Guide (1966)

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This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content.

Guide

EVERY website—obviously quoting each other--says that Guide is a 1965 film. In fact it was released in the spring of 1966. Its Calcutta premiere was held on April 6, 1966. Its rival during that time of the year was Suraj, both for box office collections and for music sales. Binaca Geet Mala has Guide songs in its 1966 list. (See Binaca Geet Mala 1966: greatest hits) Guide featured in the Filmfare awards for 1966, and not 1965 (The film probably got its censor certificate in the last week of December 1965. However, it was not released till March-April 1966.)

The Telegraph, UK [1] wrote in 2011:

Even on Air India flights today, his celebrated film Guide (1965), based on the novel by RK Narayan, is inevitably included as part of the in-flight entertainment.

Guide was made simultaneously in two versions. The English version, made in collaboration with the American Pearl S Buck, stuck narrowly to the novel and proved a complete failure. Dev Anand’s younger brother, Vijay Anand, then produced a Hindi script which tells the melodramatic tale of a tour guide (Dev Anand) who gets caught up in the relationship of a married couple, is jailed for forgery, and on his release experiences a spiritual awakening.

When Guide was released in India it opened to unprecedented crowds. India’s entire cabinet (excepting Nehru) attended its premiere in Delhi and the film’s memorable songs – such as Gaata rahe mera dil; Tere mere sapne; Kya se kya ho gaya; Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna; Piya those naina; and Wahan kaun hai tera – are now established parts of popular Indian culture, known across the global Indian diaspora.

Dev Anand would often meet people who confessed to having seen Guide “more than 30 times” and in 2008 the film was featured as one of the “Cannes Classics” at the French film festival. When Dev Anand arrived on the red carpet, it was clear that he relished hogging the limelight again. He even threatened to return to the main competition with a new film.