Dev Anand
was an Actor, Director and Producer of Bollywood. He was born on Dharam
Dev Pishori Anand on 26 September 1923 in Shakargarh Tehsil of Narowal
District, Pakistan in Anand family, son to Advocate Pishorimal, younger
and older brother to Chetan and Vijay respectively and one sister, who
was subsequently married in the Kapur family, and gave birth to
actor/film-maker, Shekhar Kapur, two daughters, Neelu, who was married
to actor Navin Nischol, and Aruna who was the wife of Ajay/Parikshat
Sahni, son of renowned Balraj Sahni. Both Neelu and Aruna have since
been divorced. "Romancing with Life" is the autobiography by Dev Anand.
Career
After graduating in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore, British India left his hometown and came to Bombay in the early 1940s. He began his career in the military censor office at Churchgate, Bombay, for a salary of Rs. 165 per month. He joined his older brother Chetan as a member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).
He was soon offered a debut as an actor by Prabhat Talkies to star in their film Hum Ek Hain in 1946 where he stuck a friendship with Bollywood legend Guru Dutt. They had decided between themselves that if one of the two becomes successful first in film industry then they would help the other to be successful. It was a mutual understanding between them that when Dev Anand produced a film, Guru Dutt would direct it and when Guru Dutt directed a film, Dev Anand would act in it.
Ashok Kumar introduced Dev as a leading man opposite Kamini Kaushal in 'Ziddi'. Thereafter there has been no looking back for the 'evegreen' Dev Anand, who went on to star in over 110 movies, spanning from 1946 through to 2005.
He is perhaps one of the few who dreamed of starlet Snehprabha Pradhan and had his dream come true when he got to not only meet her but also act with her. His other dream was of owning a car, a Hillman, was also fulfilled.
While filming opposite Singer-actress Suraiya, the boat capsized, Dev rescued her and in true Bollywood style both fell in love and wanted to get married. This did not happen as Suraiya's grandma strongly opposed this alliance. Suraiya, who acted with Dev in half a dozen movies, remained unmarried all her life.
In 1954 Dev met Mona, whose screen name is Kalpana Kartik, and married her in 1954 in a quiet ceremony in Russia where they were on a tour to screen 'Rahee' and 'Aandhiyan'. Mona was a college beauty queen from Simla, and she starred opposite her to-be-husband in all her movies. Both became parents in 1956 when Suneil was born.
Dev is also known for introducing two of the most beautiful actresses to Bollywood, namely Zeenat Aman in 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' and Tina Munim in 'Des Pardes.
His directorial debut, the espionage drama Prem Pujari, was a flop but has developed a cult following over the years. He tasted success with his 1971 directorial effort, Hare Rama Hare Krishna which talked about the prevalent hippie culture. His find 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 and was also successful.
In the 1970s, Raj Kapoor started playing roles of father in films like Kal Aaj Aur Kal in 1971 and Dharam Karam in 1974 and films with Dilip Kumar as lead hero were failures at box office. Some of the hurriedly made films with Dev Anand as the leading man – three each opposite Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman and Yeh Gulistaan Hamara with Sharmila Tagore became flops and posed a threat to his career as leading man. But he delivered hits again and romanced young heroines Yogita Bali and Rakhee in Banarasi Babu (1973), Hema Malini in Chhupa Rustam(1973) and Amir Ghareeb(1974),[13] Zeenat Aman in Heera Panna(1973), Warrant(1975) and Darling Darling(1977). In 1976, his brother directed a mystery flick named Bullet which though critically acclaimed was not successful at box office.
The presence of his discoveries in the 70’s— the Zeenat and later, the Tina Munim in films and his good chemistry with beautiful young stars like Rakhee, Parveen Babi, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman in various films boosted Dev's image as the evergreen star even though he was well into his fifties.
Though Dev Anand’s demand as the lead hero had not decreased even in the 1980s, he decided that it was the right time to introduce his son Suneil Anand in films as the hero. He launched his son in the Kramer vs. Kramer inspired Anand Aur Anand (1984), which was produced and directed by Dev Anand himself and had music by R.D.Burman. He expected the film to do well but the film was a box office disaster and Suneil Anand decided to not act in films any more.
