Kaagaz Ke Phool - Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman

Kaagaz Ke Phool, 1959
Director: Guru Dutt
Music: S.D. Burman
Lyrics: Kaifi Azmi, Shailendra
Playback: Asha Bhosle, Geeta Dutt, Mohammed Rafi
Cast: Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Baby Naaz, Mahesh Kaul, Veena, Johnny Walker, Minoo Mumtaz, Tun Tun, Pratima Devi, Nilofer, Sulochna, Sheila Vaz, Mehmood, Vikram Kapoor, Mohan Choti, Haroon, Tony Walker, Ratna
English translation included. The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema has this to say about Kaagaz ke Phool:
"The commercial failure of this film on its initial release prompted Guru Dutt, by some accounts, to stop taking directorial credit for his films. The baroque, quasi-autobiographical fantasy has over time become his best-known film next to Pyaasa (1957) and could be regarded as India’s equivalent of Citizen Kane (1941). It tells, in flashback, the story of Suresh Sinha (Dutt), a famous film director. His marriage to Bina (Veena), the daughter of a wealthy parvenue (Mahesh Kaul), is wrecked because film directing is a job lacking in social status. Sinha is denied access to his beloved daughter Pammi (Baby Naaz) who is sent to a private boarding school. On a rainy night Sinha meets Shanti (Rehman) who turns out to be ideally suited to act the part of Paro in Sinha’s film Devdas. Shanti becomes a star and gossip columns link her with Sinha. The distraught Pammi pleads with Shanti to quit films, which she does, and her withdrawal leads to a rapid decline in Sinha’s fortunes. Soon he is a forgotten and destitute man. Eventually, after some painful adventures (reminiscent of Emil Jannings’s fate in Sternberg’s The Last Command, 1928) Sinha is found dead in the director’s chair in an empty studio. With a more complex narrative structure than Pyaasa, this film can be seen as a meditation on the control of space, itself an eminently cinematic concern and brilliantly rendered by Murthy’s astonishing CinemaScope camerawork. The film dramatises the conflict between open and constricted spaces, between spaces controlled by the director and spaces constraining him, spaces he can enter and those from which he is excluded. Eventually these tensions are resolved in the enclosed and womblike but huge and free-seeming space of a deserted film studio. The tragic refrain Waqt hai meherbaan of the song Dekhi zamaane ki yaari, written by Azmi, repeated throughout the film, endows the narrative with an epic dimension enhanced by Burman’s music. The original Cinema Scope negative has been damaged and few scope prints survive (two are at European TV stations)."
The poorly 'restored' source 'widescreen' version is five and a half minutes shorter than a 'fullscreen' version I have. There are missing bits and pieces all over this 'widescreen' version but two sections I thought important and so I added them back. You'll notice them easily as they're in a different aspect ratio than the 'widescreen' version. Together, the two pieces add back 3:15 of running time.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:
The Indian copyright law:
copyright.gov.i...
INDIAN COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957 CHAPTER I Preliminary (f)
"cinematograph film" means any work of visual recording on any medium produced through a process from which a moving image may be produced by any means and includes a sound recording accompanying such visual recording and cinematograph shall be construed as including any work produced by any process analogous to cinematography including video films.”
"CHAPTER V Term of Copyright 26.Term of copyright in cinematograph films.
In the case of a cinematograph film, copyright shall subsist until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film is published."
My words:
Indian film copyright (including video, dialog, music, lyrics, songs) lasts for sixty years and any film and its songs released more than sixty years ago is in the public domain. No extensions, no renewals, no exceptions. This film is no longer protected by copyright.

[@mayapadiyar3130]

A movie far ahead of it's time.....the Indian audience never deserved Guru Dutt.

[@mahavirdukhi8681]

कितनी अच्छी फिल्म है जितनी तारीफ़ करूँ उतनी ही कम ..धन्यवाद।

[@mahavirdukhi8681]

भारतीय फिल्मी जगत की बेहतरीन फिल्म .इसे अपलोड किया ,देखने का मौक़ा मिला .धन्यवाद ।

[@Adminhydra]

This movie is a lyrical, cinematic, philosophical, emotional, musical master piece. I think pyaasa, kaagaz ke phool and Sahib Biwi aur Gulam are part of a trilogy.

