Synopsis
Kalu (Guru Dutt), a taxi driver who was
sentenced to prison for speeding, is released
two months before his term for good behaviour.
His old employer refuses to let him drive
his taxi again. Wandering the streets, Kalu
helps a young woman Nikki (Shyama) to fix
her car. Kalu goes home but his brother-in-law
will not have a convict in the house so
he finds himself on the streets. Kalu visits
a club to deliver a message for Captain
on behalf of a former jail mate. He gets
a job at Nikki's father's garage and love
blossoms between Nikki and him. When her
father finds out, he kicks Kalu out. Kalu
asks Nikki to elope with him but she hesitates
and by the time she decides to do so, he
has already left. Kalu returns to the club
and takes up a job with Captain and his
band of crooks which includes a dancer (Shakila)
and a Parsi barman, Rustom (Johnny Walker).
Captain is planning a Bank robbery and thinks
Kalu would be useful in driving the getaway
car. The cabaret dancer takes a fancy to
Kalu but sees he loves Nikki. She seeks
revenge and persuades Captain to have Nikki
kidnapped. With Rustom's help, Kalu manages
to rescue Nikki and have the gang caught.
He is a true hero and Nikki's father gladly
agrees to their marriage
The film
It was with Aar Paar that Guru Dutt really
arrived as a filmmaker to be reckoned with.
The film was a crime thriller in the genre
of Baazi (1951)
but by now with Jaal (1952) and Baaz
(1953)  also behind him, Guru
Dutt had polished his skills and Aar
Paar stands out as among the best of
the genre. The plot of the film may now
seem formulaic but scores in its treatment.
It's great strength lies in the way even
the minor characters are fleshed out - be
it the barman, the street urchin or the
newspaper vendor. (This was one of the strong
points of Guru Dutt's films. And since he
repeated artistes he worked with, the minor
roles done in his films standout for their
individual wit and integrity) And for once
characters spoke with a language that reflected
their background. The hero is from Madhya
Pradesh in central India so he speaks in
a particular style. The garage owner, a
Punjabi, spoke with a punjabi slang. (Actually
a glimpse of this was seen in Baazi
itself when the hero is asked for his last
wish before hanging and in true and typical
Bambaiya street language says " Ek special
chai." i.e. one special tea!)
Taking
a further cue out of film noir, the city is very much a character
in Aar Paar. Much shooting was done on actual outdoor
locations of Bombay rather than confining oneself to the studios.
In fact even the garage where the hero worked was shot on
location at the South Indian Garage in Parel, a locality of
Bombay.
In Aar Paar Guru Dutt took his talent
for song picturisations to several notches
above the commonplace. Many directors choose
to enhance the fantasy elements by setting
it in unreal and glamorous locations but
in Guru Dutt's films, the songs are rarely
separate from the personalities who enacted
them. Songs in his films often take place
in locations inhabited by the characters
in his films. A fine example here is the
romantic duet Sun Sun Sun Sun Zaalima.
The song is set in the stark and unromantic
atmosphere of a garage with a car providing
the centre-piece but the way the two lovers
circle around each other within this restricted
space is a brilliant piece of choreography.
Further, Guru Dutt was very particular in
sticking to the vocabulary of his characters
even in the songs. And often started songs
without any introductory music using it
as an extension of the dialogue. Thus beyond
considerations of language and space, the
songs in his films appear better integrated
than in most Indian films. Aar Paar
was a major turning point in the life of
composer O.P. Nayyar who went on to become
an extremely successful music director.
Songs like Babuji Dhire Chalna, Yeh
lo Main Hari Piya, Mohabbat Kar lo,
Ja Ja Ja Ja Bewafaa are remembered
and hummed to this day
Last but not least, mention must be made
of a wonderfully staged sequence in the
film wherein it looks like a major gang
operation is on only to be revealed at the
end of it that it was just a test run! Truly
zany!
|
