I must have been in my 6^th grade or something in school when ‘Guide’ was released. I remember pestering my uncle to take us to Maratha Mandir to see the film. He had pulled out a book with the same title by R.K. Narayan and with the good intention of encouraging my reading habit which was still in comic-book stage, told me ‘Read this book and when you finish it, I will take you to this movie’. I too promised to read it. Neither I kept my promise nor he relaxed his condition. I grew up hearing the songs of 'Guide', but never got to read the book or see the movie till I was in college. I saw ‘Guide’ in its matinee re-run with friends after bunking lectures! I was neatly hooked by what I saw! The film had such a tremendous impact on me that since that time I would have seen it 4 or 5 times and still find it captivating!

 

I think a film can be reasonably judged by its first sequence. ‘Guide’ starts with Dev Anand getting released from prison. He sets to proceed to his home but then retreats thinking of the disgrace he would have to face amongst his own people. He starts walking on a different route.  Full of remorse and self-pity, as he  gathers his bundle and trudges along the unknown thorny path like a vagabond, the credit titles smoothly roll by and Burman-da’s voice booms setting the philosophical tone of the film –‘Kehte hain gyaani—Duniya hai paani—Paani-pe likhi likhaai—Hai sab-ki dekhi---Hai sab-ki jaani---Haath kisike na aayi—Kuch tera na mera—Musafir, Jaayega kahan?—Wahan kaun hai tera!’. The scene never fails to bring a lump in the throat . The opening song-sequence itself  is a clear indication of a master-piece of a film unfolding! I can’t resist giving the link for this scene below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG5t1eErbsU

 

R.K.Narayan is known for his down-to-earth humourous portrayal of simple characters usually revolving around day-to-day trials and tribulations of the common folk in a village named ‘Malgudi’. His novels like ‘Swami and friends’ are sheer delight to the young and old alike. ‘Guide’ must be one of his more serious works. The quizzical story of Raju, a common tourist guide given to common emotions like love, greed, jealosy etc being tossed over by destiny to the jail and then unwittingly evolving into a Swami-ji and being ‘cornered’ into fasting to death for the rains to come, is not simple RKN stuff! It covers the whole gamut of a man’s range of experiences from sin to spirituality! It was not the regular raw material for a film. RKN had made all his characters grey, complex and human, whether it was Raju the Guide or Rosy the dancer who rebels from her meaningless marriage (it is said that RKN loosely based this character on Kamala Laxman, wife of his brother and noted cartoonist R.K.Laxman) or Marco, the uncaring archeologist husband. They were not typical characters that would fit in the stereo-typed melodramatic films that were in vogue during the 60s. So Dev Anand deserves full credit for venturing into an unknown territory and making a critically acclaimed super-success film out of it. It appears that R.K.Narayan was not too pleased with the way Dev treated his story to adapt into a film. I remember RKN’s auto-biographical serial in ‘Illustrated Weekly of India’ where he talks of Dev’s relentless attempts to convince him (RKN) to part with his story for the film. It seems at every meeting while negotiating the deal, Dev promised him the moon and kept telling RKN that if his story is made into a film, then ‘the sky is the limit’! RKN continues wryly, ‘finally one fine day the sky came so low that you could pierce it with an umbrella top’! (It had also had an amusing caricature of Dev drawn by the inimitable R.K.Laxman).

 

It is not clear why RKN felt let down by Dev, but Dev Anand certainly did not disappoint the audience, because ‘Guide’ turned out to be one such rare cross-over film, quite ahead of its times in Hindi film history, that combined aesthetics and entertainment so perfectly in one glossy package. It was simply brilliant in all departments, be it screenplay or dialogues or direction or editing or photography or music or acting, you name it, ‘Guide’ was just great all over!

 

There are several hard-hitting scenes in the fim - Rosy (Waheeda Rehman)’s volcanic confrontation with her husband (Kishore Sahu's histrionicsmatching Waheeda’s stellar performance) in the cave is one of the most dramatic scenes I have ever seen in a Hindi film. The ironical climax of the film where Raju (Dev Anand) falls a victim of his own ‘Swamy’ image (thanks to a shawl donated by another swamy!) and goes into a reluctant fast-unto-death, (his dilemma when he sees a couple of bananas kept as ‘prasad’ is so palpable – Dev Anand was superb in the best role ever of his career!) and gives in to the belief of the villagers that he can actually bring rain to the village (he says to the interviewer, ‘Mujhe vishwas nahin hai, par inke vishwas-par mujhe vishwas ho gaya hai’!) and the last scene where he leaves his mortal body and realizes his ‘Atma’ etc. takes the film into a totally different spiritual dimension!

 

Music of ‘Guide’ – Well, it is a subject enough for a separate blog! Lyrics by Ace-Poet Shailendra, Voices of Lata, Rafi, Kishore and Burman-Da himself! Perhaps the ‘Guide’ would have lost his way to glory, if it had not been led so sensitively by the Great Burman-da’s music. ‘Wahan kaun hai tera’, ‘Kaantonse keenchke aanchal’, ‘Tere mere sapne’, ‘Piya tose naina lagi re’, ‘Din dhal jaaye’, ‘Saiyaan be-imaan’, ‘Kya se kya ho gaya’, ‘Allah megh de’ etc – Each song is a precious gem, bus ‘Gaata rahe mera dil’ aur aapka bhi!

 

And those marvelously fine song-sequences! As a sample, let me re-produce an extract of my earlier blog on ‘the best picturised song-sequences on Hindi screen’:

 

Vijay Anand had been always a master of unique song situations and picturisations . ‘Kaantonse keenchke—‘ is no exception. Full of unbridled energy, under his skillful direction, Fali Mistry’s camera follows a suppressed woman’s escape to liberation, set to S.D.Burman’s fantastic music and Lata’s lively rendering. That one was ecstatic viewing!
Re-live the magic of this song at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgHEJYGjD9g&feature=related

 

 

Finally ‘Guide’ is a triumph of creativity for the ever-brilliant master craftsman, Vijay Anand! ‘Guide’ has ‘Goldie’s (as he was called) golden strokes of stylish, sensitive and subtle story-telling in every visual frame from start to finish! We can never ever have another director like Vijay Anand! (BTW we have to thank Dev Anand for not taking upon himself the task of directing ‘Guide’!)

 

Decades have passed, but I think ‘Guide’ must be literally a guide for film-makers aspiring to turn out a well-balanced entertaining classic! When it comes to modern Hindi film classics, the ‘Guide’ shall always lead ahead!

 

Congrats and Best wishes to Dev anand on his achievement at the Cannes!

S.V.Nathan.