The legendary Guru Dutt's son Arun passed away in Pune on Saturday, July 26. He was 58.
While Guru Dutt reportedly committed suicide in 1965, his elder son Tarun Dutt (who had directed Rekha in the 1984 caper Bindiya Chamkegi) apparently took his own life in 1985.
Arun, and his siblings Tarun and Nina, grew up in the homes of Guru Dutt’s brother Atma Ram and Geeta Dutt’s brother Mukul Roy after their parents passed away.
Arun was only eight years old when his father passed away. The child didn’t know his father’s reputation as a living legend. Guru Dutt never encouraged his children to be a part of the movie business. He knew better than most how heartbreaking the industry could be and even made the classic Kaagaz Ke Phool on the disenchantment served up by the film industry.
Arun wanted to recreate his father’s classic Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam but never got around to doing so.
Speaking of Arun, his cousin filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi (whose mother Lalita Lajmi is Guru Dutt’s sister) says, “I am deeply pained by Arun’s death. I just returned from his funeral. Now Guru Dutt mama and Geeta mami’s doomed family is gone. Along with them, their two sons Tarun and Arun have also given up their lives.”
Kalpana adds, “He died of multiple organ failure and cardiac arrest due to prolonged and intense intake of alcohol.”
Kalpana recalls Arun as a gentle and troubled soul. “He was a wonderful cerebral person. But eventually he was afflicted by the tragedy that gripped the family... the tragedy that befalls children of colossal personalities. Can you imagine what a burden it must have been for Tarun and Arun to carry forward their parents’ legacy?”
