SONG: DEKHO DEKHO MADAMSINGER: MOHAMMAD RAFI,MANNA DEYMUSIC: SHANKAR JAIKISHANMOVIE; PYAR MOHABBAT 1966CASTDEV ANANDSAIRA BANUSHASHI KALADev anand was (born September 26, 1923),..Dev was offered his first big break by Ashok Kumar, his favourite star. Kumar spotted Dev hanging around in the studios and picked him as the hero for the Bombay Talkies production, Ziddi, costarring Kamini Kaushal (1948) which became a success. In 1949, Dev turned producer and launched his own company Navketan, which continues to churn out movies.As promised, Dev gambled on Guru Dutt as director for the crime thriller, Baazi (1951). The dice rolled in favour of this creative collaboration; the Sahir Ludhianvi, lyricist song, Tadbeer se bigdi huyee taqdeer bana de, proved prophetic and Dev became a true star.He also played a few characters with a negative shade, like in Jaal (1952). His films Rahee and Aandhiyan, were screened there along with Raj Kapoor's Awaara. In the same year, Taxi Driver was declared a hit. Dev's heroine was Kalpana Kartik again, and the two decided to marry in a quiet ceremony.Marriage and the birth of son Suneil in 1956 did not affect Dev's career. A rapid-fire style of dialogue delivery, an array of hats (see for example Aye meri topi palat ke aa), and a penchant for nodding while speaking became Dev's style in films like Munimji, CID and Paying Guest. His style was lapped up by the audience and was widely imitated. He starred in a string of box office successes for the remainder of the 1950s.Despite his characteristic style, Dev's detractors cast aspersions on his acting abilities and questioned his inclusion in the hallowed Raj Kapoor-Dilip Kumar league. Dev made them eat humble pie with his class act in Kala Pani (1958), as the son who iswilling to go to any lengths — including sweet-talking a courtesan into believing he is in love with her — to clear his framed father's name. He won the Best Actor Award for the film.He was romantically involved with singer-actress Suraiya and the two of them paired in six films together. She fell in love with him when — during the shooting of a song sequence in the film — a boat capsized and Dev Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. Her grandmother opposed the relationship and Suraiya remained unmarried all her life.His first film in colour, Guide with Waheeda Rehman was based on the novel of the same name by R. K. Narayan. Dev Anand himself was the impetus for making the film version of the book. He met and persuaded Narayan to give his assent to the project. Dev Anand tapped his friends in Hollywood to lauch an Indo-US co-production that was shot in Hindi and English simultaneously and was released in 1965. This is regarded by many as his best work to-date.Guide, directed by younger brother Vijay Anand, silenced the staunchest of his critics. Dev played Raju, a voluble guide who supports Rosy (Waheeda) in her bid for freedom. He is not above thoughtlessly exploiting her for personal gains. Combining style with substance, he gave an affecting performance as a man grappling with his emotions in his passage through love, shame and salvation. Guide was Dev's creative acme.He reunited with Vijay Anand for the much-hyped Jewel Thief, featuring a bevy of beauties led by Vyjayanthimala and including Tanuja, Anju Mahendru, Faryal and Helen.Their next collaboration, Johnny Mera Naam (1970) was a big hit. The film was released in the same year as Raj Kapoor's magnum 'flopus' Mera Naam Joker (it was a commercial failure). Unlike Raj and Dilip, who slowed down in the Seventies, Dev continued to be a romantic hero.His maiden attempt at direction, the espionage drama Prem Pujari, flopped, but Dev got lucky with his 1971 sophomore directorial effort, Hare Rama Hare Krishna. It talked about the prevalent hippie culture. Zeenat Aman, who played the mini-skirt sporting, pot-smoking Janice, became an overnight sensation. Dev also became known as a filmmaker of trenchantly topical themes. This same year, he starred with Mumtaz in Tere Mere Sapne, an adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, The Citadel. The film was directed by Dev's brother, Vijay.The presence of his discoveries — the zestful Zeenat and later, the elfin Tina Munim (heroine of Dev's last recognised hit Des Pardes in 1978) — fuelled Dev's image as the evergreen star even when he was well into his fifties.
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