In Pyaasa Guru Dutt creates a moving portrait of the artist as society's clown. In a measured, low-key performance, Dutt embodies the impoverished poet Vijay, who is only "discovered" after he is mistakenly thought to be dead, and whose moment of triumph comes when he spurns success to live with the prostitute (Waheeda Rehman) who loves him. Unlike Kaagaz ke Phool (Paper Flowers, see March 6), with its autobiographical theme of the filmmaker's struggle, Pyaasa's successful mixture of Devdas and Dostoevsky reached a vast and appreciative audience and marked the height of Dutt's artistic and popular synthesis. It remains a landmark Hindi film and its songs still haunt the airwaves.