Pyaasa (1957)

Unemployed Vijay is the youngest in his family consisting of his widowed mom, and two brothers. His passion is poetry - frowned upon by his brothers - who want him to find gainful ... See full summary »

Director:

Guru Dutt

Writer:

Abrar Alvi (dialogues)

Stars:

Mala Sinha, Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mala Sinha	...	Meena
Guru Dutt	...	Vijay
Waheeda Rehman	...	Gulabo
Rehman	...	Mr. Ghosh
Johnny Walker	...	Abdul Sattar
Kumkum	...	Juhi (as Kum Kum)
Leela Mishra	...	Vijay's Mother (as Leela Misra)
Shyam
Mehmood	...	Vijay's brother
Radheshyam
Tun Tun	...	Pushplata
Maya Dass
Moni Chatterjee	...	Chatterjee (as Moni Chatterji)
Ashita
Neel Kamal

Storyline

Unemployed Vijay is the youngest in his family consisting of his widowed mom, and two brothers. His passion is poetry - frowned upon by his brothers - who want him to find gainful employment instead. Vijay's poems are quite radical in which he laments about the poor, the destitute, and the arrogance of the rich after the departure of the British from India. His efforts to get them published are in vain. He takes to drinking, gets in trouble with the law, is disowned by his brothers, ends up at a brothel and befriends a prostitute named Gulabo. Gulabo is sympathetic, listens to him as he pours his heart out, and decides to assist Vijay. Watch what happens when Gulabo approaches some of her affluent clientèle to assist Vijay and try and get his work published, without revealing that they are written by an alcoholic, disheveled, homeless man.

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Plot Keywords:

poetry | homeless man | drinking | prostitute | brothel | 

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Genres:

Drama | Musical | Romance

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

19 February 1957 (India)

Also Known As:

Thirsty

Filming Locations:

Central Famous Kardar Studios, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company Credits

Production Co:

Guru Dutt Films Pvt. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rated as one of the best 100 films of all time by the Time Magazine in 2005.

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Quotes

Vijay: Apne shauk ke liye pyaar karti hai aur apne aaram ke liye pyar bechti hai.
[Love, for her, is a hobby that she can barter for material pleasures]

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Connections

Referenced in Dev D (2009)

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Soundtracks

"Jaane Woh Kaise Log The Jin Ke Pyaar Ko Pyaar Mila"
Sung by Hemanta Mukherjee
Music composed by Sachin Dev Burman
Lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi

User Reviews

One of the best musicals I've ever seen

A musical melodrama from the Hindi film industry of Bombay, now popularly known as "Bollywood", although it wasn't called that back then. Well this movie is certainly a lot better than any of the more recent "Bollywood" musicals I've seen, and it's probably even one of the best musicals I've ever seen from anywhere. What really stands out in Pyaasa in particular is how the music is often used to express serious themes and social critiques, which is something I've rarely ever seen in a musical. The ending was also quite unexpected and very moving. The last few scenes and dialogues in particular were powerful and had a lot of meaning to them.

The star of the show here is Guru Dutt, who was not only the director and producer, but also starred in the film as the protagonist Vijay (a struggling poet from the slums), comparable to the versatility of Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. The two main actresses in the film, Mala Sinha as the married ex-girlfriend Meena and especially Waheeda Rehman as the prostitute Gulabo, were also impressive. In some ways, the story has some similarities to that of Moulin Rouge! (2001) but even better than that in my opinion. The music by S. D. Burman and his son R. D. Burman also has a timeless feel to it. I would highly recommend this movie to musical fans, or even if one is not a musical fan, I still think it's worth checking out.

9/10