Lalitha Lajmi on Guru Dutt's wife Geeta: She believed that the bungalow was haunted

Berlin 1963Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam was Indiarsquos official entry at the 13th Berlin International Film Festival On 26 June 1963 its lead actors Guru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman attended the festival along with the filmrsquos director Abrar Alvi The screening took place the next day but the film failed to create any flutter as the international audience could not relate to the overt melodrama and the very Indian theme This despite the fact that the film had been trimmed specially for the festival There were hardly twentyfive people in the theatre and their interest in the film could not be sustained The film was outrightly rejectedGuru Dutt walked out of his own screeningGuru Dutt and Waheeda Rehman Shooting still from Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam 1963On this very same trip Waheeda RehmanmdashGuru Duttrsquos proteacutegeacute and the one and only lead actress in his films for a substantial part of his careermdashconclusively yet gracefully conveyed the end of her relationship with Guru DuttlsquoYes The last time I saw him must have been in Berlinrsquo said Waheeda Rehman Things had started to unravel towards the close of their last shoot together for Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam Guru Duttrsquos younger sister the eminent artist Lalitha Lajmi remembers lsquoWaheeda and Guru Dutt had almost parted She used to invite us both sometimes for dinner and my brother knew she was friendly with me I heard Guru Dutt went with a bouquet of flowers to her home and the doors were not opened to him Perhaps it was after this incident I had visited him and for the first time he told me not to keep in touch with her any morersquoGeeta Bali Dutts first lead actress and Geeta DuttThe very next day Guru Dutt left BerlinLegendary filmmaker BR Chopra recalled lsquoThat man Guru Dutt drank all the way back from Berlin to Bombay while keeping all to himself in a corner seat We knew all about Waheeda having told him pointblank that she had made up her mind about him and that was it She also discreetly left Guru Dutt to find his own way back Guru Dutt was clearly heading towards turning into a mental and physical wreckhellipI instinctively knew that it was the beginning of the endrsquoGuru Dutt used up all the sleeping pills that he had carried with him to Berlin He didnrsquot sleep for the next four nights lsquoHe said to me ldquoI think I will go madrdquorsquo recalled Bimal Mitra the writer of Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam and undoubtedly a giant in the literary world from BengalBombay 1963Back in Bombay his wife Geeta Duttmdashthe glorious singer who had broken playback singing traditions to bring a fresh naturalness to Indian film songsmdashhad started blaming their bungalow for all their woes They shared only a decade old but widely celebrated storymdashthe star singer and the struggling filmmaker having found love in tinseltown Deep down she believed that their relationship had developed an irreparable rift only after they shifted to this bungalow in the very posh locality of Pali HillAt the Berlin Film Festival for the screening of Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam 1963 Guru Dutt Waheeda Rehman and Abrar Alvi Pics courtesyLalitha Lajmis personal collection National Film Archive of India PuneLalitha Lajmi who witnessed the relationship from the early days of courtship till the end further recalls lsquoShe believed that the bungalow was haunted There was a particular tree in the house and she said therersquos a ghost who lives in that tree who is bringing bad omen and ruining their marriage She also had something against a Buddha statue that was kept in their huge drawing roomrsquo According to Lalitha it was Geeta who had suggested that they must leaveThis prospect was heartbreaking for Guru DuttIt had been his dream housemdashbut never the home he had always longed for Guru Dutt had twice attempted to kill himself in this house and survived both attemptsOnce after surviving a suicide attempt a close friend asked Guru Dutt lsquoWhy should you have done it You have fame you have wealth you have the adoration of the masses You possess all that most people crave for Why are you so dissatisfied with lifersquoGuru Dutt replied lsquoI am not dissatisfied with life I am dissatisfied within myself True I have all that people crave for Still I donrsquot have that which most people possessmdasha nook where one can repair retire to after the dayrsquos task is done where one can find some peace and forget onersquos cares If only I could get that life would be worth livingrsquoFrom a house that had been home to the birth of so many great stories on celluloid it now only birthed insomnia for Guru Dutt So despite living in one of the most beautiful bungalows in Bombayrsquos prime real estate Guru Dutt would leave the house early every morning and reach his studio with sleepdeprived eyes The studio wouldnrsquot be open at that hour and silence hung all around it Guru Duttrsquos man Friday Ratan would open the lock of the small chambermdasha seven feet by seven feet room with a precious small bed This is where Guru Dutt would lie down quietly and finally find sleeplsquoI always wanted to be happy in my household My house is the most beautiful among all the buildings in Pali Hill Sitting in that house it does not look like you are in Bombay That garden that ambiencemdashwhere else can I find it Despite this I could not stay in that house for much longerrsquo once shared Guru DuttAway from his luxurious and palatial bungalow this small room was where he would find peace and sleepAnd then on the morning of his birthdaymdashten days after his return from Berlinmdashhe called in workers and told them to demolish his Pali Hill bungalowlsquoI remember it was his birthday He loved that house and he was heartbroken when it was demolishedrsquo recalls his sister Lalitha LajmilsquoBut what is the real reason for demolishing the bungalow Bimal Mitra asked him That bungalow washelliprsquo lsquoBecause of Geetarsquo Guru said in a low voicelsquoWhat does that even meanrsquo Mitra asked Guru took a puff of his cigarette and gently explained lsquoGhar na hone ki takleef se ghar hone ki takleef aur bhayankar hoti hairsquo The pain of having a home sometimes can outweigh the pain of not having oneIt seems like sharp reminder of the scene from their film Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam where Guru Dutt playing a middleaged architect goes back to the haveli and asks the workers to pull it down His life and cinema kept merging with each other like thatAbout a year later the last shot he gave was for the film Baharen Phir Bhi Aayengi Playing a reporter he hands over his resignation letter to his editor and says lsquoI am leavingrsquoExcerpted with permission from Guru Dutt An Unfinished Story by Yasser Usman published by Simon amp Schuster India