When Geeta Dutt ‘believed in ghosts’
When Geeta Dutt ‘believed in ghosts’
For those unversed Geeta Dutt ‘believed in ghosts’, forced Guru Dutt to bull-doze their ‘haunted’ Pali Hill bungalow because it was her feeling that it was bringing them setback
Reportedly Guru Dutt was devastated on being made to raze his Bandra Pali Hill dream home to the ground; his wife, Geeta Dutt, had always felt something creepy over it.
One afternoon, Geeta while in slumber in the guest-house that she shared with Guru Dutt, was awoken by loud banging noises around 4 pm. She was greeted by the sight of labourers demolishing the house before her eyes. She immediately called her husband, who was at work in the studio. She told him what was happening “Let them do it! He had asked them to raze it to the ground. This story was recounted in Yasser Usman’s biography of the Bollywood icon, who struggled with mental health issues and addiction for the majority of his celebrated career.
In accordance to the book, Guru Dutt was devastated about having to raze his dream house, but his wife had forced his hand, because she felt that it was haunted.
His sister, Lalitha Lajmi, was quoted in the book as saying, “She believed that the bungalow was haunted. There was a particular tree in the house and she said there’s a ghost who lives in that tree, who is bringing bad omen and ruining their marriage. She also had something against a Buddha statue that was kept in their huge drawing room.” According to Lajmi, it was Geeta suggestion that they vacate the house, and it broke her husband’s heart. She always wanted to be happy in her household, the most beautiful among all the buildings in Pali Hill. Sitting in that house, it does not look like you are in Bombay. That garden, that ambience—where else can I find it?
The book quoted him as saying Notwithstanding this, he couldn’t stay in that house for much longer.
News Edit KV Raman
