Guru Dutt: A Study of Women in His Films

Guru Dutt gave 1950s and '60s Hindi cinema some of its most unforgettable women, and film critic Shoma A Chatterji spends this whole book asking why they still hold up so well today. Rather than a conventional biography, this is a close, affectionate study of the female characters Guru Dutt built with screenwriter Abrar Alvi - women written with real inner strength and complexity, at a time when Hindi cinema mostly reduced them to decoration or victimhood. Chatterji, a National Award-winning film critic with decades of writing behind her, traces how these characters were shaped with love and compassion rather than vulgarity or stereotype, and what that choice meant for Indian cinema's portrayal of women more broadly. Timed as a 100-Year Edition marking Guru Dutt's birth centenary, this is a thoughtful pick for cinema buffs, film studies students, and anyone curious about gender and representation in classic Bollywood. Director-cinematographer Goutam Ghose calls it the clearest, deepest exploration of women in Guru Dutt's films yet written - high praise for a book aimed squarely at serious film lovers and Guru Dutt devotees alike.