The musical, full of drama and romance filled 1965 released movie Guide is considered as one of the masterpieces of the Indian film industry and the film was made by the famous bollywood director Vijay Anand, younger brother of epitome of the suave, urban gentleman Dev Anand.
The film is based on the critically acclaimed novel, The Guide, by R. K. Narayan. The film proved to be a box office hit upon release. This movie proved memorable for its award-winning performances by the lead actors and memorable music by S. D. Burman.
The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, 42 years after its release. Guide is remarkable for the manner in which it depicts the relationship between Raju and Rosie, a relationship which has no place in respectable society of that time.
A live-in relationship is not something that filmmakers want to touch even today. The film also showcases the throbbing chemistry between Rosie and the Guide.
Their growing proximity and intimacy is brought out beautifully by the director. This is probably the first film where Dev Anand has shrugged off his nonchalant air and acted like a man driven by passion and compassion.
Dev Anand's Raju is a very real character, very human. Waheeda Rehman is equally bewitching in her portrayal of Rosie, a woman who breaks away from the stifling prison of her marriage with the help of her lover and carves a career out for herself. It was a daring role but also one which had tremendous scope for performance and Waheeda made the best use of it.
Waheeda's dance to
Lata Mangeshkar's 'Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai,' is memorable even today because of her presence, Lata's voice, SD Burman's music and the superb way in which the song is conceived and shot. Waheeda's performance too won her the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for Guide.
The music for this film was composed by Sachin Dev Burman and the songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Sachin Dev Burman. The film is remarkable and memorable even today for so many reasons, beginning with its unconventional theme, its music and its actors.