Guru Dutt To Waheeda: ‘You Don’t Look Like A Woman…’

‘You
have
become
a
big
star.
How
can
you
play
a
secondary
role
to
Meena
Kumari?’

Celebrating
Guru
Dutt’s
birth
centenary
on
July
9
with
this
must-read
excerpt
from
the
book,

Kagaz
Ke
Phool
and
Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam:
The
Original
Screenplay
by
Dinesh
Raheja
and
J
Kothari.

In
the
concluding
segment
of
this
interview
with
movie
legend

Waheeda
Rehman,
she
looks
back
at
her
association
with
Guru
Dutt
and
says,
“He
had
started
becoming
a
little
confused
towards
the
end.”

By
the
year
1962,
you
had
featured
in
several
successful
films.
Did
you
have
any
qualms
about
playing
a
secondary
role
to
Meena
Kumari
in

Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam?

The
moment
I
read
the
novel,
I
was
clear
that
I
wanted
to
play
Chhoti
Bahu,
the

Bibi.

When
Guru
Dutt
refused,
I
asked,
‘Am
I
not
a
good
actress?’
He
pointed
out:
‘You
don’t
look
like
a
woman.
You
look
like
a
girl.’

Since
I
was
adamant
and
pleaded
with
them,
Guru
Duttji
and
(cinematographer
V
K)
Murthy
made
me
do
a
photo-session
in
which
I
was
dressed
up
as
Chhoti
Bahu
in
a
Bengali
sari
and
with
a
round

tika
on
the
forehead.

When
Murthy
looked
at
the
final
prints,
he
expressed
his
reservations:
‘Waheeda,
Guru

theek
keh
raha
hai.
Tum
bachcha
lagte
ho
(Guru
is
right.
You
look
like
a
child).’

I
relented.

Subsequently,
Guru
Duttji
entrusted
the
film’s
direction
to
Abrar
Alvi.
One
day,
I
got
a
call
from
Abrarsaab
and
he
wanted
me
to
play
Jaba.
I
responded,
‘Fine,
that’s
also
an
interesting
character.’

Guru
Duttji
thought
I
had
gone
crazy.
He
soundly
ticked
me
off
on
the
phone.

He
said,
‘You
have
become
a
big
star.
How
can
you
play
a
secondary
role
to
Meena
Kumari?’

I
told
him
I
was
fine
by
it.
I
never
had
any
hang-ups
about
playing
a
secondary
role.

How
do
you
rate
Meena
Kumari’s
performance
in
the
film?

She
was
superb.
Meenaji
looked
ethereal
in

Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam.
In
my
opinion,
she
didn’t
look
as
good
in
any
other
film,
not
even
in

Pakeezah.

I
think
Guru
Duttji
rightly
convinced
me
that
I
wasn’t
the
apt
choice
for

Bibi’s
role.

I
wasn’t
old
enough
to
play
Chhoti
Bahu;
I
wouldn’t
have
looked
the
part.

 

Abrar
Alvi
is
credited
with
directing

Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam
.
What
was
Guru
Dutt’s
contribution
to
the
film?

Initially,
Guru
Duttji
would
not
come
on
the
sets
often.
I
remember
when
I
saw
the
rushes
of
the
song,

Bhanwra
Bada
Naadan
Hai,
I
wasn’t
happy.

Neither
was
Murthy.

Both
of
us
trooped
to
Guru
Duttji.
After
he
saw
the
song,
he
reshot
it;
and
the
song
was
transformed.

He
infused
life
into

Bhanwra
Bada
Naadan
Hai.

Like
Raj
Kapoor,
Raj
Khosla
and
Goldie
(Vijay
Anand),
Guru
Duttji
too
was
excellent
at
song
picturisations.

Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam
was
your
last
film
with
the
Guru
Dutt
banner
and
thereafter
you
went
separate
ways.

I
worked
on
a
salary
for
Guru
Dutt
Films
right
up
to

Sahib
Biwi
Aur
Ghulam.
I
never
spoke
about
raising
my
remuneration.

The
salary
was
hiked
every
year
as
predetermined.
But
Guru
Duttji
was
a
very
understanding
and
humane.

I
was
doing
lots
of
films
with
other
filmmakers.

Guru
Duttji
had
once
told
me,
‘Actresses
have
a
limited
professional
lifespan.
This
is
your
chance
to
make
money.
Do
as
you
wish
but
do
good
work.’

Was
there
any
talk
of
resuming

Raaz,
which
had
been
abandoned?

He
had
started
becoming
a
little
confused
towards
the
end.
I
think
he
was
suffering
from
depression.

His
sister,
the
artist
Lalitha
Lajmi,
pointed
out
that
he
would
begin
a
film
and
then
stop.

Raaz
was
started
twice
and
abandoned
both
times.
When
we
asked
him
for
a
reason,
he
replied,
‘I
am
not
happy.’

He
was
making
a
Bengali
film
with
Geeta
Dutt,
but
he
stopped
that
twice
too.

Something
was
happening
to
him.

In
Guru
Dutt’s
last
three
productions
—

Kaagaz
Ke
Phool,
Chaudhvin
Ka
Chand
and

Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam
—
a
central
character
dies.
Do
you
think
his
latter
films
reflect
a
somewhat
morbid
obsession
with
death?

I
was
in
Chennai
with
several
other
artistes
for
a
charity
cricket
match
when
the
actress
Shammi
called
me
to
a
corner.

Puzzled,
I
complied.

She
told
me
that
Guru
Duttji
had
passed
away.
I
exclaimed,
‘Oh
my
God!’

After
a
pause,
‘Yeh
toh
hona
hi
tha
(This
was
bound
to
happen)’
slipped
out
of
my
mouth.

She
asked,
‘Why
do
you
say
that?’

I
replied
that
he
had
tried
something
similar
many
times
earlier.

Guru
Duttji
witnessed
the
failure
of

Kaagaz
Ke
Phool
and
the
subsequent
success
of

Chaudhvin
Ka
Chand.

One
day,
he
pondered
aloud,
‘What
does
life
have
to
offer?
Success
and
failure.
I
have
seen
both,
now
what
is
the
point
of
carrying
on?’

He
said
this
on
the
sets
and
we
all
countered
him
very
vigorously.

I
said,
‘This
is
a
selfish
attitude.’

He
was
intrigued
and
asked
why
I
had
qualified
it
as
selfish.

I
reminded
him,
‘So
many
people
are
earning
their
livelihood
because
of
you.
You
have
given
opportunity
to
talents
like
Johnny
Walker.
You
brought
Rehman

saab
back
to
films
as
a
character
actor.
We
are
all
here
for
you.
Why
be
unhappy?
If
you
are
upset,
it’s
not
fair
that
you
just
sit
and
be
sad.’

Do
you
think
creative
people
have
a
responsibility
to
their
talent?

Yes.
I
am
a
very
practical
person.

I
told
him,
‘This
attitude
is
wrong.
Keep
making
films.
Think
of
it
as
charity.’

He
was
fascinated
by
this
line
of
thinking
but…

Kind
courtesy:

Kagaz
Ke
Phool
and

Sahib
Bibi
Aur
Ghulam:
The
Original
Screenplay
by
Dinesh
Raheja
and
J
Kothari.
Published
by
Om
Books
International
in
association
with
Vinod
Chopra
Films

Photographs
curated
by
Satish
Bodas/Rediff