This is my tribute to the legend of Indian cinema Guru Dutt for ‘Indianama’ exhibition in Delhi. The exhibition was curated by creative agency ‘Animal’ on the occasion of 69th Independence Day of India. There were total 69 artists who came together to interpret 69 years of independent India. Every artist had to choose one year, I chose 1964.

1964 was the year when the true legend of Indian cinema Guru Dutt supposedly committed suicide. The ‘Rembrandt’ of Indian cinema had more shadows than light in his life. The tragic story of his life revolved around melancholy, devastation, shadows, love and sheer genius. There was something romantically tragic about his death that I wanted to capture in an image. 

Sahir Ludhiuanvi’s Urdu nazm ‘ye duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai’ from the movie ‘Pyasa’ apprehends Guru Dutt’s tragic and complex struggles with life.

Har ek jism ghayal, har ek rooh pyaasi
Nigahon mein uljhan, dilon mein udaasi
Yeh duniya hai ya aalam-e-badhawasi
Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaye to kya hai