Overview

• Contemporary directors like Anurag Kashyap and Karan Johar have celebrated the centenary retrospectives for underscoring his lasting impact on auteur cinema.
• Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) are once again praised for their haunting pathos and visual innovation.
• Exhibitions and screenings trace his trajectory from Uday Shankar’s dance academy to cofounding Navketan Productions and directing eight landmark films.
• Discussions have resurfaced over whether his 1964 death stemmed from an accidental overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills or was intentional.
• Posthumous acclaim for Dutt’s oeuvre originated from critical essays by Henri Micciollo in the 1980s and Channel 4’s 1989 documentary In Search of Guru Dutt.