Guru Dutt’s son Arun Dutt dies at age 58
Arun Dutt, the son of legendary actor-director Guru Dutt has passed away at an age of 58. His daughter Gouri Dutt informed that he expired last Saturday. She said, “My father passed away yesterday (Saturday) afternoon in Pune. He had been unwell for the past one year. He was suffering from multiple complications but the major reason was kidney failure. His funeral took place last night (Saturday) in Pune." At the time of passing away he was admitted at Ruby Medical Center in Pune. He is survived by two daughters Gouri and Karuna and wife Kavita. While not as famous as his illustrious father, Arun Dutt is credited for his efforts to preserve the legacy of Guru Dutt’s work by organizing festivals showing his films, all over the world. He also took the initiative of digitizing Guru Dutt’s films and ran the Guru Dutt Films Acting Academy.
Film maker Kalpana Lajmi who is Guru Dutt’s niece also spoke about this unfortunate incident. She said, "I was on my way back from Pune when I got the news and immediately turned my car back. Arun died in the afternoon and was cremated at 10.30 pm on Saturday." She also said, “What a brilliant man, but what a waste of life! He drank himself to death. I wish he had gone to a rehab.” Arun Dutt had voiced his opinion against the film on Guru Dutt that was made by Sheetal Talwar. Lajmi said, "He was instrumental in the upkeep of Guru Dutt's films. What mattered to him most was that his father shouldn't be misrepresented."
Arun Dutt was one of the three children of Guru Dutt (real name Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone) and noted playback singer Geeta Dutt. Arun Dutt also had an elder brother Traun Dutt and a younger sister Nina Dutt. After Tarun Dutt committed suicide in the late 80’s, Arun stepped up and finished his brother’s last production, the Dharmendra starrer action film ‘Khule -Aam ‘. He released it in 1992 under his father’s famous banner Guru Dutt Movies Pvt. Ltd. (GDMPL). But the film flopped and Arun, a recluse by nature slowly moved away from public eye. His sister Nina Dutt achieved brief recognition as a singer in the late 90’s and currently lives in Pune.
Arun’s daughter Gouri is a fashion designer and also does
acting in theater. His other daughter Karuna is a former employee of Anurag
Kashyap’s production house.
