GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Alex Deleon Kaghaz ke phool ~ Dutt's Paper FLowers Is Pure Gold ... Guru Dutt, the troubled genius who committed suicide in 1964 at the age of 39 is a legend in India but little known outside of the subcontinent. In several other films films Dutt as actor/director played a semi-loser from the wrong side of the tracks who finally wins out against all odds to get the hand of a beautiful woman, but In "KAGAZ KE PHOOL" ("Paper Flowers") , now generally regarded as Dutt's masterpiece, he plays the role of a gigantic loser, a famous film director --something like a Bombay Cecil B. DeMille -- who junks his career and loses the great love of his life due to his own self-destructive tendencies, falling all the way to the bottom in a morbid tale with many echoes of Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane". The parallels with „Kane" are more in the feeling, the overarching tragedy of the film told in flashback, and in certain visuals (eg. Shafts of heavenly light falling upon figures in a darkened room) than the actual story line, but also in Dutt's restrained flamboyance and versatility as an actor. Just as nobody but Welles could have been Kane, nobody but Dutt could have been "Suresh Sinha" the star director of Paper Flowers. In the film within the film Sinha is directing the famous Indian tragedy "Devdas", itself the story of a precipitous alcoholic fall from grace by a self-destructive lover. Everything is set when the actress for the key role of the heroine "Paro" drops out. In a driving rainstorm at a bus stop Suresh offers his coat to a drenched young lady (Waheeda Rehman) who turns up a few days later on the set to return the coat and inadvertently walks across the set while shooting is in progress. Viewing the rushes of this accidental exposure Suresh has an epiphany and realizes that he has found his Paro. He has also found a fantastic beauty who will soon outshine him with her own light -- exactly what happened in real life when the actress Waheeda Rehman, discovered by Dutt, went on to become a superstar as Dutt's own career plummeted in the wake of their shattered love affair. Much of what was actually going on in Dutt's private life is woven into the fabric of the film as it practically prophecies his own doom five years later. Dutt was evidently a driven and bedeviled man when Paper Flowers was being made and his personal pain pervades the picture, which was a great box office flop when it came out despite its compelling star power. (Note: Kane was also not a hit when it came out, although it is now regularly cited as "The greatest motion picture ever made"). The commercial failure of the film so discouraged Dutt that he stopped directing although he continued to appear as an actor in other films, notably "Sahib, Bibi, aur Gulam" (Master, Wife, and Slave), which was a big hit and won all kinds of awards in1963 including a Best Actor nomination for Dutt himself in the role of the servant in love with his master's wife.As for "Paper Flowers" which has finally found its place in the pantheon of great Indian films, Philip Lutgendorf, of the University of Iowa sums it all up in his extensive review as follows: "Flaws and all, KAAGAZ KE PHOOL deserves to rank-with Fellini's '8 and a Half'. among the all-time great films about filmmaking and life".

ravikumar-mandadi saw pyaasa first which sorta disappointed me but then i watched this one just for the song 'waqt ne kiya'. for a modern day movie goer there is no sanctity attached to this stalwart of yester years, it follows that no offense whatsoever is intended in my casual language. about the movie, it is difficult to realise that so many scenes seem 'old' because these have been excessively used/copied/parodied/improvised/destroyed in the past 50 years in various languages. but there are so many scenes where the intensity of the passion of Guru Dutt as a film maker is unmatched. Waheeda Rehman was blissful in pyaasa and is even more so in this one..one word 'love her' !! if you were to watch this movie as a critic, you will appreciate it well but if you were to watch it as a casual man, it is heart wrenching. yet, i prefer the latter.

simplycrazyaboutmovies Everyone especially my mummy used to tell me as how great is this picture but I realised it today after watching it that none of the adjectives used in the appreciation of this film is an exaggeration. It is a milestone movie as far as Indian Hindi Cinema is concerned. Every aspect (acting, direction, music, cinematography, script ) of this movie is top notch. It's very few of those Indian pictures in which melodrama has no place. Pyasaa, another master piece by Guru Dutt, was my all time favourite movie but after watching Kagaz Kee Phool, I have no option than to downgrade Pyasaa to number 2.A must watch.........highly recommended...

folkpoet80 This movie sums up the genius of Guru Dutt. A reclusive and introvert man portrayed in the movie was Dutt himself. Too bad the movie went over the heads of Audience in the 50s, however, its charisma has given it the status of a cult classic. Waheeda Rahman was beautiful as ever and acted much better than she did in Pyaasa. I rate this movie better than Pyaasa personally. Kaifi Azmi's lyrics are at their best with "Waqt ne kiya" song topping everything out! I think the beginning is extremely maudlin and same for the ending. He enters the studio as an old and broken man, only to be jeered at by his ex colleagues. A must watch with outstanding Music!!!!