Bollywood celebrates Guru Dutt’s timeless legacy during the premiere of Pyaasa's restored version

Mumbai, Aug 7 Legendary filmmaker Guru Dutt’s cinematic masterpiece "Pyaasa" has been restored in 4K by NFDC-NFAI under the National Film Heritage Mission, an initiative by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.

A special premiere of the drama was held in Mumbai, preceded by an engaging panel discussion with lyricist Javed Akhtar, filmmakers Hansal Mehta, R Balki, Sudhir Mishra, and senior journalist and critic Bhawana Somaaya.

The premiere was graced by some noted personalities from the film fraternity, such as Javed Akhtar, R Balki, Anubhav Sinha, Vikramaditya Motwane, Hansal Mehta, Sudhir Mishra, Rituparna Sengupta, Divya Dutta, Akshaye Oberoi, Anoop Soni, Juhi Babbar, and Siddharth Roy Kapur.

Additionally, NFDC Managing Director Shri Prakash Magdum and Ultra Media’s Sushil Agrawal and Rajat Agrawal were also present at the event.

The panel indulged in a deep discussion of Dutt’s unmatchable influence on Indian cinema.

Dutt’s work is being showcased across PVR INOX and Cinepolis theatres this weekend, including "Pyaasa", "Kaagaz Ke Phool", "Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam", "Aar Paar", "Chaudhvin Ka Chand", "Mr. & Mrs. 55", and "Baaz", offering movie buffs a rare opportunity to witness these timeless classics on the big screen.

Shedding light on the event, Akhtar said: "After my graduation, I thought I would go to the film industry and join Guru Dutt for a couple of years, and then I’ll become a director. When you’re 18 years old, things are simpler and easier, so that's what I had decided. It's so unfortunate that I came to Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1964, on October 4, and he passed away on October 10, so I could never ever see him."

"I had really thought that when I go (to Mumbai) somehow I’ll manage (to work with Guru Dutt) because (poet-lyricist) Sahir (Ludhianvi) sahab was a good friend of Guru Dutt and he had written songs for ‘Pyaasa’, I thought this connection would work. I had thought I’d assist him for a while, but it didn’t work," he added.

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