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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

AI’s Maharaja smiles joyfully

All 30 grounded aircrafts now fly Mumbai : Air India’s Maharaja is all pleased as punch at 80. After years of huge costs and efforts, the last of the grounded 30 aircraft – inherited by the Tata Group during the privatization in Jan. 2022 – is now resurrected fully and took to the skies gracefully on Monday.   The aircraft is the gleaming VT-ALL, a Boeing 777-300ER, that was gathering grime since February 2020, and becomes the final among the two-and-half dozen aircraft that have been revved...

AI’s Maharaja smiles joyfully

All 30 grounded aircrafts now fly Mumbai : Air India’s Maharaja is all pleased as punch at 80. After years of huge costs and efforts, the last of the grounded 30 aircraft – inherited by the Tata Group during the privatization in Jan. 2022 – is now resurrected fully and took to the skies gracefully on Monday.   The aircraft is the gleaming VT-ALL, a Boeing 777-300ER, that was gathering grime since February 2020, and becomes the final among the two-and-half dozen aircraft that have been revved up and revived in the past few years, AI official sources said.   It marked a symbolic milestone for Air India itself - founded in 1932 by the legendary Bharat Ratna J. R. R. Tata - which once ruled the roost and was India’s pride in the global skies.   Once renowned for its royal service with the iconic Maharaja welcoming fliers on board, in 1953 it was taken over by the government of India. After years of piling losses, ageing aircraft, decline in operations and standards – almost like a Maharaja turning a pauper - it returned to the Tata Group four years ago.   This time it was not just the aircraft, the brand and the deflated Maharaja coming into the large-hearted Tata Group stables, but a formidable challenge to ensure that the airline could regain its old glory and glitter. Of the total around 190 aircraft in its fleet were 30 – or 15 pc – that had been grounded and neglected for years.   At that time, the late Ratan N. Tata had directed that all these valuable aircraft must be revived as far as possible and join the fleet. Accordingly, the VT-ALL, languishing at Nagpur for nearly five years, was ‘hospitalized’ at the Air India Engineering Service Ltd., its MRO facility in May 2025.   New Avatar Then started a thorough, painstaking nose-to-tail restoration of an unprecedented scale, in which over 3000 critical components were replaced, over 4,000 maintenance tasks executed, besides key structural upgrades like the longeron modification, engines, auxiliary power units, avionics, hydraulics, landing gears and almost every vital system was rebuilt or replaced.   After the repairs, the old aircraft was reborn, under the gaze of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and technical assistance from Boeing, and the new ‘avatar’ jetliner emerged with the highest global safety standards.   The aircraft cleared all the rigorous checks, a successful test flight, earned the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate and then made its maiden commercial flight from Monday, March 16 – after a wait of six years.   Sturdy Fliers Created in 1946 to become an instant global icon, the Air India’s mascot Maharaja now sports a youthful and chic look, a welcome with folded hands, closed eyes, featuring a bejewelled turban, stylish jootis, and a textured kurta in Air India’s new colours. He is prominently visible at various touch-points in a flyer’s journey, such as First Class, exclusive lounges, and luxury products.   Today, he commands a mix fleet of around 190 narrow and wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft like : A319, A320, A320neo, A321, A321neo, A350-900 and B787-8, B787-9, B7770200LR, B-777-300ER. With the merger of Vistara and agreements signed for 10 A350 and 90 A320 aircraft, the Maharaja’s fleet is slated to soar to some 570 in the near future.

Cinematic Genius, Tragic Life

Guru Dutt was born Gurudutt Padukone in Bangalore on 9 July 1925. His father, Shivshankar Rao Padukone, had married Vasanthi in 1923. The family, part of the Saraswat Mangalorean community, later moved to Bombay, where Dutt spent his early years in a modest Matunga flat. Shivshankar changed jobs often, and the family struggled financially. Dutt, the eldest of five, was followed by Atmaram, Lalitha, Devi, and Vijay. His name was eventually shortened to Guru Dutt.


