''Pyaasa'' (; ) is a 1957 Indian Hindi

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed and produced by

Guru Dutt Guru Dutt (born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone; 9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964; also known as Gurudatta Padukone) was an Indian film actor, director, producer, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998 ...

, who also stars in the film alongside

Mala Sinha Mala Sinha (born Alda Sinha; 11 November 1936) is a former Indian actress who mainly worked in Hindi, Bengali films. Initially starting her career with regional cinema, she went on to become a top leading actress in Hindi Cinema in the 1960s a ...

Waheeda Rehman Waheeda Rehman (born 3 February 1938) is an Indian actress. Regarded among the most accomplished actresses of Hindi cinema, she has worked in more than Waheeda Rehman filmography, 90 feature films, in a career spanning over five decades. Her ac ...

, Rehman, and Johnny Walker. Set in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, the film tells the story of Vijay (played by Dutt), a disillusioned Urdu poet whose works are underestimated by publishers and criticized for focusing on social issues rather than romantic themes. The narrative follows Vijay's encounters with Gulabo (Waheeda Rehman), a kind-hearted prostitute, and Meena (Sinha), his former girlfriend. Gulabo helps him get his poetry published, leading to the success of his works and the development of a romantic relationship between the two. Initially, the role of Vijay was offered to

Dilip Kumar Dilip Kumar (born Muhammad Yusuf Khan; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021) was an Indian actor and film producer, who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated Hindi cinema from the 1950s throughout t ...

, who declined due to the toll that intense roles had taken on his health. In a later interview, Kumar admitted that he found the character of Vijay in ''Pyaasa'' similar to that of Devdas and cited ''Pyaasa'' as one of the three films he regretted turning down. Guru Dutt eventually took on the role himself, and the film went on to become one of the most commercially successful movies of the year. Today, ''Pyaasa'' is regarded as a classic and is considered one of the greatest films in

Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

. It was remade into the Telugu film '' Mallepoovu'' in 1978.

Plot

Vijay is an idealistic but unsuccessful Urdu poet in Calcutta whose works are dismissed by publishers. They criticize him for addressing social issues such as unemployment and poverty instead of writing about conventional romantic topics. His brothers also disapprove of his vocation and even attempt to sell his poems as waste paper. Unable to endure their mockery, Vijay leaves home and discovers that his brothers have sold his poems. During this time, Vijay meets Gulabo, a prostitute who admires his poetry and falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Vijay's former girlfriend, Meena, has married a wealthy publisher named Ghosh for financial security. Ghosh hires Vijay as a servant to spy on him and Meena. Later, a beggar to whom Vijay had given his coat is mistakenly identified as Vijay after the beggar dies in a train accident. Believing Vijay to be dead, Gulabo approaches Ghosh and convinces him to publish Vijay's poems. Ghosh agrees, seeing an opportunity to profit from the posthumous success of the works. The poems become a massive success, but Vijay is actually alive, recovering in a hospital after the train incident. When Vijay returns, Ghosh and Shyam, Vijay's close friend, refuse to acknowledge him. Vijay is committed to a mental asylum after insisting that he is the real Vijay and being labeled as insane. His brothers are bribed by Ghosh to disown him, and a memorial service is held for the "deceased" poet. With the help of his friend Abdul Sattar, Vijay escapes from the asylum and arrives at the memorial service, where he condemns the corrupt and materialistic world. Upon realizing that Vijay is alive, his friends and brothers side with a rival publisher for financial gain and declare him to be the real Vijay. At a ceremony held in his honor, Vijay becomes disillusioned with the hypocrisy surrounding him and renounces his identity, declaring that he is not Vijay. He leaves with Gulabo to start a new life.

Cast

as Vijay *

as Meena Sinha Ghosh *

as Gulabo – This was her first major leading role in

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. * Rehman as Mr. Ghosh * Johnny Walker as Abdul Sattar *

Leela Mishra Leela Mishra (1 January 1908 – 17 January 1988) was an Indian actress. She worked as a character actor in over 200 Hindi films for five decades, and is best remembered for playing stock characters such as aunts (''Chachi'' or ''Mausi''). She ...

as Vijay's mother * Kumkum as Juhi * Moolchand as a restaurant owner * Shyam Kapoor as Shyam * Mehmood as Vijay's brother *

Tun Tun Uma Devi Khatri
Press Release, Tulsi Chakraborty

Production

Development

''Pyaasa'' was based on a story idea called Kashmakash, written by

sometime in 1947 or '48, when he was 22. The film's theme and philosophy was inspired by his life experiences in early struggling days of his life. It is also surmised that the story is based on the life of the film's lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi who had a failed affair with poet and writer Amrita Pritam. Till the project was started in 1956, several changes were made in the original story in assistance with

Abrar Alvi Abrar Alvi (1 July 1927 – 18 November 2009) was an Indian film writer, director and actor. Most of his notable work was done in the 1950s and 1960s with Guru Dutt. He wrote some of the most respected works of Indian cinema, including '' Sah ...

like originally the protagonist was to be a painter. In the original ending, Guru Dutt wanted to show that Vijay left all alone, but on the distributors' insistence the ending was changed. There was a debate between writer

and Dutt on film's ending. Abrar wanted the protagonist to accept and compromise with the prevailing material social reality; Guru Dutt insisted otherwise. The film was originally titled ''Pyaas'' (thirst), but Dutt later changed it to ''Pyaasa'' to better describe the film. Waheeda Rehman's character in ''Pyaasa'' was inspired from a real life character.

and his friends were visiting

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

and they decided to visit the red light area. Alvi got talking to a girl who called herself Gulabo. According to Alvi "As I left, she thanked me in a broken voice, saying that it was the first time that she had been treated with respect, in a place where she heard only abuses. I used her exact words in the film."

