Baazi was Guru Dutt's first film as director. The film, clearly influenced by the film noir movement of Hollywood in the 1940s, does admittedly appear stilted and dated today. It's various elements represent the classic clichés we have come to see in Indian films. The hero being lead to a life of crime since he cannot afford keeping his sick sister in a sanatorium, the goody two shoes heroine bent on reforming him, the moll who loves him and takes the bullet meant for him, asking him to acknowledge that she's not such a bad woman after all and dying before he can say so in his arms, and the villain is ...no surprises...the heroine's father, on the surface a decent and well respected man! But while viewing Baazi we have to remember it was among the first of its type. In fact Baazi along with Sangram (1950) set the tone for the spate of urban crime films that were to come out of Bollywood in the 1950s and early 1960s.

But, in spite of the now much imitated plot, there are some moments of inventiveness and experimentation, which give a glimpse of the genius of Guru Dutt, which were to be seen in later films. Songs were beautifully integrated into the story line rather than sbeing tandard items or appendages to the plot. The entire scene where the moll warns the hero he is going to be killed is done through a club dance - Suno Gajar Kya Gaaye. Talking of other innovations, a ghazal, Tadbir se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer was set to a hep western beat as the moll tries to seduce the hero. The experiment worked and how! In fact, the entire music score of the film had a lively and zingy beat to it, all in all a most jazzy score for the time by SD Burman. The songs also saw an untapped side of singer and Guru Dutt's wife to be Geeta Roy. Known only for weepy, sad songs and bhajans till then, the ease with which she went western and seductive was marvelous to behold. The sex appeal in her voice was brought to the fore and helped her build a unique identity of her own, a style no singer could and has been able to copy till date. In fact, Baazi is a memorable film for her as she warbles effectively for both the moll and the doll, all her six songs in the film proving extremely popular!

Baazi also brought to the fare, another type of hero - a criminal hero with a tough as nails exterior but of course with a heart of gold inside. The film and its success took actor Dev Anand to dramatic star status. Though a star after the success of Ziddi (1948), Baazi took him right to the top. He was the ideal actor for the crime-wave films of the 1950s and effectively played shaded roles in a number of them - Jaal (1952), Pocketmaar (1956), CID (1956), Nau Do Gyarah (1957), Kala Bazar (1960) and Jaali Note (1960) to name some. Geeta Bali all but steals the film as the lively moll while Kalpana Kartik makes an extremely insipid debut, both looks and acting wise as does Roopa Verman in the sisterly role. KN Singh is adequate enough as the heroine's villainous father.

Baazi promoted a lot of new talent, several of whom went on to make quite a name for themselves - Lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi, choreographer Zohra Sehgal (yes, she did the dances!), comedian Johnny Walker, actress Kalpana Kartik. The screenplay was written by well-known actor Balraj Sahni.

Interestingly, the film though being regarded as modern and a trendsetter, clearly shows Guru Dutt's traditional attitude to women. The moll is mostly dressed in western clothes, while the goody two shoes heroine is always in traditional Indian attire. The moll is immoral and she has to pay for it with her life, her redemption being taking the bullet meant for the hero. (This attitude to women was further noticed in the dress codes given to Shyama and Shakila in Aar Paar (1954) and even in the posters of Mr.and Mrs 55 where the poster on one half showed the heroine Madhubala dressed in western attire making the hero, Guru Dutt, buckle her shoe while the right half showed the heroine in a traditional sari touching the hero's feet!)

All in all, Baazi is an important film historically in the annals of Hindi cinema but has clearly dated badly and in hindsight falls short of being there.