But the of films with Dev Anand as the lead hero Hum Naujawan (1985), Lashkar (1989) and Awwal Number(1990), where Dev Anand costarred with Aamir Khan were average grossers and appreciated by critics. He was already sixty year old in 1983 when he acted with Padmini Kolhapure in Swami Dada but did not look old. In 1989, his directorial venture the critically acclaimed Sachché Ka Bolbala was released but it was a commercial failure.
Since the 1990s except for Awwal Number, rest of the eight films directed by him were box office failures. But Sau Crore (1991) and Censor (2000) were critically acclaimed.
He has directed 19 films and produced 31 films of which 7 directorial ventures and 18 films respectively were commercially successful at the box office. He wrote the story for 13 of his films. Critics say his directorial ventures have always been ahead of its time. Dev Anand's films are well known for their hit songs. He is known to have been an active participant in the music sessions of a number of his films. His association with music composers Shankar-Jaikishen, O. P. Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Sachin Dev Burman and his son Rahul Dev Burman, lyricists Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Neeraj, Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, and playback singers Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar produced some very popular songs. S.D Burman, R.D Burman, Rafi and Kishore Kumar were his special friends.
In September 2007, Dev's own autobiography "Romancing with Life" was released at a birthday party with the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. In February 2011, his 1961 black and white film Hum Dono was digitised and colourised and released.
Dev Anand is credited with giving actors like Jackie Shroff in Swami Dada, Tabu in Hum Naujawan and Richa Sharma a break into the film industry, discovered Zeenat Amaan, Tina Munim and encouraging music composer Rajesh Roshan. Amit Khanna started his career with Navketan as executive producer in 1971 and had been secretary to Dev Anand in 70's. He adds, "The uniqueness of Navketan today is that it's the only film company in the world still run by the one who started it."
Romance with Suraiya
"Yes. I loved Suraiya. I am not shying away from this fact. I want to tell everything what happened during those days in my autobiography. It was a very important chapter of my life as I was growing. I was young and in love for the first time," Dev Anand.
When Dev Anand got a few offers to star opposite singer-actress Suraiya in woman oriented films, as the male lead. Dev Anand considered himself to be lucky to get a chance to star opposite such an established actress and accepted the offers. While shooting these films, he became romantically involved with Suraiya. The two of them were paired in seven films together - Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar (1950), Nili (1950), Do Sitare (1951) and Sanam (1951), which were all successful at the box office. She fell in love with him during the shooting of the song Kinare kinare chale jayen ge from the film Vidya, where unfortunately during shooting, a boat capsized and Dev Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. On the sets of the film Jeet, Dev Anand finally proposed to Suraiya and gave her a diamond ring worth Rs 3,000. The two wanted to tie the knot but became victims of religious bigotry as Suraiya's maternal grandmother opposed the relationship as they were Muslim and Dev Anand Hindu. While Dev eventually overcame the trauma of a broken relationship and moved on, Suraiya decided not to get married.
On Suraiya Dev Anand said, "It was my first and only serious love affair. I was very young and callow at the time. As a teenager, I had been infatuated by a girl at the Government College, Lahore. She was our history professor’s daughter. But it was only from a distance, I barely spoke to her, and our so-called romance went nowhere. I suppose it happens to everybody at that age. But Suraiya was another story. She was one of my early co-stars. I was thoroughly smitten by her. So much so that I wanted desperately to marry her. And she was responding in equal measure."
Later Dev Anand married with Kalpana Kartik.
Political activism
Not easily intimidated, Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha, Inder Sen Johar, Kishore Kumar were amongst the few that actually stood up against the authoritarian regime of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, while many in the opposition preferred to flee India to escape Mrs. Gandhi's wrath. He led a group of film personalities who stood up against the Internal Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. He actively campaigned against her with his supporters in Indian parliamentary elections in 1977. He also formed a party called the National Party of India, which he later disbanded.
