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Short summary

Kusum is a quiet and simple school girl who is crazy about Bollywood movies. She thinks that in movies real life related things are shown. She is crazy about a movie-star and actor "Dharmendra" and he is her real-life hero, she will give anything to be near him. Now, she is growing but still unable to differentiate between reality of life and movie. Such is her obsession with movies and Dharmendra that she is not willing to even consider marriage with anyone other than Dharmendra himself. A young boy is deeply in love with her but the girl does not even care about him because she love that star (Dharmendra) too much. In the movie, girl's mama (Uncle) takes the help of the movie star and shows her the reality of movie making. In the end, the girl gets the points and decides to get married to the boy.

Amitabh Bachchan was originally set to play Jaya's first hero but 'Hrishikesh Mukherji' wanted a totally new face to play Navin's role. After Amitabh became famous in Mukherji's own Anand, the director decided against casting him.

Jaya Bhaduri was studying at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, when Hrishikesh Mukherji saw her diploma films. He called her to the principal's office and offered her the title role. Jaya had done a role in Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar. On Jaya's first day of shooting with Dharmendra, he came up to her and asked, "You are the heroine of the film? Tumhari umar kya hai [How old are you?]"

Though Hrishikesh Mukherjee dropped Amitabh Bachchan from the film, he kept a shot of Amitabh shooting for the film 'Parwana' (1971) in the film.

One of its kind movie having most big stars playing themselves.

This film ends with the line - "Jai Dharmendra".

Jaya Bachchan debutted in the film.

Moushami Chatterjee stated she was offered the film but declined it as she did not want to wear a mini skirt uniform. Jaya was then signed.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Goodman
    'Guddi' is another good entertainment by the vintage Mukherjee. This is the story of Kusum, a bubbly and vivacious girl who is a great film buff and whose biggest love is Dharmendra, the top film star of that time. Her uncle, Mr. Gupta, wants her to get married to a guy named Navin, and she honestly tells Navin of her real/impossible love. Her uncle decides to give her an opportunity to meet her idol, and with the help of the star himself, gets permission to visit the sets daily in order for Kusum to see what film-making is all about.

    The film intelligently shows how Kusum's enthusiasm is gradually fading with every day as she gets to know more of this world. Mukherjee gives us a great glimpse into the world of cinema, and we learn a lot about it, as does Kusum. She learns that much of the action is fake, that actors are not what they are perceived to be on-screen, that they are simple people who often make mistakes, and through the character of Dharmendra, she witnesses their feelings, fears and regrets. This leads to both a great deal of disappointment and at the same time some appreciation towards the star, but she simply realises he is not what she really thought him to be.

    The film is done realistically, with simple writing and normal situations. The acting is very natural. Utpal Dutt is funny and likable with his comic sense. Samit Bhanja is absolutely fantastic as Navin. Dharmendra surprisingly does not have that big a role, yet he does full justice to it. But 'Guddi' is Jaya's film all the way. Her Kusum "Guddi" is a character many would find very easy to relate to, because not once have we ourselves been in love with different artists. I myself remember falling in love with several actresses after watching certain films. The viewer may sympathise and identify with her gradual growth, and that's purely because of her natural acting and simplicity. All in all, 'Guddi' is a worthy film. I wouldn't say it's particularly great, but it's entertaining, well-made and easily relatable.
  • comment
    • Author: Steelraven
    Hrishikesh Mukherjee is one of the filmmakers who made films which were simple yet lighthearted and entertaining, he had big stars in his films but mostly they played simpletons and normal characters and also were remembered as benchmarks in the actor's careers.

