Yours Guru Dutt Intimate Letters of a Great Indian Filmmaker

In 1951, when filmmaker Guru Dutt was twenty-six years old, he met the talented playback singer Geeta Roy. A few days later, when he wrote her a first letter, it marked the beginning of a correspondence that spanned a 13-year-long relationship - from their courtship and turbulent marriage to the troubled years that ultimately led to Guru Dutt's tragic suicide in 1964.

Yours Guru Dutt: Intimate Letters of a Great Indian Filmmaker presents thirty-seven letters, previously never published, of which the vast majority addressed to Geeta Dutt, and includes postcards sent to his sons, Tarun and Arun. Guru Dutt's correspondence paints an inmate portrait of the passions and obsessions of a tormented cinema genius.

There is often a divide between an artist and his creations but it is evident that Guru Dutt's films closely echo the inner turmoil that permeates these heartfelt outpourings.

About the Author:

NASREEN MUNNI KABIR is a documentary filmmaker / author who has made several television series on Hindi cinema for UK's Channel 4 including In Search of Guru Dutt and Movie Mahal. Her recent documentaries are Bismillah of Benaras, The Inner World of Shah Rukh Khan and The Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. She has written many books on Indian cimnema including Guru Dutt - A Life in cinema (1996) and Talking Songs with Javed Akhtar (2005).

Born in India, Nasreen Munni Kabir had lived most of her life in London and Paris (where she organized the first major Indian film festival at the Georges Pompidou Centre in 1958). In 1999, she won the first Asian Women's Achievement Award in Media for her work in promoting Indian cinema in the UK.

Nasreen Munni Kabir continues to work as Channel 4's film consultant and is currently a governor or the board of the British Film Institute.