When Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman first laid eyes on each other, it was a meet-cute out of a ro9mance. She was a teenager who had just got her first taste of fame, and he was a filmmaker in search of new talent. She was a strong-willed young woman, merely 16, who refused to be be pushed over by intimidating men, and he was completely mesmerised by her innocence. He was a married man, but he left her curious. Over the next few years, he became her mentor, and she became his muse who starred in some of his best artistic works. But, the unique relationship they shared with each other — seen as platonic by some and romantic by others — was always left undefined. She respecetd him enough to not malign his name after he passed, and he loved her enough to not tarnish her reputation.
Over the seven years that Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman stayed in each other’s lives, they worked together in six films. He produced her Hindi debut CID, cast her as a leading woman in the seminal Pyaasa and Kaagaz Ke Phool, dedicated a film to her beauty with Chaudhvin Ka Chand, and cast her in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, even though she had a miniscule part in the film. They also starred together in a film called 12 o’clock, but only in the capacity of actors.
Waheeda Rehman made her debut in Hindi films with Guru Dutt’s CID. (Photo: Express Archives)
Waheeda Rehman’s two conditions of working with Guru Dutt
Guru Dutt first chanced upon Waheeda at a distributor’s office in Hyderabad. He was surrounded by his associates – director Raj Khosla, and writer Abrar Alvi – when he learnt that a dancer named Waheeda Rehman had brought life to a Telugu film called Rojulu Marayi. He was curious if she knew Urdu and expressed her interest in meeting her. In a chat with Nasreen Munni Kabir for her book Conversations with Waheeda Rehman, the actor said that it “had to be destiny” that she landed a chance meeting with Guru Dutt. During that first meeting, where Raj and Abrar were also present, Guru didn’t say a word. He just sat afar and observed. He was a shy man who didn’t speak much and unlike the filmy people of his time, his gestures conveyed more than his words. Waheeda was soon called for a second meeting in Mumbai (then Bombay), and she went along with her mother.
It was in this meeting that Waheeda and Guru interacted for the first time. Guru Dutt Films wanted to sign her for a three-year contract but Waheeda had two conditions – she wouldn’t change her name, and she would have veto over her costumes in all her films. Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Ashok Kumar, Nargis, were all born with a different name but had adopted a screen name but Waheeda flatly refused. When this condition was accepted, she boldly put forth that she would have the final say in her costumes, and upon hearing this, Guru Dutt was mildly offended. “I am sure he must have thought to himself, here’s this girl, not old enough to sign her contract, and just look at her nerve. Then he said in his quiet voice: ‘I don’t make films of that kind. Have you seen any of my films?’” Waheeda recalled as she spoke to Nasreen. Waheeda rushed to watch Mr and Mrs 55, which was in theatres then, and signed the contract, with both clauses in place.
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‘Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana’
Waheeda’s first film was CID, to be directed by Raj Khosla. Guru Dutt was producing the film and he had enough faith in Waheeda that she would be perfect for the role of Kamini, the good-hearted vamp who actually saves Dev Anand’s Shekhar from the clutches of the villain during the beautifully filmed ‘Kahin Pe Nigahen Kahin Pe Nishana’. While it all sounded good on paper, making the film was a tough task as Raj and Waheeda did not get along. Raj criticised her acting, her movements, her expressions but Guru kept reminding him of her charisma. He had seen a glimpse of her magic on screen and he knew that with the correct guidance, she would be a star.
The tussle between Waheeda and Raj was such that she once held up shooting for hours because Raj wanted her to wear a blouse that appeared to be see-through. Waheeda was just a newcomer, but she wasn’t afraid and refused to back down. Guru Dutt was in Khandala when this happened in Bombay, and he was called back immediately to diffuse the fight.
