Gregory Peck may not have known it, but for years he was instrumental in bridging the trans-Atlantic gap between Hollywood and Bollywood. Back in the black-and-white era of Hindi films, movie-goers saw a reflection of his lanky good looks, measured speech and sense of style in one of their own leading men. The Dev Anand of yore, with his easy gait, rakish charm and fashionable scarves, was known as the Indian Gregory Peck. On Thursday, as Hollywood mourned the passing away of a legend, so did an old acquaintance and contemporary from the East. Hindi cinema’s evergreen star recalled the association in an interview with The Indian Express. Expressing grief on the passing away of his one-time idol, Anand reminisced about his heydays when he would run into Peck at parties in Bombay and on the streets of Rome. It was Peck’s persona that he modelled himself on, which contributed to making Dev Anand one of the three greats of the 50’s along with Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Peck and Anand’s careers even ran nearly parallel — the former began with Days of Glory in 1944; Anand made his debut with Hum Ek Hain in 1946. ‘‘I feel very sad at the death of a very great personality. He was a great, dynamic character. I knew him, having met him several times at parties and on film sets. He was a star when I was starting out. When you are young and new in any field of life, you always have a hero in your mind, someone to look up to and he was mine,’’ said Anand. However, on the issue of the more-than-passing resemblance to Peck, he demurred, ‘‘People used to say to me: ‘You look like Gregory Peck’, which I didn’t mind. But I never wanted to be him, I always just wanted to be myself.’’ It was rumoured that Dev Anand’s co-star Suraiya fell in love with him because Gregory Peck was her favourite actor. Reminiscing some more about his association with the Oscar-winning actor, Anand said, ‘‘He was passing through Bombay and we met at a party at the Willingdon Club. He was dressed in a light grey suit and was very genial and funny, with a wonderfully resonant voice. Some time later I was in Rome when I spotted him with Audrey Hepburn on the sets of Roman Holiday. He was standing with her on those famous steps. He recognised me and nodded and we spoke at length.’’ ‘‘He’s left great marks on the sands of time. When you think of the golden era of Hollywood, his name dominates alongside Spencer Tracy, James Stewart and Cary Grant. When a great man like that dies, he becomes immortal.’’