In 1929, Vasanthi moved to Calcutta with the children; Shivshankar joined later and spent 30 years with Burma Shell. In Bhowanipur, Dutt became fond of jatra performances and soon spoke fluent Bengali. Vasanthi’s cousin, cinema-hoarding artist B.B. Benegal, also influenced the children. After school in 1940, Dutt briefly worked as a telephone operator before turning to dance. From 1942 to 1944, he trained in Oriental dance at Uday Shankar’s Almoracentre on a Rs 75 monthly scholarship but had to leave when it shut down.


His sister, Lalitha Lajmi, became one of India’s finest artists, while her daughter, Kalpana Lajmi, became a noted filmmaker. ShyamBenegal was a close family relative.


Dutt moved to Pune, then known as Poona, and joined Prabhat Studios on a three-year contract as a dance director, occasionally acting in B-grade films and assisting directors. There, he learnt the craft of filmmaking. He met Dev Anand on Hum Ek Hain (1946)—Dutt as dance director, Anand as lead—and they became lifelong friends. Returning to Bombay in 1947, Dutt remained unemployed for a year due to the post-Partition slump, later joining Gyan Mukherjee as an assistant.


Dutt debuted as a director with Baazi (1951), produced by Dev Anand’s Navketan Films. During its recording, he met singer Geeta Roy; they fell in love and married in 1953. The marriage, with three children, soon turned turbulent.


Baazi is remembered for S.D. Burman’s experimental ghazal Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana Le, set to Western music, and the choreography of SunoGajar Kya Gaaye. Dutt then launched his production house and made Baaz, acting opposite Geeta Bali. Jaal (1952), reportedly inspired by De Santis’s Bitter Rice (1948), broke clichés of Christians as carefree caricatures, portraying fishermen as hard-working and honest. Though framed as a thriller, it resonated as a love story with memorable songs. Its black-and-white visuals, shot by V.K. Murthy—who shot all of Dutt’s films—evoke deep nostalgia.


His first major hit was Aar Paar (1954), a stylish thriller with polished production. This was followed by Mr. & Mrs. 55 (1955), a breezy romance that hinted at women’s rights, and C.I.D. (1956), a gripping thriller that launched Waheeda Rehman’s career. His films stood out for their music, lyrical depth, and striking visuals.


Pyaasa (1957) was the first of Dutt’s tragic masterpieces, followed by KaagazKe Phool (1959) and Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). In Pyaasa, Meena and Gulab—Vijay’s former lover and a compassionate prostitute—serve as emotional contrasts, amplifying the film’s impact without weakening its core message.


KaagazKe Phool remains one of Indian cinema’s finest self-reflexive films—a tribute to the studio era of the 1930s–40s. In one scene, Suresh, the director-protagonist, watches Vidyapati (1937), a classic of the time. The films he’s shown directing are real titles from Indian archives.


India’s first CinemaScope film, featured stunning cinematography by V.K. Murthy, who captured the studio mood using lighting and shadow. He balanced the narrative with the ‘film-within-a-film’ structure, using chiaroscuro to separate illusion from realism. The sets reflected two moods—success, with bright lights and bustle, and decline, as a solitary Suresh wanders through an empty studio.


The film also bears autobiographical undertones—Dutt’s elegy to himself, conveyed through script, imagery, and rhythm. A strained relationship with a leading lady reportedly caused rifts with Geeta Dutt. Battling insomnia, he drank during shoots and suffered depression. His premature death seemed tragically foretold in the film.


With Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Duttimmortalised a Bengali classic, drawing a landmark performance from Meena Kumari. Told in flashback, the story is framed by a decaying mansion and an ageing Bhootnath. It’s been compared to The Magnificent Ambersons and shares Viscontian qualities in its detail and quiet mourning of a lost world.


Shortly before his death, Dutt moved into a new flat, living alone with a servant. In October 1964, he died of a sleeping pill overdose, leaving behind his wife, three children, his banner, and the unfinished BahareinPhirBhiAayegi, which had to be re-shot.


His films—among the finest of the 1950s—gained international acclaim posthumously, screened at festivals in France, Italy, and the US, aired on British TV and were released in Paris. Pyaasa was also featured at a Tokyo festival. Ironically, it was death that brought Dutt the recognition he seemed to foresee in Pyaasa—that true artists are often valued only after they’re gone.


(The author is a film scholar. Views personal)

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