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Waheeda Rehman was just 18 when she was filming for Pyaasa. (Photo: Express Archives)
‘Aaj Sajan Mohe Ang Laga Lo’
While CID was still under production, Guru Dutt also began the shoot of Pyaasa. He was the producer and the director of the film, and while he had initially offered the lead part to Dilip Kumar, he ended up doing it himself. Pyaasa followed the story of a poet named Vijay who lost the love of his life Meena, played by Mala Sinha, because she wanted the riches, and he couldn’t provide enough. His art, his poems aren’t appreciated by the masses, but Gulabo, played by Waheeda, falls in love with them, and him. She plays a sex worker in the film and in some strange way, both Vijay and Gulabo see themselves as people who have been declared unfit by civilised society.
Waheeda shared with Nasreen that she was just 18 when she got the part of Gulabo. She was naive, a newbie and didn’t understand the kind of love that Gulabo and Vijay shared for each other. She recalled how Guru Dutt directed her and shared, “Sometimes, he would show me the movement and say ‘don’t copy me. I am only explaining the framing. Now you know where to turn and where to look. But do what you feel like doing. I am a man and you are a woman, so don’t copy me’.”
He attempted various things to try and get right emotions from Waheeda. Like in the song ‘Aaj Sajan Mohe Ang Laga Lo’, where Gulabo is waiting for Vijay, Waheeda shared that he asked her to think of her dead father. “You miss your father terribly, don’t you? When you climb the stairs towards Vijay, just think about your father and how much you would like to go to him. How much you miss him,” she recalled his words.
Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt in Pyaasa. (Photo: Express Archives)
As much as he liked to guide her, he respected her opinions as well. Guru Dutt always liked to gather feedback after he conducted his first screening for the film’s cast and crew members. Everyone, be it the stars, or their staff members, had the platform to openly express what they wanted. Of course, a lot of them kept their opinions to themselves but Waheeda wasn’t one of them. After the first screening of Pyaasa, she believed that one song picturised on her was completely out of place and slowed the pace of the film. When she shared her thoughts, Mala Sinha, SD Burman, Raj Kholsa, dismissed her but Guru heard what she had to say. A week after the release, he actually ended up cutting the song from the film because he realised that the song was being treated as ‘cigarette break’ by cinema goers.
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To everyone’s surprise, Pyaasa was a hit but despite all the critical acclaim it received, it did not win any awards. The film released the same year as Mother India, and the Nargis-starrer was an awards favourite that year. However, Waheeda was offered the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actress but Guru Dutt refused it on her behalf. He believed that her role was just as important as Mala Sinha. The magazine’s editor believed that this would be unfair since Mala was a senior actor but Guru Dutt stood his ground. Waheeda didn’t get an award, but she learnt a valuable lesson – to never shortchange herself.
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‘He is a married man, and my daughter is not the type…’
When Waheeda first met Guru, she was hardly 17 and he was almost 30. She was always accompanied by her mother Mumtaz Begum. Since Mumtaz was always with Waheeda, Guru Dutt and her developed a friendship. He called her ‘mummy’ and respected what she had to say. He wasn’t the forward-thinking man, as one can see from his movies, but he wanted what was best for Waheeda. Despite having an exclusive contract with his company, he encouraged Waheeda to sign films outside of his banner but with the condition that his movies would get preference when her dates were to be allocated.
At this time, he was making around Rs 3-5 lakh as an actor when working with outside banners. But when it came to his own films, he kept the purse strings tight. Waheeda, who was on a contract with his company, started with Rs 2000 per month, and her salary later increased to Rs 3500. Other female actors with similar experience were making around Rs 500-1000 per month. When she signed her first film outside of his banner, he made sure she got what she deserved and she was paid Rs 30,000 for Solva Saal, also starring Dev Anand.
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Waheeda Rehman (left), Guru Dutt (center) and his wife, singer Geeta Dutt (right). (Photo: Express Archives)
Waheeda and Guru were not involved in a scandalous affair, but there was obvious affection between the two. The kind where people around them could tell that something was brewing, but no one dared ask them anything about it. They cared for each other, but they never declared their love from the rooftops. He was married, and she was a teenager. In ‘Ten Years with Guru Dutt: Abrar Alvi’s Journey’, by Sathya Saran, Abrar recalled how Mumtaz Begum was worried about the future of their relationship. “‘Abrar, what will happen to my daughter? I worry about her’. Her fears were well-founded. ‘My daughter is not the type to flit from man to man, and he is a married man,’ she would say to me. ‘She tells me that he says he will give up his life for her.’ She knew I was close to Guru Dutt and probably hoped I would ask him about his intentions,” he recalled.