Casting

Dutt wanted

to play the leading role in the movie, which the 'tragedy king' declined. One major reason that is cited for the decline is the impact of doing intense films on Dilip Kumar's health. Reportedly, the doctors had advised him to take up lighter roles for sometime. Another possible reason that is cited is the alleged disagreement between him and Dutt over the film's distribution rights. Thus, Dutt himself played the role and movie went on to become one of the most commercially successful movies of the year. The role of Shyam was originally to be played by Dutt's real life friend, Johnny Walker, but was then also assigned to one of Dutt's assistant directors. ''Pyaasa'' was to be made with actresses Nargis Dutt and Madhubala in the roles

and

played eventually. But the two actresses couldn't decide which role they wanted to play and Dutt eventually opted for two, then new actresses, Mala and Waheeda.

Filming

Guru Dutt wanted to film red light area scenes on locations in

(now Kolkata), but the crew was attacked by a group of pimps. Guru Dutt however, recreated sets in

on the basis of photos taken at Kolkata.

Release and reception

After a slow opening, ''Pyaasa'' went on to be a major commercial success of the year. This gave Guru Dutt the confidence to make a repeat on a grand scale. However, '' Kaagaz Ke Phool'' went on to be a commercial disaster. The movie picked up a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

following the world over in the 1980s, long after Guru Dutt died.

Soundtrack

The movie boasts one of the best performances of S.D. Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi,

Geeta Dutt Geeta Dutt (born Geeta Ghosh Roy Chowdhuri; 23 November 1930 – 20 July 1972) was an Indian Indian classical music, classical and playback singer. She found particular prominence as a playback singer in Hindi cinema and Bengali cinema (India) ...

and

Mohammed Rafi Mohammed Rafi (24 December 1924 – 31 July 1980) was an Indian playback singer. He is considered to have been one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. Rafi was notable for his versatility and range of voice ...

to produce one of the most lyrical

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

musicals. Sahir's work in the film's music was particularly praised; As stated in ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'', "While for Pyaasa, a film considered the brainchild of Guru Dutt, the soul behind the film was its lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi". ''Pyaasa'' marked the last collaboration of the long-lasting team of composer Burman and lyricist Ludhianvi. The popular song "Hum Aapki Aankhon Mein" was added to the movie on behest of distributors to bring some relief in rather pessimistic film. It was never planned in the original cut. The song "Sar Jo Tera Chakraye", actually composed by R.D. Burman, S. D. Burman's son was originally inspired from a tune from the British film '' Harry Black'', which was later released in India as ''Harry Black and The Tiger''. He later recreated it so well that when the producer of ''Harry Black and the Tiger'' visited India, he heard the song and not only failed to recognise the tune, but applauded him on it. In 2004, as part of '' Sight & Sound's'' feature "celebrating the relationship between cinema and music", ''Pyaasa'' was listed as one of The Best Music in Film and was named by

Olivier Assayas Olivier Assayas (; born 25 January 1955) is a French film director, screenwriter and film critic. Assayas is known for his eclectic filmography, consisting of slow-burning Period Piece Films, period pieces, psychological thrillers, neo-noirs, an ...

as one of his favourites, who called its music as "possibly one of the most remarkable transpositions of poetry on screen."

Restoration

This film has been digitised and restored by Mumbai-based Ultra Media & Entertainment, thus becoming the first Indian film to be restored to its original. As per the report, the original camera negative had come to them from the archives completely melted, with parts damaged or lost. Their biggest challenge was the flickering. Every frame was at a different angle and there was no stability. After several clean-ups, they managed to retrieve the actual content from the original camera negative, but it lacked clarity and depth. 45 restoration experts worked for almost 4 months on over 2 lakh (200,000) frames. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the 35 mm optical soundtrack. The company sent it to the

72nd Venice International Film Festival The 72nd annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, was held from 2 to 12 September 2015, at Venice Lido in Italy. Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón was the jury president for the main competition. French-Italian actress ...

held in 2015, where it competed with 20 other restored classics and was selected to be screened as part of the Venice Classics section along with 11 other films from all over the world.