Death
On 4 December 2011 Dev Anand died in a hotel in London at the age of 88 due to a cardiac arrest. He was reportedly in London for a medical check up.Condolences poured in from all corners of the Indian film industry, with most of them remembering his positive attitude towards life.
Achievements
Career
After graduating in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore, British India left his hometown and came to Bombay in the early 1940s. He began his career in the military censor office at Churchgate, Bombay, for a salary of Rs. 165 per month. He joined his older brother Chetan as a member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA).
He was soon offered a debut as an actor by Prabhat Talkies to star in their film Hum Ek Hain in 1946 where he stuck a friendship with Bollywood legend Guru Dutt. They had decided between themselves that if one of the two becomes successful first in film industry then they would help the other to be successful. It was a mutual understanding between them that when Dev Anand produced a film, Guru Dutt would direct it and when Guru Dutt directed a film, Dev Anand would act in it.
Ashok Kumar introduced Dev as a leading man opposite Kamini Kaushal in 'Ziddi'. Thereafter there has been no looking back for the 'evegreen' Dev Anand, who went on to star in over 110 movies, spanning from 1946 through to 2005.
He is perhaps one of the few who dreamed of starlet Snehprabha Pradhan and had his dream come true when he got to not only meet her but also act with her. His other dream was of owning a car, a Hillman, was also fulfilled.
While filming opposite Singer-actress Suraiya, the boat capsized, Dev rescued her and in true Bollywood style both fell in love and wanted to get married. This did not happen as Suraiya's grandma strongly opposed this alliance. Suraiya, who acted with Dev in half a dozen movies, remained unmarried all her life.
In 1954 Dev met Mona, whose screen name is Kalpana Kartik, and married her in 1954 in a quiet ceremony in Russia where they were on a tour to screen 'Rahee' and 'Aandhiyan'. Mona was a college beauty queen from Simla, and she starred opposite her to-be-husband in all her movies. Both became parents in 1956 when Suneil was born.
Dev is also known for introducing two of the most beautiful actresses to Bollywood, namely Zeenat Aman in 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' and Tina Munim in 'Des Pardes.
His directorial debut, the espionage drama Prem Pujari, was a flop but has developed a cult following over the years. He tasted success with his 1971 directorial effort, Hare Rama Hare Krishna which talked about the prevalent hippie culture. His find 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 and was also successful.
In the 1970s, Raj Kapoor started playing roles of father in films like Kal Aaj Aur Kal in 1971 and Dharam Karam in 1974 and films with Dilip Kumar as lead hero were failures at box office. Some of the hurriedly made films with Dev Anand as the leading man – three each opposite Hema Malini and Zeenat Aman and Yeh Gulistaan Hamara with Sharmila Tagore became flops and posed a threat to his career as leading man. But he delivered hits again and romanced young heroines Yogita Bali and Rakhee in Banarasi Babu (1973), Hema Malini in Chhupa Rustam(1973) and Amir Ghareeb(1974),[13] Zeenat Aman in Heera Panna(1973), Warrant(1975) and Darling Darling(1977). In 1976, his brother directed a mystery flick named Bullet which though critically acclaimed was not successful at box office.
The presence of his discoveries in the 70’s— the Zeenat and later, the Tina Munim in films and his good chemistry with beautiful young stars like Rakhee, Parveen Babi, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman in various films boosted Dev's image as the evergreen star even though he was well into his fifties.
Though Dev Anand’s demand as the lead hero had not decreased even in the 1980s, he decided that it was the right time to introduce his son Suneil Anand in films as the hero. He launched his son in the Kramer vs. Kramer inspired Anand Aur Anand (1984), which was produced and directed by Dev Anand himself and had music by R.D.Burman. He expected the film to do well but the film was a box office disaster and Suneil Anand decided to not act in films any more.
But the of films with Dev Anand as the lead hero Hum Naujawan (1985), Lashkar (1989) and Awwal Number(1990), where Dev Anand costarred with Aamir Khan were average grossers and appreciated by critics. He was already sixty year old in 1983 when he acted with Padmini Kolhapure in Swami Dada but did not look old. In 1989, his directorial venture the critically acclaimed Sachché Ka Bolbala was released but it was a commercial failure.