[@mahavirdukhi8681]

यह मूवी यूट्यूब पर साफ़-साफ़ अपलोड और पेश करने का शुक्रिया ,संग्रहणीय ,प्रशंसनीय मूवी ।

[@kamaltripathi8203]

This is the reality of movie line, this movie justify it soul.🌼🌻🌻🌻💐💐💐

[@vir4193]

Such a beautiful movie, a work of art. I first watched this movie and Pyassa as a teenager and I found both movies boring. Having watched both again as a 28 year old who has had many ups and downs in life, it was a different experience watching both movies. @1:50:00 No Indian filmmaker has portrayed this better than Guru Dutt has.

[@tommydan55]

I know that feeling. What at first seems boring, when seen again later seems more nuanced and full of meaning and fascinating. That growth comes with maturity, I suppose, and as you say, with experiencing life. Thank you for your comment.

[@kamaltripathi8203]

Golden Heritage of Indian cinema 🌷🌼🌼🌷🌷🌼

[@sunandmabbula3556]

Tragic end of the movie. I could not make out from head to tail of the movie and intensions of Guru Dutt producing this film. Enumclaw, WA, USA

[@manuelabielefeld6809]

Thank you so much for uploading a decent version of KKP!! This is the first Guru Dutt movie I ever watched and I will never forget the experience. Had to wait for years and years though to find a publication that treats the movie with the respect it deserves. I took a glimpse at some of my fave moments rn and will hopefully watch it in full length tonight. Will also share on my Tumblr and Twitter.

[@tommydan55]

Thanks, Ms. Bielefeld. I remember reading your comment on the other version last year and remember thinking I'd try and get it when it goes out of copyright.

[@tommydan55]

@Dead Soul I'm not a 'ma'am' but a 'sir'. That picture is of Helen. And I'm not on Twitter or any other social media platform. I waste enough time here on KZbin.

[@RaghuvirVarma]

Thank you, Tommy for making the sub-par quality restoration attempt a lot more enjoyable. The biggest irritant for me was the tampered running length, something that prevented me from watching Ultra's upload. Obviously, other problems are innumerable! The sound is dismal, the grayscale is incorrect, the scan is "uneven", the picture is cropped: to name a few other irritants. It is clear that the company, as well as the audience do not care about good quality output for these movies; I had posted a comment on Ultra's upload which, unsurprisingly, has not been acknowledged by Ultra; and has also been downvoted so much that the comment has gone to the bottom of the page. I do not know who is truly to blame in this case! You have done a great favor by rectifying the problems, at least I can be more passionate and engrossed while watching the film now. Ultra just does not allow that for me. :/

[@tommydan55]

I just went looking for your post. Although I remember seeing it before, I can't find it now. Can you check to see if it's been removed?

[@manuelabielefeld6809]

@@tommydan55 I think it has beeen removed. Because I think I answered it and can't find my own statement.

[@RaghuvirVarma]

@@manuelabielefeld6809 @tommydan55 I had to scroll down a lot but I did find my comment and along with it, Ms. Bielefeld's reply to it. Ms. Bielefeld, would you like me to bump the comment, for you to get notified?

[@tommydan55]

@@RaghuvirVarma Oh, okay, thanks for checking.

[@randylall647]

An absolute classic.

[@byom08]

Thanks for uploading Kaagaz Ke Phool, nice to see it retaining the full anamorphic frame of V.K. Murthy's amazing camerawork.

[@cinemax24k98]

Milestone movie of indian cinema. Outstanding camera work by dear Gurudutt ji. This is my all time fev. Film.