    GUDDI was the film that introduced Jaya Bachchan to bollywood, that time known as Jaya Bhaduri. The film narrates her story, she is a child in school who loves films and is a big fan of Dharmendra. The film showcases her journey and how she is shown the true world of bollywood behind the scenes. The film also has Dharmendra playing himself for once, He is a superstar(as he was in early 70s) There is also a slight mention of Rajesh Khanna taking over his stardom(Dharam says it himself) which was true as early 70s was dominated by Rajesh Khanna till 1973. The film however mainly focuses on Guddi and her love for films and how she transforms, The film has the vintage touch of Mukherjee who does a great job keeping the film simple yet fun and entertaining and also educates without being preechy. The idea of Dharam agreeing to help Utpal Dutt may seem unbelievable but it works well with the context of the film. The first half showcases more on Guddi, her scenes at school are fun, there are few references to films and quips like when Guddi's classmate tells her we will go and watch Dilip Kumar's AZAAD she says it will be long and boring and prefers to watch Anupama(1966) again, the film shows a scene from the film and it's mentioned more then once. The film is full of fun in the first half, The scenes at her household are also nice, her interaction with her bhabhi, brother, father(who is a chess expert) and then her love interest are well handled, The second half focuses more on the filmy side with short appearances by a horde of actors mostly connected to Hrishida(who did films with him before and after) There show on the sets of Dharam's some film where he is worried about shooting a piano song sequence and then there are several pokes at bollywood. There is a scene of Parwana(1971) which perhaps was not taken from the outtakes but from the film itself it shows Amitabh shooting for the pre climax sequence of Parwana.Strangely Amitabh was supposed to play the lead but the director refused as he had become famous post ANAND perhaps.Amitabh also did a guest appearance in Hrishida's GOLMAAL where he was shooting for a sequence of Hrishida's own Jurmana There is a shot of Rajesh Khanna who forgets his lines during a simple dialogue, Shots of Vinod Khanna and Shatru shooting for a scene from MERE APNE and also Dlip Kumar. Other shots include Naveen Nischol, Biswajeet and others. All this provide a unique parody of Bollywood something unheard those days. There are several scenes showing that all that glitters on screen is not gold like Om Prakash mentions in one scene wherein the lightmen faints while shooting as he has fever. During one action scene by Duplicate of Pran and Dharam, the duplicate gets hurt while jumping from a chandeelier to a window and a comment is made that the scene will be cut from the film. Dharmendra takes Guddi to a burnt studio and narrates it's sad tale.Ashok Kumar after a shoot of a film(with 2 takes) tells that all credit goes to an actor for a film and people don't acknowledge the importance of work done by writer/director.There is also a funny scene where Pran gifts Dharam his watch and Jaya comments that he never does anything without a reason and then receives an answer that just because he plays a villain on screen doesn't mean he is a mean guy.The film doesn't get too melodramatic and maintains a tongue in cheek tone throughout with some dramatic and emotional scenes thrown in.Like the scene where Jaya's bf writes an article in his diary about the industry and the bitter truth and also Asrani's subplot of his dream of becoming a big star but ends up an extra The climax is predictable and filmy yet it works well. Direction is awesome, Hrishida is the self confessed bollywood fan and it showed in most of his films and here he does a fab job. The film was different for it's times and led to several films with Bollywood like it's backdrop Music is superb, Aaja Re and Humko Man ki Shakti are the best ones Dialogues are superb

    Jaya Bachchan lives the role of Guddi and she is flawless. She is so true to her character that you relate to her perfectly Hrishida worked with her again in Bawarchi and Mili Dharmendra is full of life and entertains as he did in movies in 70s with his natural act. He worked again with Hrishi in Chupke Chupke. Samit Bhanja as Navin is adequate. Utpal Dutt is superb as always, while AK Hangal who featured in many films by Hrishida is natural in a small role Asrani is superb in a cameo, Sumita Sanyal as the bhabhi is good too

    It's so strange that Hrishida's films worked many times without big stars and only his brand name Watch Guddi for it's innocence, entertainment and true story behind bollywood
  • comment
    • Author: Nalmezar
    Vintage Hrishikesh Mukherjee...

    A classic movie, now etched in the hall of fame of Indian cinema, of how a schoolgirl falls in love with a man she sees in the movies...

    Dharmendra plays the part of the movie star with ease...it's almost like he's playin himself...Utpal Dutt once again shows his knack for humor...

    But, it's Jaya Bhaduri ( Now Mrs.Bachchan ) who steals the show.This was her breakthrough into mainstream cinema, and she does it like a pro...showing that she was a force to reckon with during those days...

    Rating - Whopping 9/10
  • Cast overview, first billed only:
    Dharmendra Dharmendra - Dharmendra
    Jaya Bhaduri Jaya Bhaduri - Guddi
    Sumita Sanyal Sumita Sanyal - Bhabhi
    Utpal Dutt Utpal Dutt - Prof. Gupta
    Vijay Sharma Vijay Sharma - Kishan
    Samit Bhanja Samit Bhanja - Navin (as Samit)
    A.K. Hangal A.K. Hangal - Guddi's father (as Hangal)
    Asrani Asrani - Kundan
    Aarti Aarti - Tara (as Arti)
    Keshto Mukherjee Keshto Mukherjee - Kader Bhai
    Lalita Kumari Lalita Kumari - Teacher
    Siraj Syed Siraj Syed
    Mehar Banu Mehar Banu - (as Meher Banu)
    Ram Murthy Ram Murthy - (as Rammurthy)
    Chandra Chandra
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