Love in Cinema - My Thoughts on Kaaghaz Ke Phool (1959)

What does Man want most in life? What does Man work for? What is Man's biggest desire? What is the thing that makes Man's life a better life and what is it the lack of which destroys Man's life?

Man is Man only due to love - the only thing that Man desires is Appreciation for Self and Love for his heart - The greatest successes in life and the biggest treasures of riches in this world cannot take away Man from what he wants the most - Love and a sense of belonging. And often this is what Man fails to get in a lifetime - he may get a family but not familiarity, he may get a spouse but not satisfaction, he may live but not know what life is all about and he may spend his entire life living a life of compromise thinking that it's love that sustains him when the reality is that it's not love that sustains him but his mind that forces him to see love even in mundane acts of human consideration - since the heart and the mind have to justify their existence even the untruth is often dressed as truth and accepted as one

Nothing destroys Man and his life more than the knowledge of the fact that what he considers as love is nothing but a feeling of compromise and worse days are ahead in case he find love but due to social sanctions is forced to disown it.

Sometimes all that one wants from life is a second chance - and sometimes all that life will not give you is a second chance!

One keeps pleading and requesting, begging for that elusive chance to set things corrected but Life looks at him and then looks through him and the doomed, unfortunate Man slowly but surely drowns in the sea of his own frustrations and sorrows, defeated and devastated, not let down by the struggle of life but the cruelty of life that decides the fate of Man on a single throw of the dice - a dice that's often loaded against Man right from inception.

This is not an imaginary statement. Often in life, we see merit becoming an also-ran in the race of life and mediocrity emerging as the surprise winner. How many times have we seen Man being destroyed due to a single throw of the dice? As a poet remarked about the power of fate over reality of life:

Zamaane Ne Dekhe Jawaan Kaise Kaise
Zameen Kha Gayee Aasmaan Kaise Kaise

But what do you say about someone whose own decisions, his own acts of omission and commission become a cause of his troubles, sorrows and frustrations. What do you say about someone who in a moment of emotional innocence destroys his life forever and should now forever be at the receiving end of a torturous fate - one that has been the gift of one wrong step. So aptly is it said for a man of that wretched circumstance:

Ek Qadam Galat Uttha Tha Zauq-E-Yaar Mein
Zindagi Tamam Umr Humein Dhoondhti Rahi

Kaaghaz Ke Phool talks about such errors in life that became a millstone in the life and times of people. A classic, this movie which was among the first to delve deep into the cinema world is the first film to speak about lost moments, an erroneous judgement and the destruction of many lives at the altar of one error.

It is a movie that talks about the life of two individuals who have emerged bigger than life and who have found out that they are the only life for each other but still are forced to destroy their own life because they do not have the power or I would say the guts to take life in their own hands and change it the way they want it to change. Indeed, in a way the loss is a result of their own silence and refusal to stand up and change their fortune but it's only the few who can change the fortunes - the brave, lucky few whereas the others are the ones who are changed by the future itself.

After Pyaasa, Guru Dutt delivers another masterpiece of a performance. As Suresh Sinha, the director whose personal and professional lives come together to create a mess for him and his career and most importantly his life, Guru Dutt delivers a tour-de-performance. His fall from the epitome of success to his final destination - death - is all a story of a man's lost battle against fate and Guru shows admirable constraint while allowing for the character's fall into oblivion. This was a performance that could have failed and failed totally but Guru proves that such complex characterizations do not deter an actor of his calibre.

It's known to all that a frustrating and downward spiralling personal life can create havoc in the life and times of the most strongest and sturdiest of people but the manner in which Guru has performed his role is beyond comparison.

A man whose deep emotional attachment with a woman other than his 'legal' wife has not been reciprocated for the sake of social mores and rules, a man whose wife has become more of a cause of his personal destruction, a man who is unable to come to terms with the loss of love - this is what Suresh Sinha stands for and Suresh is not alone in this quest, there are many who stand like him and destroy themselves for the sake of a love that continues to evade them and refuses to accept them.


Waheeda Rehman as Shanti, the woman whose emotional and personal attachment to a 'married' man creates a destructive effect on her lover plays her part with brilliant restraint. The love and attachment between Suresh and Shanti is obvious; the care and respect they hold for each other natural; the emotions and the feelings true but it's her failure to commit that creates a cascading effect on the life of the one she loves, finally destroying him completely at the altar of frustration and anguish.

It would have been easier for one to destroy this feeling and make it uni-dimensional but Waheeda colours her character with a truth that cannot be forgotten; one does not hate her for her decisions since she is not guilty; she is only weak - her weakness may be a cause for the destruction for the other but she is not responsible for it. How can a victim and her actions be responsible even if they create a vacuum that engulfs and destroys another?

What pains us today is to observe that the love the two held for each other could be allowed to become a plaything of a society that never understood that's it primary function is to allow for human love and dignity and not to destroy love that is the cause of all happiness in this world.