[@Voicefromthepast]

Much awaited...Thank you

[@Sudhir999999]

For Ashok 48393 Q: on Pan and Scan It started with English films, when they were converted from 35 / 70 mm print to Video Format. Since for WideScreen films, the image on exhibitor's print is in compressed format and needed special features to uncompress to 2.35 / 1.85 x / 1.66x Aspect and record on a 1.33x blank space, one frame at a time (24 / 25 PAL or 24 + 6 dupes >> 30 frames per second). The visuals when watched on a standard 4x3 TV screen, showed BLACK BARS at TOP and BOTTOM To fill up the entire TV screen, some 'Built - upside down' genius thought of: Analysing a scene, Select the Left and Right area to be Cropped, so that the 'Marked View' is 1.33x Aspect and Scan only that for Video Tape. This great piece of wisdom was called: PAN and SCAN This technique was also used on director Sergio Leone 3 films, starting with # 2: For a Few Dollars More. The viewers were thrilled to watch the scene where Clint and Lee Van, were standing on Left and Right far ends, but their images were chopped off and only blank space was on display. This and other similar 'Adventures of Monkeys in Filmland' was the beginning of END of Pan and Scan drama. But certainly NOT for Anil Ambani's Reliance Media. My VCD of 'WELL DONE ABBA' is of 1.85x Aspect, while the film is in 2.35x Aspect and was available for download at this site. Mr Annnnnillllllll Ambannniii was the co-producer of this enjoyable film + + + + + + + + + The technique by which SHOLAY was converted from 1.35x visual (as well as the frame) to 2.35x visuals and then printed on 70 / 35 mm release print is called: MASKING. The great businessman: Mr. Gadha of PEN Video Co., managed to get distribution rights for one such phoney 'CinemaScope aspect' and sold VHS tapes / VCD / DVD in this format. The 1.33x Aspect items were released by EROS company, but only in U.K. I was able to find one such release (happens to be the one, where Sanjeev is stopped from turning Amjad into pulp. This origina climax was NOT approved by Censors Board and a new climax was filmed) Sudhir July 21 2020

[@Bollyclassic01]

Looks like you wrote articles on indpaedia, to be honest I'm also concerned about big companies that don't care about the condition of a film, All they think about is how to get money. I'm from Indonesia, I really like hindi films from 1950-1980s,I saw someone's uploads about old school Indonesian films, most of which were taken from VHS recordings, the films released on Cinemascope were cut to the right and left.I really hate this, but at this time, companies in Indonesia engaged in film salvage are starting to restore films (the most) in the Cinemascope ratio. But, can we watch it as easily as clicking a video on youtube?Oh of course not, they "send" movies that they have fixed in the app that you have to pay for when you want to watch. Yes, again, they only care about money. I know that money is important, but for a public spectacle like this, they are selling good work. Cases like this are not far away, India and Indonesia, I think films under the 1960s will be well taken care of by them. Turns out no, they let the films rot in the cooler. Information for you : Compared to India, Indonesia is much friendlier to Cinemascope.India (1970s) was very difficult to accept Cinemascope in cinemas, while in Indonesia, in 1970 many films were recorded in Cinemascope.

[@narutohatake9722]

What a masterpiece! Thanks for the upload and salute to your hardwork sir 👍

[@TheAnildesai]

great !! Just great !! Thanx a million Tommydan.This was awaited for ages.You have done a great service.The presently available video versions are pitiable...an affront to memories of Late Guru Dutt.How about cinemascope version -I am not aware how it will be comapred to this wide screen vesion but is that possible ? I can understand lots of technical problems there --frankly I dont know.

[@_ast_3011]

Guru Dutt sahab...kya kalakaar the aap 🙇🏻❤️

[@patrickdsouza1183]

THIS MOVIE IS THE FACT OF ACTORS LIFE.

[@Bikashchandra227]

देखा है जमाने यारी, बिछड़े सभी बारी बारी।👌👌

[@didipawar5312]

Miss uu sir

[@delowaribnkamal2022]

What a class!!!!!

[@erneel2023]

Great movie

[@crazyyuvraj3050]

What a movie....60 years from now..

[@RaghuvirVarma]

"Film Heritage Foundation" has also restored the film, and their efforts are much more appreciable than those of Ultra's. Here is a clip of the film's comedy track: vimeo.com/104489183 only if the whole movie was published by them!

[@yagya2171]

Par khushbu kahan se layege.