Legacy

''Pyaasa'' is regarded as one of the greatest films ever made. It frequently features on world cinema's greatest films lists. It was one of the earliest films to have achieved a healthy blend of artistic as well as commercial mainstream traits. Filmmakers in India, to this day cite ''Pyaasa'' as their inspiration. It is one of the most revered and respected films in India and remains a popular favourite among cinephiles and filmmakers of Hindi Cinema. It is, in particular, praised for its technical bravura, storytelling, theme and romantic idealism. Its soundtrack was the first major of its type in carrying the narrative forward– utilising songs which are a major part of Hindi Cinema's mainstream films and transposing poetry on screen. In 2004, its soundtrack was listed by Sight and Sound magazine as one of The Best Music in Film. The film is considered to be ahead of its time. At the time of its release, the theme of the film was unconventional and hence wasn't widely admired by critics and its acceptance by audience was doubted. It didn't receive any award at the post year's Filmfare ceremony. Even though the film had an unconventional theme and no major actor or actress at the time it was made, ''Pyaasa'' managed to be the third highest grosser of the year. The film received international acclaim in the 1980s when it was first released in Europe, subsequently becoming a big commercial success there, long after Guru Dutt died and is now considered a "seminal landmark" in the history of Indian cinema. Guru Dutt and his later movies, including ''Pyaasa'', have a large cult following, particularly in France, Germany, South Asia and parts of East Asia (Japan, Singapore, etc). It was a huge commercial success during its 1984 French Premiere, something Guru Dutt never witnessed during his lifetime. Since then, the movie has been screened to huge mass appeal the world over, like the recent screening at

held in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, in September 2015. With the commercial success of noirs: '' Baazi'' (Navketan Films)'','' ''Jaal'' (Navketan Films), ''

Aar Paar ''Aar Paar'' () is a 1954 Indian Hindi-language Film noir, noir comedy film. Directed by Guru Dutt, it has music by O.P. Nayyar and lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. ''Aar-Paar'' stars Johnny Walker (actor), Johnny Walker, Shyama (Hindi actress), Sh ...

''; thriller: '' CID'' (produced by Dutt), as well as comedy: '' Mr. & Mrs. '55'', Guru Dutt and his studio were financially secure and established. From 1957, he could now make movies he really wanted to make, including ''Pyaasa.'' ''Pyaasa'' is often listed among greatest films ever made. In 2002, ''Pyaasa'' was ranked among ''Top 160'' on the

Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...

critics' and directors' poll of ''all-time greatest films''. In 2005, ''Pyaasa'' was the only Hindi film to make it to the " 100 Greatest Films of All Time" list by ''Time'' magazine, which called it "the soulfully romantic of the lot." In 2017, ''Taste of Cinema'' ranked it among "25 Most Influential Asian Movies of All Time". On the occasion of

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

2011, ''Time'' declared it as one of the "Top 10 Romantic Movies". It was listed in ''Taste of Cinema'''s "Top 30 Best Romantic Movies of All Time" list in 2016. It is frequently voted in ''Time Reader's Choice'' Top 10 movies. ''Indiatimes'' ranks it among "25 Must See Bollywood Movies". On the centenary of

in 2013, CNN- IBN listed it among "100 Greatest Indian films of all time", calling it "The most soulful romantic Hindi film ever made". It was also included among

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

's "20 Greatest Indian Films" citing, "the cinematic mastery on display in Pyaasa has rarely been replicated in mainstream Indian cinema";

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's "Top 5 of India's Greatest Films" poll in 2002; ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' "Top 3 of Bollywood's Best Classics"; ''Esquire'''s '10 Best Bollywood Movies' calling it, "the ultimate posthumous dream"; '' Outlook'' 'Top 5 of Hindi Cinema's Greatest Films' poll of 25 leading Indian Directors in 2003; ''Time-Out'''s 'Top 5 of Bollywood's Best Movies' poll in 2015 and numerous other polls of greatest films. In 2013, to celebrate the centenary year of

by selecting one essential Indian film from each decade, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' named ''Pyaasa'' as the 'Quintessential Indian Classic of 1950s' decade citing, "The 1950s is the hardest decade from which to pick a film. Guru Dutt's melodramatic ''Pyaasa'' or 'The desirous one' is 'extraordinary', a film that draws on all the features of a mainstream movie to achieve a high aesthetic, from the beautiful photography of the Christ-like tormented poet, the beauty of the streetgirl (Waheeda Rehman) and the wonderful music with some of the great Sahir Ludhianvi's best lyrics." In 2019, the

named it the 'Greatest Musical of 1957', stating, "Until his tragic overdose in 1964, its director-producer-star Guru Dutt was one of Indian cinema's boldest talents and Pyaasa is his masterpiece." In 2011, the British author Nasreen Munni Kabir published '' The Dialogue of Pyaasa'', which contains original dialogues for the film in

and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

as well as its translation in English. The song "Ye Duniya Agar Mil Bhi Jaye" was re-used in the 2022 film Chup: Revenge of the Artist.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0050870, title=Pyaasa
Urbain Bizot, ''Thirst and Mourning''

1957 films 1950s Hindi-language films Films directed by Guru Dutt Films scored by S. D. Burman Films with screenplays by Abrar Alvi Films set in Kolkata Films shot in Kolkata Films shot in Mumbai Indian drama films Indian epic films Films about prostitution in India Hindi films remade in other languages Urdu films remade in other languages 1950s Urdu-language films Urdu-language Indian films 1957 drama films Hindi-language drama films