Bollywood Home » Unforgettable Characters » Raju While talking About Bollywood one cannot underestimate the impact of crossover films made from time to time. Guide is one of the epoch-making cinemas in the entire history of Hindi films. Based on a novel of the same name by R K Naraynan, Guide the film portrays an unconventional theme of live-in relationships, a bold theme which was far beyond its time. Released in 1965, Guide starred Dev Anand and Waheeda Rehman in the lead roles and Leela Chitnis, Kishore Sahu and Gajanan Jahagirdar as supporting actors.

The character of Raju in Guide is portrayed by Dev Anand, who delivered one of his most sensitive and subtle performances on the silver screen. He got rid of all his funny caricatures to fit in a role which demanded passion and maturity. The character of Raju in Guide has surpassed its time to be revered as one of The Unforgettable Characters in Bollywood.



The film received instant recognition upon release. Although the greater part of the film is shown in flashback, it opens with the present when Raju, the main protagonist is released from prison. He settles in a remote village temple where he finds himself being treated as a holy man or 'baba' by the rustic folk. The main plot of the film is narrated in a flashback. Raju in Guide is actually a freelance guide who earns his living by showing the visitors the historical places around Udaipur. One day he happens to meet Rosie (Waheeda Rehman), wife of a wealthy womanizer and archaeologist named Macro (Kishore Sahu). Raju with his keen sense of observing people easily figured out that the relationship between Rosie and Macro was on the verge of destruction. While Macro gets busy with his research works, Raju takes Rosie out for a sightseeing tour of the nearby places of attraction. Their intimacy intensifies before they actually fall in love with each other. Raju eventually comes to know about the turbulent marital life of Rosie and urges her to walk out of such a relationship.

The most crucial change that came along in the life of Raju in Guide is his reluctant transformation into a holy man. This is a shocking treatment of human fate in many ways. A convict being worshiped as a sage is something that does not occur frequently in commercial films. Ultimately Raju goes into fasting for rain, even though he hardly believed in such absurdities. He undergoes a spiritual transformation while fasting. He starts to believe that his fasting would bring rain for the famine-affected villagers. The final scene is really touching, when Rosie and his mother come to meet a dying Raju. Having lost everything, Raju now contemplates over the deep-seated philosophical understanding of life, love and relationships.