He began his career in 1948, as director for the film, 'Pyar Ki Jeet', which starred actress-singer, Suraiya.
He wrote most of the films for his director son, J.P. Dutta, notably Border and LOC Kargil.
Dutta died from pneumonia in Mumbai on 9 February 2012.
O.P also made a film in Karachi post independence in the early 1950s, called 'Anokhi', and further helped build a studio in that city.
He wrote scripts/dialogues for the films 'Mastana' ( *Mehmood Vinod Khanna ), 'Jeet' (* Randhir Kapoor Babita ), 'Chirag' (* Sunil Dutt, Asha Parekh) and 'Do Raaste' (* Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz), among others.