a materialistic world and the moral choices people make. Vijay’s friends and family betray him, and the only people with moral integrity are the poor masseur Abdul Sattar and the prostitute Gulaabo, who is ironically regarded as immoral by the world.

I think
Pyaasa
is among the few Hindi films in which the hero is seen to make a life with a prostitute because usually the prostitute or the hero die by the end of the story so the film can sidestep the associated social stigma.

In Abrar Alvi’s book with Sathya Saran, he writes that Gulaabo was based on a prostitute that he personally knew. Do you remember this?

WR:
No, not at all. This is the first time I am hearing about it. Abrar never said a word about this to me.

NMK:
Many years ago when I was researching my book on Guru Dutt, his colleagues talked about how he had started
Pyaasa
, then scrapped all the scenes and started filming again. The original casting changed too. Johnny Walker was supposed to have initially played Vijay’s false friend Shyam, but Guru Dutt thought the audience would not accept Johnny in a negative role and recast him as Abdul Sattar. Many things apparently changed during the production of the film.

Did any of your scenes get cut from the final movie?

With (L to R) actress Shammi, Johnny Walker and Yash Johar. Bombay, late 1960s. Yash Johar and Shammi remained close friends.

WR:
There was a very good song ‘Rut phire par din hamaare’ that comes in the story in a scene after Gulaabo hears that Vijay has committed suicide. I sing the song, sitting in a boat.

When the final film was ready, we had a trial show and all the cast and crew were there, including Mala Sinha, Burmanda, Murthy and Abrar. As usual, Guruduttji asked for our opinions. My mother and I mentioned that we wanted to say something. Abrar looked at Guruduttji with an expression that said: here’s this new girl, what does she know about film-making?

But Guruduttji encouraged us to speak freely. I said I thought my song was very boring. Burmanda sat up and said: ‘Waheeda, what are you saying? It’s a lovely song.’

‘Dada, it’s a good song to listen to, but boring to watch. I kept asking myself when it would end.’

NMK:
You know, I heard the song on the Net on a site dedicated to Geeta Dutt, and I can guess why the song was filmed in a boat—even though there were no other scenes or songs in
Pyaasa
filmed on the river. Guru Dutt must have chosen a river setting because of a line in the song that says: ‘
Pahunchi na apni naiyaa ab tak kisi kinaare.
’ [My boat has not reached any shore.]

The song is really lovely.

WR:
It is, but when Dada thought about it, he also agreed that it did not fit into the story. The hero, Vijay, is assumed dead. Why is Gulaabo singing? The audience would want to know what happens next rather than hear her song. Vijay was supposed to
have committed suicide—is he really dead?

There was pin-drop silence after I had made my comment. Mala Sinha turned to me and whispered: ‘How can you talk like that? You’re a newcomer. You’re mad. Why do you want your scene removed?’ Guruduttji’s great friend Raj Khosla was quick to add: ‘This girl knows nothing. Guru, why ask her?’

‘No, yaar, they all have a right to say what they think. I even ask my valet Rattan for his opinion. It’s okay. Anyway, we’re not removing the song.’

My mother and I kept quiet.

You see the whole unit would often eat together during the shoot and my mother would join us. As a result, she and Guruduttji became friends—he called her ‘Mummy’. A week after
Pyaasa
was released, he phoned: ‘Mummy, I have some news for you. You know the song that you and your daughter did not like? Well, we’ve taken it out.’ My mother got flustered:
‘No, there’s no need for that.’

Obviously he had not removed the song because of us. He explained: ‘In our business, we call a song the audience finds boring a “cigarette song”—that’s the moment when people leave the theatre and go out for a smoke. We went to see
Pyaasa
in a theatre and as “Rut phire par din hamaare” began people started walking out. So I have removed it.’

NMK:
You were right. A song would have been very intrusive at that moment. Instead there is a fabulous scene. When you hear the news of Vijay’s suicide, Gulaabo is distraught and says
nothing. She is sitting on her bed with pages of Vijay’s poems flying all around her. It’s a stunning moment that visually says it all.

The song was removed after the release of the film. That means it was cut out of every print running all over India. How was that doable?

WR:
At that time they did not release as many prints as they do now, so it was possible for them to remove the song from every print. When Guruduttji realized the song was slowing the film down, he knew he had to cut it out.

Personally what I like best about
Pyaasa
is that the film is not verbose. That is its great strength. The Urdu dialogue is simple and straightforward. There are no long speeches and lectures. The ideas that Guruduttji wanted to express come through the situations that the characters find themselves in.

NMK:
You’re right. There is no sermonizing in
Pyaasa
unlike many Hindi films of the period. The political perspective, which gives the film an edge, is not imposed through speeches but is communicated through Sahir Ludhianvi’s songs. His Marxist thinking. After all, Guru Dutt had the most brilliant songwriter-poet working in
Pyaasa
.

WR:
Ah the songs! Sahir’s songs are the pillars of the film. They say everything.

In the 1960s, I remember some of my directors asked me how
the song ‘Ye duniya agar mil bhi jaaye’ was shot. They tried to film a scene in that style, but it did not work because that song came out of a situation, which worked perfectly in
Pyaasa
and could not be applied to another film.

NMK:
Guru Dutt’s songs were indeed extensions of the story. Did you ever have any conversations with Sahir Saab during the making of the film?

WR:
Not really. He was very quiet and I was quiet too—too many quiet people.
[we laugh]

I must tell you I didn’t make many friends in the early days. I used to read between takes. If I spoke at all, it was to Murthy and Guruswamy. We used to talk in Tamil. It was our secret language. I felt more comfortable talking with them. When Guruduttji saw us whispering away, he would say: ‘This is not fair. I don’t understand a word.’

NMK:
And there was S.D. Burman who gave such extraordinary music to Guru Dutt. Did you get to know him well?

WR:
For a very long time I used to listen to
Pyaasa
’s songs at home. I loved S.D. Burman’s music. His compositions in
Kala Bazar
were lovely too.

S.D. Burman was such a friendly and sweet man. Everyone called him ‘Dada’. When Guruduttji moved his offices to Natraj Studios in Andheri where he shot some of his later films, Dada
used to drop by to see us. Dev Anand also shot
Kala Bazar
at Natraj Studios.

It was well known that Dada enjoyed eating paan. He would send his driver to buy special paan from a shop near Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan in South Bombay. He liked sweet paans made with Calcutta leaves and a little
keemam
[tobacco paste]. Guruduttji and Guruswamy also enjoyed eating paan and whenever they saw Dada, they’d ask him for one. He would say: ‘Send your car to town to buy paan. My driver has to go miles to buy my stock, so I won’t give you any.’