Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema

by Nasreen Munni Kabir

This biography traces the life and works of a remarkable director and actor. During his brief thirteen year career, Guru Dutt replaced the repetitive ingredients of formulaic Hindi cinema with an individual and lyrical vision, playing his screen characters with a sensitivity and compassion
that endowed them with a rare depth. Nasreen Munni Kabir traces the life of this unusual man through accounts of his films and a series of interviews with his family, colleagues, and friends.

Genres: Film, India, Biography

152 pages, Paperback

First published October 10, 1996

About the author

Born in India, Nasreen Munni Kabir is a renowned UK-based documentary film-maker who has produced and directed over 80 TV programmes on Hindi cinema for Channel 4 TV, UK, including the series Movie Mahal, In Search of Guru Dutt, Lata in Her Own Voice, and the two-part documentary The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. She has also directed a profile on Ustad Bismillah Khan and on the making of Bombay Dreams, the musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber for BBC Television, UK. She continues to curate Channel 4’s annual Indian film seasons.

Author of 16 books on Hindi cinema, Nasreen has served on the board of the British Film Institute for a six-year term. She enjoys subtitling, and has has subtitled over 500 Hindi films. Her last book was Conversations with Waheeda Rehman. She is most remembered for her Guru Dutt biography, titled Guru Dutt: A Life in Cinema (OUP, 1996). Nasreen continues live in London.

Reviews

[Rahul Chatterjee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very impersonal , numerical description of his life & work.

[Param · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paints a vivid portrait of the man although feels a little too adulatory at times when obvious points of criticism are tactfully avoided or understated. But a compelling account from skillful interviews with his contemporaries. NMK interviews never disappoint!