Dev Anand

Today is the birth anniversary of Dev Anand , the legendary Bollywood actor and director. A member of the famous triumvirate – the other two being the other greats Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor- that dominated the golden era of Bollywood , Dev Anand remained active as actor and director for more than sixty years. He acted in 114 movies with a lead role in 92 of them. He also founded Navketan Films along with his elder brother Chetan Anand. He mainly played romantic roles and paired with all leading heroines , like Suraiya,Nalini Jaywant,Meena Kumari, Sadhana, Nutan, Madhubala, Asha Parikh, Waheeda Rehman. He did seven movies in a row with Suraiya , had an affair with her which could not mature into matrimony because of the opposition from Suraiya’s family over the issue of different religions.They did not appear together in a film after ‘Do Sitare’ .While Dev Anand did come to terms with his dejection and disappointment and married Kalpana Kartik, his heroine in the film Taxi Driver , Suraiya did not marry at all and died a spinster.

Making his debut with film Ziddi , opposite Kamini Kaushal, Dev Anand , went on to act in movies like Baazi, Aandhiyan, Taxi Driver, House No. 44 , Nau do Gyarah- all hits. Pocket Maar, Munim Ji, Funtoosh, CID, Paying Guest,Solvaan Saal, Kala Pani ,Kala Bazaar . Both Dev Anand and Gurudutt had a tacit understanding with each other and swapped position as Actor and Director in films featuring both of them. In the 60s Dev Anand appeared in movies like Manzil, Tere Ghar Ke Samane ,Kinare Kinare, Maya, Asli Naqli, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Mahal, and Teen Deviyaan.

Dev Anand’s film ‘Guide’ with Waheeda Rehman, which was released both in Hindi and English versions simultaneously and was also his first color film , touched new heights in popularity.Later, well into his fifties he acted with much younger heroines like Hema Malini, Parveen Babi, Zeenat Amaan and Tina Munim and was quite a success as an evergreen romantic hero.

A story goes that during his heydays, he looked extraordinarily dashing and young women would go swooning over him if they saw him in a black suit and sporting a red tie.

He was often compared with the famous Hollywood actor Gregory Peck primarily because of their similar walking style . However, Dev Anand himself did not relish this comparison much and asserted his own independent identity as an Actor . As for me , I saw Gregory Peck’s movie Mackenna’s Gold to see for myself as to what extent the two heroes resembled each other.The songs in which Dev Anand acted were almost always hits . Dev Anand himself was quite serious about music and songs and attended personally all music sessions.His fine rapport with singers, lyricists and music directors accounted for the songs picturised in his movies becoming hits.

Apart from numerous film awards he was honoured with, he was a recipient of Padma Bhushan and Dadasaheb Phalke award.

Our humble tributes to this iconic figure of Hindi Cinema !