Dev Anand is 75 years young
By Surendra Kumar

THE year is 1968! It is a hot and humid July afternoon of Bombay. Outside a dilapidated cinema hall in Bandra, at 2 p.m. there is an unusual spectacle. A large number of college-going girls in their teens were milling around the tiny windows to buy tickets for an old Hindi film, in black and white. Neither were young film enthusiasts concerned about the name of the film nor were they bothered about it being an old film or a new one. It also did not matter whether it was in 35 mm or in 70 mm. What mattered to them was the name of the hero. They had come to see the idol of their dreams. His name was Dev Anand!

All film successful personalities have a fan following, but very few could match the number of Dev’s fans of the fair sex. Female fans have been his greatest asset and the mainstay of his longevity as an actor. The fascination, and infatuation with Dev Anand, in his heydays, was so over-powering and inexplicable, that today’s moviegoers’ (fed on the staple diet of Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Sunny Deol) can’t imagine the extent of it. It had very little to do with the roles which he was doing or the histrionic talent which he displayed.

Inside the hall, when the curtain went up, it was the evergreen musical hit Bambai ka Babu, starring Dev with that classic beauty with chiselled features, Suchitra Sen. Whenever Dev appeared on the screen, there went up a shriek from the female viewers.

They seemed so mesmerised by his endearing personality: His hair combed up in a loop, his long-collared shirt buttoned up to neck, his toothy smile, and his trade-mark stoopy walk. When he sang the sad song Saathi na koi manzil there was a hushed silence as his fans appeared drowned in sorrow with him. It was an extremely popular film, with lilting music, touching lyrics, an engrossing story and credible performances by both Dev and Suchitra.

For years Chal ri sajni ab kya soche was the mandatory song sung at the time of the departure of the bride after the wedding. In the film Dev had emoted well, expressing the complex feelings and sentiments of a man trapped between his commitment to the gang which had planted him in the house and his genuine affection for the old couple who had taken him to be their real son and his tender feelings for Suchitra who suspected from the beginning that he was an imposter. The later-day remake of the same theme with Amitabh and Saira Banu in the lead failed to take off.

For a strange reason Dev’s most popular films were crime-based. He does not commit the crime but unravels it. C.I.D., Kala Pani, Kala Bazar had engrossing stories, memorable lyrics and catchy and hummable music while Nazar laagi raja tore bangale pe in Kala Pani made the middle class neo-rich and old feudal lords go berserk, Hum bekhudi me tumko pukare chale gaye remains Mohammed Rafi’s one of the best ghazals ever. Khoya khoya chand, khula asmaan, picturised on a youthful and charming Dev in a romantic setting, still remains an all-time favourite of countless listeners, though 50 years have passed since it was first sung. C.I.D., which gave a break to Waheeda Rehman, also had jazzy songs, some of which became runaway hits. Tadweer se bigdi hui taqdeer bana le was one such hit.

Though in later years, Kishore sang most of the songs for Dev, some unforgettable songs for him were sung by other singers. Talat Mahmud sang some soulful songs in Taxi Driver, as did Hemant in Baat Ek Raat Ki. Mohammed Rafi gave innumerable hits in Dev’s films, specially old films like Hum Dono, Teen Devian, Guide, Tere Ghar Ke Samne and Asli Naqli.

The Navketan banner for long, catered to literary, and sophisticated taste and patronised a team of highly talented individuals. Sahir Ludhianavi wrote some of the best lyrics for Hum Dono.

Dada S.D. Burman’s music in Guide has been a challenge to the later generations of music directors. The pathos in his folk tune of Musafir tu jayega kahan and the infectious jest for life in Kaanton se khinch ke ye anchal and suffocating sense of loss reflected in Din dhal jaye hai raat na jaye, remain all-time favourites with millions of music lovers and radio programmes airing viewers’ requests. Picturisation of these songs on Dev Anand was just perfect.

