Synopsis
Madan (Dev Anand) is a small time gambler
forced into joining the owner of the Star
Hotel, a mysterious and shadowy criminal,
to pay for his sister's medical expenses.
His sister is treated by a doctor Rajani
(Kalpana Kartik) who loves Madan and he
her. But a cop, Ramesh (K. Dhawan), also
loves Rajani. The cabaret dancer at the
club (Geeta Bali) is in love with Madan.
When Madan wants out from a life of crime,
the boss orders him to be bumped off. The
dancer dies saving him and Madan is framed
for her murder. He is condemned to death
but is saved by Ramesh who lays a trap to
catch the villain who turns out to be Rajani's
father (K.N. Singh).
The film
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 set
the tone for the spate of urban crime films that were to come
out of Bollywood in the 1950s and early 1960s.
 Baazi
also showed a criminal hero with a tough
as nails exterior but of course with a heart
of gold inside. The film took actor Dev Anand
to dramatic star status. He was the ideal
actor for the crime wave films and played
in a number of them - Jaal (1952),
Pocketmaar (1955), C.I.D. (1956),
Nau Do Gyarah (1957), Kaala Bazaar
(1960), Jaali Note (1960) to
name some.
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 integrated into the story line rather than
standard 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. 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 by S.D. Burman.
The songs also saw an untapped side of singer and wife to
be Geeta Roy.
Known only for sad songs and bhajans till then, the ease with
which she went western was marvelous to behold. The sex appeal
in her voice was brought to the fore and helped her build
an identity of her own, a style no singer could copy.
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, comedian Johnny
Walker, actress Kalpana Kartik. The screenplay was written
by well known actor Balraj
Sahni.
The film though being a trendsetter interestingly
also 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
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!) |
