Best of Dev Anand

Beginning with the 1957 Nau Do Gyarah,Dev found a rare soulmate in younger brother Vijay Anand,who presented him with a range of characters in a unique creative synergy. Vijay Anand took the actor’s ouevre to a new level as actor and star.

It is indeed a matter of pride for the Indian talkie that for 66 of its 81 years of existence,a legend called Dev Anand was associated with it. The graduate in English Literature was among the earliest highly-educated actors who brought respectability to Hindi cinema.

Awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and Indian cinema’s highest honour—the Dadasaheb Phalke trophy –– in 2003,Dev Anand made his debut in 1946 with Prabhat’s Hum Ek Hain and got his first hit in Ashok Kumar’s production Ziddi,his fourth film,in 1948. Destiny engineered his association with his favourite playback voice in this first hit itself – with Kishore Kumar singing two songs for the actor,the first being the popular Marne ki duaen kyoon maangoon,also Kishore’s first song as playback singer.

Dev Anand took a quick plunge into filmmaking and launched Navketan,his now-famous banner,in 1949. Their first release was the social drama Afsar (1950) directed by elder brother Chetan Anand,whose success had spurred Dev’s entry into Hindi films. Early on,Dev exhibited his propensity to give breaks to new talents when he kept his promise to friend Guru Dutt and signed him to direct Baazi (1951). In return,Dutt delivered an ahead-of-its-time crime thriller,complete with classy club numbers like Suno gajar kya gaaye that were to later become a regular Navketan and Dev leitmotif. Baazi steamrolled Navketan to the forefront,and the momentum never flagged all the way till Des Pardes (1978) despite the occasional flop.

The iconic star

It did not take long for Devdutt Pishorimal Anand to take his due place in the Top Trinity of Hindi cinema alongside Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. While each had a definite image and following,Dev Anand was that much different: for one,he almost never did a rural film,his image had a Western tadka complete with an uber-cool urban look and a jaunty flamboyance that Shammi Kapoor once acknowledged was the inspiration for the latter’s own distinct style of song-enactment. A synonym for modernism in all its aspects,Dev with his trademark puff of hair,the crooked gait,the unique dialogues delivery and expressions and of course his adherence to light entertainers gradually came to represent agelessness.

One could never associate this man with dullness and depression. Dev Anand imbibed every single character with an unbridled energy that epitomised his off-screen persona,even making his social comments in Munimji,Kala Bazar,Guide,Prem Pujari and Hare Rama Hare Krishna with straight intensity rather than melodrama. At a time when crime thrillers were never considered A-grade material,he repeatedly produced or starred in slick crime dramas like Guru Dutt’s Jaal,Raj Khosla’s C.I.D. (produced by Dutt) and Kala Pani,Shankar Mukerji’s Baat Ek Raat Ki,Mahal and Banarasi Babu,Pramod Chakravorty’s Warrant and Mohan Kumar’s Amir Garib.

Beginning with the 1957 Nau Do Gyarah,Dev found a rare soulmate in younger brother Vijay Anand,who presented Dev Anand with a range of characters in a unique creative synergy. Vijay Anand took the actor’s ouevre to a new level as actor and star. Besides giving Dev cult thrillers in Jewel Thief for Navketan and the outside film,Gulshan Rai’s Johny Mera Naam (Dev’s career-biggest hit),he challenged the actor in him with diverse characters like his career-best performance in and as Guide,the fabulous dual role in Hum Dono,the sensitive turn as the doctor in Tere Mere Sapne and the blackmarketeer of Kala Bazar,not to forget their unforgettable romantic comedy that was Tere Ghar Ke Saamne.

Dev Anand’s major commercial triumphs outside his home banner included Nasir Husain’s Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai,Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Asli Naqli,S.S.Vasan’s Dilip Kumar-Dev Anand film Insaniyat and T.Prakash Rao’s Amar Deep (two of his rare South-made films),Amiya Chakravorty’s Patita,Subodh Mukerji’s Munimji,Love Marriage and Paying Guest,Shankar Mukerji’s Baarish,Mandi Burman’s Manzil and Amarjeet’s Teen Devian.

The ambitious writer-director

After Jewel Thief,Dev was suddenly fired with the idea of writing and directing his own films. He took a serious anti-war subject and made Prem Pujari,but the lavishly-made film bombed. Unfazed,Dev took up the topical theme of drugs and the hippie scene that had just made inroads into India and made the memorable Hare Rama Hare Krishna,making Zeenat Aman the first star to break the mould of the “desi” heroine. In the silver jubilee year of Navketan,Dev announced three films,making peace with Chetan and Vijay Anand (with whom there had been creative differences for a while) and directing and writing the third film himself. And when Des Pardes,his own film,which dealt with illegal Indian immigrants to UK,won critical acclaim and became a major hit,Dev decided to make every subsequent film on topical issues and direct every Navketan film himself. Ironically,that 1978 film was to prove his last hit as actor and filmmaker. Never to accept defeat,Dev was to write and direct 14 more films all the way to Chargesheet this year,and was scripting the sequel of Hare Rama Hare Krishna when he exited.

Discovery Channel

Dev Anand was responsible for the breaks of major talents other than Guru Dutt,Vijay Anand and Zeenat Aman. Shatrughan Sinha was first signed for Prem Pujari,Jackie Shroff was spotted on a hoarding and signed by Dev for a small cameo in Swami Dada as the villain’s sidekick,Tina Munim was selected to play the lead in Des Pardes,and actresses Richa Sharma and Tabu in Anand Aur Anand. It was Dev Anand who mentored names like Yash Johar and Amit Khanna,and singer Abhijeet recorded his first song for Anand Aur Anand. Raj Khosla’s talent for direction was first noticed by Dev and he helped him direct his first film Milap (after assisting Guru Dutt) and launch his first production Bambai Ka Babu.

The musical brand

Like his films and persona,the elixir of eternal youth seemed to have percolated into the songs of Dev Anand. Mostly but not exclusively composed by S.D.Burman and dominated by Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi,the songs spanned a larger range in genres than those of Dilip Kumar,Raj Kapoor or Shammi Kapoor. The creme-de-la-creme of Dev’s cult musicals would include Hum Dono,Tere Ghar Ke Saamne,Guide,Jewel Thief,Prem Pujari,Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Des Pardes from the Navketan stable and Asli Naqli,Jab Pyar Kisise Hota Hai,Johny Mera Naam,Paying Guest and C.I.D.

Many moods of Dev Anand

July,2009:As the title says,my Romancing With Life is still on and if something triggers me off,nothing will stop me from writing another book. I have been honest and bared my soul.I get calls from complete strangers complimenting me even now.

September,2009:My own work inspires me,and the conviction that somewhere in the shadows the world is watching,waiting for Devsaab’s next work. I already have another script in mind. I have done nothing but cinema my entire life. I have not got into cricket,neither am I selling products on TV,I am a filmmaker.

August,2010:An actor is a star because he has been accepted by the people. But we need more stars. Why should we only bank on four or five stars? India should have 25-30 stars to pick from.

September,2011:I loathe the idea of remakes,and I don’t think I will ever make one.If I can’t think of a new idea to make a film or take a story idea forward then I am no good as a filmmaker.

February,2011:I do not want to sound boastful,but Hum Dono was India’s official entry at the 1962 Berlin International Film Festival. I want people who watch the film now to know what I was like when I was 50 years younger.

September 2011:My company has been making movies for 62 years in every genre. Over the years everyone from the film industry has been involved in my projects,in one department or the other. Navketan has produced some fine actors. Some have been an inspiration to me while others may have been inspired by me.