Since the 1990s except for Awwal Number, rest of the eight films directed by him were box office failures. But Sau Crore (1991) and Censor (2000) were critically acclaimed.
He has directed 19 films and produced 31 films of which 7 directorial ventures and 18 films respectively were commercially successful at the box office. He wrote the story for 13 of his films. Critics say his directorial ventures have always been ahead of its time. Dev Anand's films are well known for their hit songs. He is known to have been an active participant in the music sessions of a number of his films. His association with music composers Shankar-Jaikishen, O. P. Nayyar, Kalyanji-Anandji, Sachin Dev Burman and his son Rahul Dev Burman, lyricists Hasrat Jaipuri, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Neeraj, Shailendra, Anand Bakshi, and playback singers Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar produced some very popular songs. S.D Burman, R.D Burman, Rafi and Kishore Kumar were his special friends.
In September 2007, Dev's own autobiography "Romancing with Life" was released at a birthday party with the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh. In February 2011, his 1961 black and white film Hum Dono was digitised and colourised and released.
Dev Anand is credited with giving actors like Jackie Shroff in Swami Dada, Tabu in Hum Naujawan and Richa Sharma a break into the film industry, discovered Zeenat Amaan, Tina Munim and encouraging music composer Rajesh Roshan. Amit Khanna started his career with Navketan as executive producer in 1971 and had been secretary to Dev Anand in 70's. He adds, "The uniqueness of Navketan today is that it's the only film company in the world still run by the one who started it."
Romance with Suraiya
"Yes. I loved Suraiya. I am not shying away from this fact. I want to tell everything what happened during those days in my autobiography. It was a very important chapter of my life as I was growing. I was young and in love for the first time," Dev Anand.
When Dev Anand got a few offers to star opposite singer-actress Suraiya in woman oriented films, as the male lead. Dev Anand considered himself to be lucky to get a chance to star opposite such an established actress and accepted the offers. While shooting these films, he became romantically involved with Suraiya. The two of them were paired in seven films together - Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar (1950), Nili (1950), Do Sitare (1951) and Sanam (1951), which were all successful at the box office. She fell in love with him during the shooting of the song Kinare kinare chale jayen ge from the film Vidya, where unfortunately during shooting, a boat capsized and Dev Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. On the sets of the film Jeet, Dev Anand finally proposed to Suraiya and gave her a diamond ring worth Rs 3,000. The two wanted to tie the knot but became victims of religious bigotry as Suraiya's maternal grandmother opposed the relationship as they were Muslim and Dev Anand Hindu. While Dev eventually overcame the trauma of a broken relationship and moved on, Suraiya decided not to get married.
On Suraiya Dev Anand said, "It was my first and only serious love affair. I was very young and callow at the time. As a teenager, I had been infatuated by a girl at the Government College, Lahore. She was our history professor’s daughter. But it was only from a distance, I barely spoke to her, and our so-called romance went nowhere. I suppose it happens to everybody at that age. But Suraiya was another story. She was one of my early co-stars. I was thoroughly smitten by her. So much so that I wanted desperately to marry her. And she was responding in equal measure."
Later Dev Anand married with Kalpana Kartik.
Political activism
Not easily intimidated, Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha, Inder Sen Johar, Kishore Kumar were amongst the few that actually stood up against the authoritarian regime of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, while many in the opposition preferred to flee India to escape Mrs. Gandhi's wrath. He led a group of film personalities who stood up against the Internal Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. He actively campaigned against her with his supporters in Indian parliamentary elections in 1977. He also formed a party called the National Party of India, which he later disbanded.
Death
On 4 December 2011 Dev Anand died in a hotel in London at the age of 88 due to a cardiac arrest. He was reportedly in London for a medical check up.Condolences poured in from all corners of the Indian film industry, with most of them remembering his positive attitude towards life.
