KAGAZ KE PHOOL - Two Minute Fame !

                                        'The World Gives With One hand
                                          And takes back with a hundred
                                           I have seen 'friendship' of the worldly people
                                           One by one they deserted me....'
                                                          - from the background song in the movie.

                                         

Kagaz Ke Phool - means a bouquet of paper flowers ! It implies the superficial and fleeting nature of people's adoration and hero worship, especially in the movie business. This movie was a follow-up to the movie Pyaasa, discussed in a previous post, made by the same team of movie makers. Guru Dutt  again stars in and directs the movie. It has a serious story with a sensitive touch made in a very unusual style. The talented Guru Dutt , Waheeda Rehman and the songs are the stars of the movie. [I wish I had access to a better dvd print] . The story is told as a flashback and starts with the scene where the director now poor, old,grey haired and bent with age, comes to visit his studio....

The main story revolves around a famous and handsome director of Hindi cinema who is adored by the masses and chased by them wherever he goes. Everyone respects him. He comes across a lady while taking shelter under a tree from the monsoon rains and hands over his coat to her because he notices that she suffers from cold. Then he departs for his shooting schedule. She visits him the next day to return the coat. The director is impressed by her innocence and hires her as his leading lady. 

Meanwhile, we learn that his wife had separated from him because his overbearing in-laws do not respect the movie business. He looses his daughter to his in-laws. The daughter likes her father and visits him often and wants to stay with him. But again his father-in-law manages to convince the judge, during the custody hearing, that the director will not have the time to care for his daughter because of his busy schedule!! The father/director is heart broken because of that. 

Our director then suffers a big loss because of the  failure of his subsequent movies. From living in a palatial estate, he is reduced to living in poverty. The heroine he had promoted becomes famous, while our hero now in torn clothing works as an extra in his own studio where he once adorned the seat of the director!! One morning they find his body lying lifeless on that director's chair in the studio. Only one person, who was his assistant once,  in the crowd has tears for him while the others go about their business.....

[The real star and director Guru Dutt himself committed suicide(drug overdose?), according to old media reports, in 1964 at the age of 39!! This movie did not do well at the box-office but is still considered a classic. Maybe the theme was a little ahead of its time!!]