10 Years with Guru Dutt
23 Aug 2013 4:43 AM IST
The book Ten Years With Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi’s Journey by Sathya Saran traces some never before exposed moments in the tumultuous and prolific career of one of India’s iconoclastic filmmakers, Guru Dutt; through the eyes of his close friend, confidante, scriptwriter and privy to Dutt’s most private moments.
The play has been adapted by Saattvic, an actor himself, and is being directed by him. To make the content relevant to the format of a modern play and to justify the drama that a subject like this demands, the narrative shifts between various timelines – the fifties and sixties where Guru Dutt’s story actually takes place to the seventies featuring the narration scenes where an old Abrar Alvi recounts the stories to the journalist, as it happened between Abrar Alvi and the author of the book.
Tackling the magical discovery of Waheeda Rahman by Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari’s dramatic entry into Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, capturing the evocative beauty of Chaudhvika Chaand, the script ventures to capture the magic, drama and nostalgia of the lives of characters who created some of our most memorable films. The narrative shifts between the eras, and between the drama and narration make the theatrical presentation more effective; made more so by creative use of sets and lights.
According to Saattvic, ‘The last scene featuring Guru Dutt’s suicide required to be tackled with extreme sensitivity. We needed to distance the actors playing various characters from what we were portraying. So it is written and presented in such a way that all the actors step out of their characters and turn narrators. The emotion and drama is kept intact but in an understated manner.’
The play is a tribute to Abrar Alvi and Guru Dutt. While Saattvic plays the young Abrar, Namit plays his older self, Tariq Vasudeva plays Guru Dutt. Preeti Gupta plays Waheeda Rahman while Manvi Gagroo plays Meena Kumari, Dhruv Lohumi plays various characters even as Pallavi Batra plays the journalist. Costumes in the play have been designed by Sabyasaachi Mukherjee and Raghavendra Rathore.
The play has been adapted by Saattvic, an actor himself, and is being directed by him. To make the content relevant to the format of a modern play and to justify the drama that a subject like this demands, the narrative shifts between various timelines – the fifties and sixties where Guru Dutt’s story actually takes place to the seventies featuring the narration scenes where an old Abrar Alvi recounts the stories to the journalist, as it happened between Abrar Alvi and the author of the book.
Tackling the magical discovery of Waheeda Rahman by Guru Dutt, Meena Kumari’s dramatic entry into Saheb Bibi aur Ghulam, capturing the evocative beauty of Chaudhvika Chaand, the script ventures to capture the magic, drama and nostalgia of the lives of characters who created some of our most memorable films. The narrative shifts between the eras, and between the drama and narration make the theatrical presentation more effective; made more so by creative use of sets and lights.
According to Saattvic, ‘The last scene featuring Guru Dutt’s suicide required to be tackled with extreme sensitivity. We needed to distance the actors playing various characters from what we were portraying. So it is written and presented in such a way that all the actors step out of their characters and turn narrators. The emotion and drama is kept intact but in an understated manner.’
The play is a tribute to Abrar Alvi and Guru Dutt. While Saattvic plays the young Abrar, Namit plays his older self, Tariq Vasudeva plays Guru Dutt. Preeti Gupta plays Waheeda Rahman while Manvi Gagroo plays Meena Kumari, Dhruv Lohumi plays various characters even as Pallavi Batra plays the journalist. Costumes in the play have been designed by Sabyasaachi Mukherjee and Raghavendra Rathore.
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