Even though she worried for Waheeda and Guru’s future, Mumtaz took him to be an honourable man, and so, she discussed every film that Waheeda was to sign with him. So when Mumtaz died during the filming of Solva Saal, Waheeda felt like her world had shattered. In these moments of emotional insecurity, she came to rely on him, and he supported her like he always had.
‘Guru Dutt didn’t kiss and tell’
After the success of Pyaasa, Guru Dutt cast Waheeda Rehman in his autobiographical film, Kaagaz Ke Phool. Their relationship, which started with him being a mentor, was slowly evolving into something more meaningful, more personal. Abrar, in his chats with Sathya, shared that Waheeda and Guru were quite respectful towards each other and never spoke about their relationship to anyone else, but those who were always around them, witnessed what they shared. “Guru Dutt was too much of a gentleman to kiss and tell. He never openly confessed his involvement with Waheeda to me, which means he never spoke of it to anyone else either,” he said.
Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt did not discuss their relationship with anyone else. (Photo: Express Archives)
It was poetic that Guru was making a film on his life, where he played the protagonist, and the woman he cast as the so-called ‘other woman’ in the film, was the one who was being seen in a similar light in his marriage with Geeta Dutt. His marriage went through many rocky patches, and at one point, Geeta was convinced that his relationship with Waheeda would end of their marriage. Much like Shanti in Kaagaz Ke Phool, Waheeda had no intention of ruining someone’s marriage, which is why she often repeated, “His work came first, then his wife and children. He was obsessed with filmmaking.”
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But, she also never denied their involvement. When asked about their relationship, she told Nasreen, “None of my film colleagues have ever asked me personal questions about our relationship. It was always other people and the press who were curious, and still are, almost sixty years later. I know we are public figures but I strongly believe my private life should remain private. What ultimately matters and concerns the world is the work we leave behind,” she said.
When Kaagaz Ke Phool released and flopped in 1959, it broke Guru Dutt’s heart. Raj Khosla, in a book titled, ‘Guru Dutt – A Life in Cinema’ recalled that Guru described it as a “stillborn child.” 66 years later, it is often described as his best work but Waheeda, was never a fan. Recalling Guru’s words that the film was inspird by A Star is Born, she shared with Nasreen, “When we saw the trial show, I personally didn’t think the audience would like it.”
Kaagaz Ke Phool was an autobiographical film that followed the life of a director who had fallen in love with his muse, shared a complicated relationship with his wife and children. He was lost, confused, troubled, and felt that the world had left him behind. His troubles went undiagnosed as he died a lonely man. Guru Dutt’s associates could see that Vijay in Pyaasa and Suresh in Kaagaz Ke Phool were both different sides of his personality, but years later, when he passed away, it was evident that these pieces of art were basically indicators of Guru Dutt asking for help. Such was the burden of this failure that he buried it inside his heart and never discussed it again. “He never recovered from that hurt. He felt as if the world had suffocated him. He was never the same after that. He talked about it once or twice and after that, he never mentioned it again,” Raj Khosla said in the same chat. In another interview ith Filmfare, almost four years after the film’s release, Guru Dutt acknowledged, “Kaagaz Ke Phool was good in patches. It was too slow, and it went over the heads of audience.”
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Guru Dutt to marry Waheeda?
After the failure of Kaagaz Ke Phool, Guru Dutt vowed to never direct a film again. Thus, he brought in M Sadiq to direct Chaudhvin Ka Chand. Unlike his last few films, this wasn’t an existential piece of art, instead, this was a story of two friends who are both in love with the same woman. Once they realise that they are in fact in love with the same woman, played by Waheeda, they try and sacrifice their love for each other without bothering to ask her what she wants. Abrar, in a chat with Sathya Saran, said that he didn’t want to participate in a film where the woman was being treated like a “shoe.” But since he was still a salaried employee at Guru Dutt Films, he ended up writing the screenplay. Guru was heartbroken after the debacle of Kaagaz Ke Phool, and believed that this would be the film that would appeal to the masses.
