Synopsis:
Guru Dutt stars alongside Madhubala, supported by Lalita Pawar, Johnny Walker, Kumkum, Tun Tun and Jagdeep in this socially-critical romantic comedy set in contemporary Bombay.
The films music is by O. P. Nayyar and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Cartoons in the movie are drawn by famous cartoonist R. K. Laxman.
Both of the film's leading stars Guru Dutt and Madhubala died at a relatively young age in the 1960s. Guru Dutt committed suicide in 1964 at the age of thirty-nine. Madhubala died four years later in 1969 of a heart ailment at the age of 36.
Geetā Dutt (November 23, 1930 - July 20, 1972) was born into a rich zamindār's family as Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri in Faridpur, (then in Bengal, India; now in Banglādesh). She was a prominent Indian playback singer in Hindi movies in the 1950s and 60s, and also a singer of modern Bengali songs. In 1942, her parents shifted to an apartment in Dādar, Bombay (now Mumbai) when she was twelve. There, composer/music director Hanumān Prasād once overheard her singing casually and feeling impressed, he offered to impart her training in singing. He launched her in a chorus song in Bhakta Prahlād (1946), where she sang only two lines. But her rendering of those two lines stood out. The following year, she got a major assignment as a playback singer for Do Bhāi, and her renderings in that movie brought Geeta to the forefront as a top playback singer.
Initially, Geeta was a singer known for singing bhajans and sad songs, but her renderings of composer S. D. Burman's jazzy musical scores in Bāzi in 1951 demonstrated a new facet of Geeta's singing. The sexiness in her voice and her easy adaptation to "western" tunes. From then on in the 1950s, Geeta was people's first choice for singing seductive songs and providing song accompaniments in dance clubs.
S.D. Burman recognized the magic in Geeta's voice through her songs in "Do Bhāi". He effectively used the Bengali lilt in her voice in movies like Devdās (1955) and Pyāsā (1957). The song "Aaj Saajan Mohe Ang Lagaa Lo" in "Pyasa" is a prime example of a Bengali keertan being presented in its Hindi version. During Geeta's recording of songs for the movie Baazi, she met the movie's young and upcoming director, Guru Dutt. Their romance culminated in marriage on May 26, 1953. In 1958, S.D. Burman had developed discord with Lata Mangeshkar as a playback singer, and he attempted to work with Geeta as the main singer of his compositions rather than the upcoming Asha Bhosle, who, he felt, was relatively raw. However, out of her personal problems, Geeta would not practice her art sufficiently, and failed to meet Burman's demanding standards. (He, and O.P. Nayyar too, then started to work with Asha and helped her blossom as a singer.)
In 1964, Guru Dutt died from a combination of alcohol and an overdose of sleeping pills. (His death was widely perceived as a suicide following two earlier attempts) Geeta then suffered a serious nervous breakdown, and also ran into financial problems. She tried to resume her singing career, cutting discs at Durgā Pujā, and giving stage shows.
She is supposed to have sung over 1200 songs in Hindi films. In addition she has also sung songs in many Indian regional languages including Marathi, Bengali, Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri and Punjabi.
Geeta died of cirrhosis of the liver on July 20, 1972.
Starring :
Madhubala ... Anita Verma
Guru Dutt ... Preetam Kumar
Lalita Pawar ... Seeta Devi (Anita's Aunt)
Johnny Walker ... Johny (as Johny Walker)
Yasmin
Kumkum ... Preetam's Bhabhi
Tun Tun ... Lily D'Silva (as Uma Devi)
Cuckoo ... Singer (in song "Neele Aasmani")
Radhika
Anwaribai (as Anwari)
Agha
Haroon
Rooplaxmi
Moni Chatterjee ... The Judge (as Moni Chatterji)
Al Nasir ... Ramesh (as Al-Nasir)
Director : Guru Dutt
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