Achievements
- DEV ANAND won two FILMFARE AWARDS for ‘BEST ACTOR’–in 1958 for his performance in the film “Kala Paani”, and in 1966 for his performance in Navketan International’s “Guide”.
- In 1993, DEV ANAND received the FILMFARE ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.
- In 1996 he received the SCREEN VIDEOCON ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.
- In 1997 he was given the MUMBAI ACADEMY OF MOVING IMAGES Award for his outstanding services to the Indian Film Industry.
- In 1998, he was given a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the Ujala Anandlok Film Awards Committee in Calcutta.
- In 1999, he received the Sansui ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his immense contribution to Indian Cinema, in New Delhi.
- In the year 2000, he was awarded the Film Goers ‘Mega Movie Maestro of the Millennium’ Award in Mumbai.
- In July 2000, in New York City, DEV ANAND was honored by an Award at the hands of the then First Lady of the United States of America–Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton–for his outstanding contribution to Indian Cinema.
- DEV ANAND was awarded the Indo-American Association ‘Star of the Millenium’ Award in the Silicon Valley, California.
- The PRESIDENT OF INDIA honored DEV ANAND with the prestigious ‘PADMA BHUSHAN’ Award on India’s Republic Day– August 15, 2001.
- Donna Ferrar–Member New York State Assembly honored and issued a New York State Assembly Citation to DEV ANAND for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Cinematic Arts, Worthy of the Esteem and Gratitude of the Great State of New York’ on May 1, 2001.
- In April 2003, the IFFA Awards Committee in Johannesburg, South Africa gave DEV ANAND a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’.
- The Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Award – 2003 was conferred on DEV ANAND in Mumbai for his ‘Lifetime Magnificent Achievements and Devotions and Dedication to the Indian Film Industry’.
- Mr. DEV ANAND has earned a place in the LIMCA BOOK OF RECORDS making him the only person in the world who has been playing a hero in films for 58 years.
- Most recently, on September 26, 2003, the Thespian DEV ANAND was Honored by the County of Los Angeles, and Member of Congress, Mr. Bob Filner in Los Angeles, U.S.A., ‘In Recognition of Your Achievements in Indian Cinema’.
- On 29th December 2003, the EVERGREEN BOLLYWOOD HERO ‘DEV ANAND’ was conferred with the prestigious ‘DADA SAHEB PHALKE AWARD’ for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. The award was given to him by the PRESIDENT OF INDIA, MR. A P J ABDUL KALAM.
- On 17th January 2004, Indo- American Society felicitates Dev Anand
- In 2004, he was honoured with the Living Legend Award by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in recognition of his contribution to the Indian entertainment industry.
- In 2005, he was honoured with the “Sony Golden Glory Award”
- In 2005, he was honoured with a “Special National Film Award” by the Government of Nepal at Nepal’s first National Film Festival. He got this honour for his contribution to its film industry.
- In January of 2006, he was conferred with “ANR Award” by the Akkineni International Foundation.
- He is a recipient of the “Glory of India Award” by IIAF, London.
- In october of 2007, he was conferred with the “Punjab Ratan” (Jewel of Punjab) Award by the World Punjabi Organisation (European Division) for his outstanding contribution in the field of art and entertainment.
- 2008 – Lifetime Achievement Award by Ramya Cultural Academy in association with Vinmusiclub.
- 2008 – Lifetime Achievement Award by Rotary Club of Bombay.
- 2008 – Awarded at the IIJS Solitaire Awards.
- 2009 – Outstanding contribution to Indian cinema at the Max Stardust Awards.
- 2010 – Phalke Ratna Award by Dadasaheb Phalke Academy.
- 2010 – Rashtriya Gaurav Award.
- 2011 – Rashtriya Kishore Kumar Samman from the Government of Madhya Pradesh.
- 2011 – NDTV Indian of the Year's Lifetime Achievement Award with Rahul Dravid.
- In 2008 he was guest of honour at a dinner hosted by the Provost of Highland Council in Inverness, Scotland to celebrate 10 years since he first worked in the Scottish Highlands. He spent several days in the area, en route to Cannes, as a guest of the Highlands and Islands Film Commission.