During this phase of his life, Guru Dutt’s personal life was in turmoil. Abrar shared with Sathya Saran that his associates, and those who worked with him, believed that Guru and Waheeda would be perfect for each other, and so, they encouraged their relationship from the wings. “Many of us in the unit felt that Waheeda was infinitely more suitable as a partner for Guru Dutt than his wife, Geeta. Guru Dutt’s mother, too, shared our opinion. Often he would say to me, ‘I do not know why I cannot overwhelm her. And that from as private a man as him, was as good as a declaration of involvement.”
Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman in a still from Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. (Photo: Express Archives)
It was not just the people working in the unit who gossiped about them. Abrar recalled that Waheeda’s sister, Sayyeda’s husband Rauf, whom he called a “crook”, actually made the declaration that Guru had decided to convert his religion and marry Waheeda. So much so that he went to the Jama Masjid in Mumbai and made the false announcement. When people started gathering at his house, Abrar recalled, “Guru Dutt was understandably in a panic. He was reserved about his emotions and his personal life, and this was not just embarrassing but had put him in a tight spot for no fault of his.”
‘Guru Dutt dropped Waheeda like a hot brick’
Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam starred Rehman as Sahib, Meena Kumari as the Bibi and Guru Dutt as Ghulam, but the film also starred Waheeda Rehman as Jaba. After years of being in Guru Dutt’s shadow, Abrar Alvi finally got a chance to direct on the filmmaker’s request. But, from the beginning, it was evident that Guru wanted to drive from the rear seat, and Abrar was made the face of the operation. For instance, Abrar did not want Waheeda, Meena and even Guru in the film, but he did not have a say in these matters.
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Years later, Abrar shared that Guru and Waheeda’s relationship was very strong by this time, and no one could discourage him from casting her. However, Waheeda’s account shared with Nasreen suggests that she took up the film only because Abrar requested him to do so, and after years of working with him, she saw him as an elder brother. She shared that ever since Pyaasa, when Guru instilled a strong lesson in her about her self worth, she had been very careful about choosing her parts and so, she did not want a minuscule supporting role in the film but she did it anyway, even though she desperately wanted Meena Kumari’s role in the film.
It was during the shoot of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam that Guru and Geeta’s relationship hit another rough patch as Guru learnt that she might be having an affair. As soon as he suspected Geeta, he “dropped Waheeda like a hot brick.”
‘I will not let Guru Dutt touch me’
Abrar shared that ever since Waheeda had first signed her contract with Guru Dutt Films, he always had access to the make-up rooms that his company had rented at Natraj Studios. She could walk in any time she pleased, and no one would ever stop her, but all of that changed overnight. “To let Geeta back into his life, Guru Dutt had dropped Waheeda like a hot brick. He made the sacrifice to assuage his hurt male ego,” Abrar recalled and shared that he asked Guru why he was abandoning Waheeda “for no real reason.”
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By the end of Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman were not even on talking terms. (Photo: Express Archives)
Since he was a private person, he never discussed why he chose to let her go but the relationship they shared for years, was never the same again. After they parted ways, Abrar wanted to call Waheeda to the studio one more time, for a final shot in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam but she just wouldn’t agree. “I will not step inside that studio,” she declared. He persuaded and insisted, and she ultimately agreed but put forth a few conditions. “I will not let him touch me, I will not talk, or have any dialogues,” she said, as per Abrar. He designed the scene as per her conditions, and she finally arrived.
After Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam wrapped, Guru and Waheeda went on their separate paths. They only met once, at the film’s screening at the Berlin Film Festival, a year after its release. After that meeting in 1963, she never saw him again. He passed away in October 1964. His relationship with his wife collapsed, just like it had collapsed before, and he died a broken, lonely man, just like his autobiographical character from Kaagaz Ke Phool.