Kaaghaz Ke Phool may appear to be a story of a successful director and his equally successful actress and the relationship they share and how it's impacted by the changing equations of the industry, where selfishness rules the roost but if all the trappings of the circumstances and the conditions be removed, at the heart of the story is a simple love story of two people who loved each other more than anything and yet could not commit their love leading to a life-long pain for one and the end of life for the other.

Like flowers made of paper, that have long life but no existence, so is it with people in the industry - they have emotions but have learnt to kill them; they have feelings but they learnt to smother them. They have a heart but they know that for them it's not more than a pump; it doesn't bleed; it doesn't cry - it's a heart of paper

Veena in her role as Bina, Suresh's wife is too uni-dimensional for comfort. One is unable to either sympathize with her or to understand her reasons for her attitude which borders lunacy at times. Her character-development is one of the weakest and I would say personally the only weak spot of an otherwise robust and strong script. Then it's possible that it was necessary to show the estrangement of the two in such decisive colours but it would have been great, if one was allowed access within her mind.

Johnny Walker is effective at times with his comic timing intact. However, there are times when you feel that the track is laboured and could have been done away with. Unlike Pyaasa, where Johnny Walker is a part and parcel of the film, except a few places where Johnny is instrumental in moving the movie ahead, the role that had a lot of promise is wasted.

The only thing that comes out of his characterization is that many a times, the voice of reason is often forced under the noise of tradition - so although Johnny approves of Guru and supports him; he himself often finds himself drowned under the force of opposition by his family and society alike. Bigger is his error, since a man who cannot stand for truth cannot stand for anything else. When life shall decide the final call of error and appreciation - it will be men and women like him who will be considered to have failed for they could have gone beyond the impossible and done the impossible but they would not; since their fear for their own self-esteem was often much higher than their love for the right things.

Baby Naaz has been given a responsible role, much beyond her age and performs it admirably. As a young child, who dreams of getting her parents together and is oblivious of the grim realities of adult life, Naaz as Pammi delivers an exceptional performance. Her's is a role that shows how young minds can be corrupted and mislead at the altar of social realities and as such, she performs her role with an earnestness that cannot be forgotten.

The music of the film can be described in one sentence as - the cry of an anguished heart from the depths of one's feelings. S D Burman as usual is brilliant and puts another claim to being the greatest of the greatest of the composers ever to put forth their wares in the market.

One often feels that the songs could have been better had the legendary Sahir - S D relationship continued and although Kaifi does give us a score of beautiful songs, the songs are not a notch above the songs of Pyaasa which to my mind alongwith Guide is among the top two musical scores of the industry.

Still the songs of this movie stand hands and shoulders above many others due to two timeless gems - one, among the greatest songs ever sung by Geeta Dutt and the other, one of the most beautiful and scintillating songs ever by the 'Voice of God' - Mohammed Rafi

The song that is the pick of the album has to be 'Bicchde Sabhi Bari Bari' by Mohammed Rafi - only Rafi can bring power to a song that is so depressing as this. Just catch the lyrics of the song and you will know what I mean:

Dekhi Zamaane Ki Yaari, Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari
Kya Leke Mile Ab Duniyaa Se, Aasoo Ke Siwaa Kuchh Paas Nahi
Yaa Phool Hi Phool Thhey Daaman Mein, Yaa Kaanton Kee Bhi Aas Nahi
Matlab Ki Duniyaa Hai Saari, Bichhde Sabhi Baari Baari.....

This is a song that pains you utmost and on the top of it is Rafi and his lilting vocals that bring not only grief and anguish but also a sense of loss while listening to the song

And of course, you have Geeta and her inimitable song 'Waqt Ne Kiyaa Kya' to put pain in the minds of the painless, tears in the eyes of the tearless and anguish in the hearts of the heartless

Be-Qaraar Dil Iss Tarha Mile
Jis Tarah Kabhi Hum Judaa Naa Thhey
Tum Bhi Kho Gaye; Hum Bhi Kho Gaye
Ek Raah Par Chal Ke Do Qadam

What else can signify that pain, that heartache; that tear, that anguish more than these words - "Tum Bhi Kho Gaye, Hum Bhi Kho Gaye" - that's what love is all about - the feeling, the pain, the understanding and the song - just too good

Guru Dutt in his last official directorial effort is majestic as ever - however, the strains that his relationship with Waheeda were making on his relationship with Geeta can be felt in the movie - there are times when the pace slackens and there are distractions at times but on the whole, the direction is fabulous - the cinematography by V K Murthy is faultless and there are many gems of scenes that make you go wah-wah over the great director that Guru was, is and shall always remain

Do watch this movie - it is important for it deals with love in it's pristine nature. As Gulzar would say

Hum Ne Dekhi Hai Inn Aankhon Se Mehekti Khushboo
Haath Se Choo Ke Innhein Rishton Ka Ilzaam Na Do
Ek Ehsaas Hai Ye, Ruh Se Mehsoos Karo
Pyaar Ko Pyaar Hi Rehne Do; Koi Naam Na Do

A movie crafted in love; a movie made in love; a movie sculpted in love; And yes, it's true flowers of Paper exist forever but their life has no charm; their beauty no intoxication