One of the most enduring screen partnerships in the history of Hindi cinema has been that of late legendary actor-filmmaker Guru Dutt and iconic comic actor Johnny Walker. In fact, Dutt was the one who discovered Walker, even giving him his screen name after the popular whisky brand.

Talking about Johnny Walker and Guru Dutt’s friendship, the comedian’s son Nasir Khan said, “Their friendship was beyond the screen because daddy was in every film of Guru Dutt sahab. There was no need for him to do that.” Khan quoted the instance of Dutt’s 1957 seminal tragic film Pyaasa, in which the role of masseur Abdul Sattar was specifically written for Walker.

“There was another role he was supposed to do in Pyaasa. But Guru Dutt sahab said, ‘No, Johnny won’t do this role because it turns out to be negative at the end.’ So, another role was written for daddy, which was positive till the end,” Nasir Khan told The Print. Shyam, the role originally written for Walker, was eventually taken up by Shyam Kapoor.

Directed by and starring Guru Dutt, Pyaasa also featured Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha, Rehman, Leela Mishra, Mehmood and Tun Tun. Although the film underperformed at the box office upon its release, it has since come to be regarded as one of the greatest Hindi films ever made.

Johnny Walker’s association with Guru Dutt was rooted in a friendship that extended well beyond their work together. “Guru Dutt thought that if Johnny Walker is his friend, he should stay with him even in the film. Irrespective of what the story is, their friendship would remain till the end,” said Nasir.

Johnny Walker was first cast in Guru Dutt’s 1951 noir film Baazi. Post that breakthrough, he featured in Dutt’s 1954 noir comedy Aar Paar as garage mechanic Rustom aka Rusty.

The filmmaker followed that up by casting Walker in his 1955 romantic comedy Mr. & Mrs. ’55, also starring Madhubala opposite the director. Then came Pyaasa, in which Walker made a mark lip-syncing to Mohammed Rafi’s memorable song “Sar Jo Tera Chakraye” in his custom-made role. However, Dutt and Walker’s onscreen partnership was cut short soon with the death of Dutt in 1964.

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“When Guru Dutt died in 1964, daddy told us a couple of years later that he doesn’t want to do films because he lost somebody more than a co-actor. You come across such people so rarely,” said Nasir Khan.

While Johnny Walker continued to play comic characters in films, none of those movies could replicate the impact of his collaborations with Guru Dutt in the 1950s. Walker’s last role was Joseph in Kamal Haasan’s 1997 comedy Chachi 420, before he died at the age of 79 in 2003.