Distinct from his contemporaries, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand developed his own style which his fans found characteristic and endearing. Many of his trade-mark gestures, and typical modulation of voice, which his critics called stale and repetitive are the hallmarks of Dev’s filmi persona — a unique style of which he is quite proud. He believes, that a particular image of an artist is like his identity, like the trade-mark of a product, and need not be discarded.

Dev has been more of a star than a serious actor. But under the baton of a competent director he can give memorable performances. His double role in Hum Dono remains one the most convincing portrayals of a captain and a major of the Indian Army.

Even Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was reported to have complimented Dev for the role of Major Sharma, who loses one leg in the war, unexpectedly returns to his home-town, and seeing his wife going around with his one-time friend seethes with rage and revenge, angrily retorting Abhi ek taang to baaki hai and departs on his crutches with a cigar in his mouth. Similarly his role in Guide was extremely complex and offered Dev the chance of a lifetime to prove that he was a serious actor and not a mere star.

He acquitted himself in flying colours. The role of a guide turned a reluctant saint, demanded depth in expression of various shades of emotions and feeling. The scenes when Raju, the guide, tries to flee from the temple, but eventually returns, not wishing to shatter the illusion of the simple villagers, (who had wrongly taken him to be a real saint capable of evoking rains) brought the best from Dev as an actor. No wonder Dev got a Filmfare Award for this film.

Dev can boast of having acted with every heroine of his long inning of five decades. As a matter of fact, some of his co-stars have become grandmothers. Most of them don’t act any more. Heroine of the hit film Taxi Driver, Kalpana (whom he married) gave up acting long back. Madhubala, Meena Kumari and Nutan are no more. Suraiyya, Waheeda, Asha Parekh, Nanda, Sadhna, Vyjayanthimala, Suchitra Sen, Kalpana, Mumtaz, Zaheeda, Tina Munim and Zeenat Aman don’t act any more. Even the dream girl Hema Malini, who proved to be lucky for him in Johnny Mera Naam and Raakhi are rarely seen on the screen. From his contemporaries only Dilip, Dada Moni and Pran are active in character roles.

He is neither a method actor like Dilip nor a gifted natural actor like Raj Kapoor, nor a romantic hero like Rajesh Khanna nor a harfan maula like Sanjeev Kumar or Amitabh Bachchan, nor a He Man like Dharmendra, nor like today’s heart throb Shahrukh Khan, who seems to be bursting with frenzied energy.

He can’t also boast of dialogue delivery like that of late Jaani Raj Kumar. Still he has survived because he has his own distinct style that is unique in many ways and has helped him hold sway for the five decades. No one can dominate him, he is the suave, debonair, do gooder with a carefree spirit and a zest for life. In Insaniyat, he held his own against Dilip Kumar.

As a matter of fact, very few can match his style and elan. He has been a trend-setter. His cap in Jewel Thief became an instant rage. He has left the fleeting fads of fashion pass by and stuck to his trade marks — long-collared shirts, broad ties, bright coloured jackets, which look so outdated to today’s teenagers. No wonder, except Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Des Pardes and Prem Pujari, most of the films directed by him have been total washouts at the box office. But that has not dampened his spirits. He is still going strong and producing and directing films. He is not bothered about the commercial success or failure of his ventures despite the fact that he is past 70.

He remains young at heart and prefers to take totally new faces for his films and moulds them to his typical "Devanandesque" tastes and style. Many of these youngsters became big names in Bollywood in later years. He would be remembered for having discovered so many stars, from Zeenat Aman, Tina Munim to Aamir Khan.

His latest film is Main solah baras ki with his new find from Canada in which he plays the role of Dev in real life. Dev Anand, is often likened to the Hollywood icon Gregory Peck and rightly called the evergreen hero of Indian films. Alas he has not reached dizzy heights of the Guide era. May be under baton of his younger brother Vijay Anand, who directed him in the Guide, and who is again directing him after 25 years, Dev may regain his lost glory and walk beyond the sun-set boulevard singing his swan song — a la Jewel Thief - Ye dil na hota bechara.