Guide (1965)

Even in his prime Dev Anand had something of a creepy dirty old man about him, and his films tend toward the preachy side.  But somehow I like them anyway.  They are well-crafted and interesting, and always feature delectable heroines and terrific song and dance.  Jewel Thief in particular is a delicious confection from beginning to end; Hare rama hare krishna, while more serious and less perfectly wrought, also has its strengths.  Guide is still weightier fare, but it delivers its heavy-handed spiritual message with a beautiful sense of style.

Raja (Dev Anand), freshly released from prison, decides to get a fresh start in a distant city.  On the way, he takes a nap in a temple; the villagers mistake him for a wandering holy man, and he goes along with the error, enjoying the free food and free shelter.  A flashback that lasts most of the film's length provides Raja's backstory.  He started out as a tour guide in a small town.  A visiting archaeologist and his wife Rosie (Waheeda Rehman) engage his services, and as he gets to know them he learns that their marriage is troubled.  Rosie only wants to dance, an activity that her husband forbids.  When the marriage finally implodes, Raja helps Rosie pursue her dream - falling in love with her in the process - and before long she is a world famous dancer.  Eventually things turn sour for Raja and Rosie as well, and a distance grows between them; a series of poor choices by both of them leads to their separation and Raja's incarceration.  Back in the story's present, Raja is drawn deeper into the spiritual needs of the villagers who have anointed him their swami.  Ultimately, Raja must make a decision: withdraw from the con-game that made him the villager's spiritual leader, or face his own spiritual journey head-on.    

Raja's spiritual journey is moving, but it is also a peculiar bookend to the meat of the story:  his relationship with Rosie, and Rosie's confusion about what she wants from her life.  There were no delicate parallels to be found between Rosie's arc and Raja's; the two stories are connected because Raja is involved in both of them, but it seems that Raja could have had any number of troubled relationships and still ended up in the same place. 

Still, while it isn't the most cohesive film ever, Guide is gripping, not least  because of the dramatic, alluring intensity of Waheeda Rehman.  She is stunningly beautiful, and she offers a performance of tightly wound, dark intensity punctuated by eye-popping, brilliant dance.  In her first number of the film, the famous "snake dance," she cuts loose with an intensity that palpably conveys the passion that Rosie's disapproving husband has forced her to suppress.  And the profound, emotional S.D. Burman soundtrack gives her many more moments to shine:  "Piya tose" tracks Rosie's meteoric rise from village entertainer to international superstar; within the course of the song she dances in ever larger production numbers on ever larger stages.  And in "Mose chal," Rosie dances out her anger at Raja when she thinks he has cheated and betrayed her.

All in all, Guide is an effective film, quite different from your stereotypical Bollywood love story, and quite sensitive, if somewhat preachy, in both its portrayal of the earthly concerns of a sad divorced woman and its ultimate discourse in Vedic philosophy and spirituality.

Comments

[Sanni]

I've only seen one Dev Anand film and I truly cannot see the appeal. He's not bad, but he's not ...good and appealing, either. What you said - Even in his prime Dev Anand had something of a creepy dirty old man about him - is so very true. I should see some of his 60's films, but I'll gladly skip the Dev-Hema films, even when I'm a huge Hema fan. I mean, Johny Mera Naam was all right, but something about Dev Anand just makes me unable to be all "Are wah, what a guy!".

[Arun Prasad]

I like Guide because it was based on R.K.Narayan's story with the same name and the film follows the book very well.

[Sidharth Bhatia, Bombay, India]

I suppose you do know that there was an English version of Guide. The movie was written by Pearl Buck and was to be made simultaneously with the Hindi version, but ultimately two separate films were made. The English version had some more intimate scenes of Dev Anand with another actress and with Waheeda.

On another note, I don't think that Raju (not Raja) would have ended up in the same place whoever he got involved with. He is attracted to Rosie right from the beginning and it gets more intense when he sees her frustration at not being able to dance. There is much to discuss about this film, but I will leave it here

[A Hindi movie critic]

hmm... may be your taste is not classy enough to appreciate the beauty of Guide. This film scores a perfect 10 in all departments - script, direction, acting, music and of course editing. Selected as India's official entry for Canne's in the classic section, this movie thoroughly rewards you everytime you watch it.. fantastic stuff for me..

[maxqnz]

Since I can't stand by and watch Carlaji's good taste being questioned, I'm posting the review I left of Guide at Jaman:

I am a HUGE fan of Waheeda, and she can really do no wrong for me. Dev Anand, on the other hand, I'm not so fond of. This is by no means a bad movie, but it's not one of my favourites. It could have been subtitled "The importance of NOT being over earnest", or, less kindly, "Don't be a pompous, self-important prat, Dev". That last really refers only to the climax, which is not only a cop-out in terms of Narayan's original story but is also a rather queasy exercise in self-glorification.

I would still recommend watching this movie, and would say that no fan of Hindi "golden oldies" should miss it, but I doubt I'll ever watch it again, except maybe to drool over Waheeda.

[Jo Pattabiraman]

The movie is not as good as the book (IMHO) , but I agree with you that Waheeda is da bomb. In terms of songs, I really love "Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai". And yes, you can watch it at http://www.moovieshoovie.com in DVD quality : )

[carla]

Hindi movie critic, it's too bad that our mild disagreement over whether this film is perfect strikes you as a failure of class on my part. I think it's somewhat unclassy to express that disagreement in such personal terms, but that too is a difference of opinion. At any rate, the last two words of your comment are the key - "for me" - and there are any number of reasons, some of which I identified in my post, that Guide is not the perfect film *for me*.

maxqnz, thanks for leaping to my defense. :)