Evergreen ANAND

At 87, Dev Anand carries on, a vital link between the present and the past. The versatile and young-at-heart hero will have two releases this year.
V Gangadhar about the remarkable actor

Where are the famous film studios in the US and India which had churned out thousands of films? In Hollywood, Warner Brothers, Columbia, Paramount, RKO and Universal International are vague memories now. The biggest of them all, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, too, recently filed for bankruptcy and was taken over by dozens of creditors. No one knows if it will survive in its new avatar.

It is the same in India. How many among the present generation have heard of Ranjit Movietone, Prabhat, Filmistan, Filmalya, Rajkamal or Mehboob Studios, which dominated the film world, making India the largest film producer in the world. Many of these studios lie in ruins; though a few of them may still offer limited facilities for shooting films and TV serials.

R. K. Studios is still remembered because there is a young generation of actors, who represent the Raj Kapoor legend (Rishi, Ranbir and Kareena).

In this dismal scenario, there is one unit, which still produces films, though not many of them have been successful. Dev Anand’s Navketan turned 60 recently and its presiding deity, 87-year-old Dev Anand is still running around making films and starring in them.

A true Bollywood wonder, Dev Anand, this year,will have two additional feathers in his cap. A new film, Charge Sheet, will be released shortly and as also the colour version of one of the Navketan classics, Hum Dono, which was a big hit during the 1960s.

A temporary shift of office to suburban Khar from his penthouse-cum-studio in Pali Hill, now undergoing repairs, has not impaired Dev Anand’s zest for life and he sounds as chirpy as ever on the phone as he talks about Charge Sheet. It is a taut, modern, political crime thriller, where the producer-director-actor has taken care to include themes, which will appeal to present-day audiences. For once, the film, unlike normal Navketan productions, has an impressive star cast — Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Divya Dutta and Dev Anand himself. He has high hopes from newcomer Debashi, who, he hopes, could be the next Zeenat Aman.

Ever ready to experiment, Charge Sheet may present some new aspects of our legal and policing systems. Describing himself as a law-abiding citizen, Dev Anand explains his role does have some shades of grey, but that is because he has always experimented and is ready to tackle anti-hero roles.

Take, for instance, some of the great roles in the past from films like Baazi, Taxi Driver, Jewel Thief and Guide. Of course, the hero did sing, dance and romance lovely heroines, yet he did have some dark shades in his character. The hero did associate himself with undesirable elements but managed to break free from their clutches and bring them to book. Evil never triumphed in Navketan films.

Dev Anand is frank enough to admit that many of his films dealing with new ideas have not clicked in the past. "That is the hazard of experimenting," he explains. "Sometimes, you fail, but you can make it big if you hit the jackpot." Some of his more recent films, which had only fleeting appearances in theatres, have been far ahead of their time and perhaps, that was why the audience did not accept them.

He is particularly fond of Hum Dono, particularly its patriotic theme and incomparable music score by Jaidev. Will the colour version come up to expectations when similar experiments with hit films like Naya Daur failed?

"Beautiful," is how Dev Anand explains his Hum Dono.The film’s theme of war and morality could never become out of date. Released some 50 years back, the film appealed to the aesthetic and critical faculties of audiences. Songs like "Abhi najao chhodkar, ke dil abhi bhara nahin" and "Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya" penned by poet Sahir, are hummed even today. No wonder, Hum Dono has a special place in the heart of Dev Anand. He has one regret, though. Heroines Sadhna, Nanda are no longer working in films, others have died.

But Dev Anand carries on, a vital link between the present and the past. Often he feels like a child discovering many new and beautiful things in life. He has achieved everything, scaled new peaks, won acclaim and honours`85but still will not quit. "I have seen and experienced everything," he agrees. "But there is much more in the world and movie-making." He calls himself a happy and contended man.

Though there is no need to exert oneself physically to make a movie now as one can direct a movie just by sitting on a chair. India is now a world power and Indian films are seen all over the world. Today’s films are now crossing geographical barriers and he will like to be part of this exciting process. Don’t be surprised if in days to come, Navketan announces an international film with the 87-year ‘young’ director-actor firmly on the saddle.