[@maitreyeemishra2498]

Had a question, Mr Tom, why is it I wide-screen though all your uploads are not

[@tommydan55]

Because this was filmed in Cinemascope (widescreen) and the others weren't. Classic Indian films were filmed in Academy Ratio (fullscreen). Most channels change the original aspect ratio to make them widescreen. Here's an example of what I mean: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6itapSbjcyMgM0 There's a full explanation in the video description.

[@maitreyeemishra2498]

@@tommydan55 thankyou for that😀

[@Live21Forever]

1:10:30 is too funny

[@_ast_3011]

Here after CHUP movie ❤️

[@lucasdicarvalho8321]

Can you upload a torrent of this ? I rather not watch this masterpiece on youtube sorry if i'm being ungrateful.

[@tommydan55]

I don't do torrents. Sorry.

[@lucasdicarvalho8321]

Fair enough anyway, can you post Baazi and Chaudhvin Ka Chand too ?

[@tommydan55]

@@lucasdicarvalho8321 Baazi has been in this channel for years. Chaudhvin Ka Chand is still protected by copyright so, no, sorry.

[@lucasdicarvalho8321]

That's a shame, I think I have to do with the atrocius ultra upload then and what about Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam ?

[@manuelabielefeld6809]

@@lucasdicarvalho8321 kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWbHhXqjap6ZmKM is a youtube upload of SBAG that looks good.

[@ravi.k.t]

this movie tells that the world will use you and throw after using you. You are replaceable. don't attach to your work. be free from desires otherwise this will happen.

[@gharnalshah]

Can you also upload the 4:3 version? Thx

[@tommydan55]

No, sorry.

[@gharnalshah]

@@tommydan55 ok no probs. keep up the good work 👍

[@ashok48393]

I am confused, if you have the full screen version of the movie then why did you restore the wide screen version? I did not watch this version but I always hate to see a movie which is converted to wide screen without using pan and scan and the heads and legs of the actors are chopped off.

[@RaghuvirVarma]

ashok48393 you see, the movie was conceived in both formats! This was the first Indian film to be filmed in the CinemaScope format, which employs a wider angle to the shots. Additionally, a back up also version exists that was filmed, presumably, simultaneously; to be projected by theatres across India that did not support the CinemaScope format in those days. Therefore, this widescreen version that Tommydan has uploaded is not a tampered or a butchered version. It is very much the original vision of the director and the cinematographers of this film. The widescreen version was only recently made available to the public eye by Ultra. And since the film fell into public domain this year, it was a good opportunity for Tommy to revive the flawed publication by Ultra and post it on his channel. Long story short, both the widescreen as well as the full screen versions stand on their own; however the widescreen version can correctly be labelled as the director’s primary vision. The widescreen version is not derived by cropping the full screen version, and neither vice versa!

[@SamuelShilpi]

@@RaghuvirVarma sir can u explain the copyright thing....wts it abt and....what is that public domain thing??

[@ashok48393]

Vulnerable Demon : Oh, I see! I did not know that. I had previously seen the 4:3 version in the movie theatre. Now I will definitely watch this one. Thanks for clarifying my confusion. 👍🤗

[@tommydan55]

​@@ashok48393 When - for example - Sholay was released in 1975, a single version was filmed, taking care not to put anything important in the top and bottom of the frame. The original 'fullscreen' version was released in that common format. The negative was also sent to England where the top and bottom of each frame was removed to create a 'widescreen' version that was later played in those theaters in India set up for widescreen films. But for Kaagaz Ke Phool two completely separate movies were made, one in 'fullscreen' and the other in 'widescreen'. If you go to the beginning of the Johnny Walker song ( 1:34:04 ) you'll see a minute of 'fullscreen' followed by the 'widescreen' because that section wasn't included in the 'widescreen' version. I don't know why.

[@ashok48393]

tommydan55 Just a thought ..... if your software has Pan & Scan capability, it would be wonderful if you could convert the full screen clips to wide screen without chopping off heads and legs of the characters in those frames. BTW I watched the movie on projection TV (150’’) using a scalar and 5:1 Dolby sound (electronically created) and it was such a pleasure, I can’t explain. Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication for restoring these gems.

[@AmanKumar-gu4iy]

😂

[@kumarshrikant6268]

Not good moovie.