DEV ANAND
Dev Anand with Kishore Kumar and Lata
Dev Anand with Madhubala
Dev Anand with RD Burman and Kishore Kumar.
Dev anand with Burman saab, Kishore kumar and legendary Yash Chopra at the back.
We love you, Dev Anand!
by K. Rajbir Deswal
DEV Anand never looked more pleasant to me than when receiving the Dada
Sahib Phalke Award at the hands of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Being
an ardent fan of the Tragedy King, I have only been an admirer of Dev
Anand despite some of the “flop-sides” of the man and his mannerisms.
But it occurs to me that it was largely because of this deportment that
many cinema lovers liked his screen presence — a fact that he cashed in
on even in his flop films.
While the frontal gap in his denture, a la Mrs Slip Slop or, nearer
home, Asha Parekh, enhanced the magnetic effect in romantic scenes, as
some people believe, his protruding lower lip while executing emotions
made him look intolerable. His rolling of the perfectly rounded
eyeballs added confusion to his performance. Yet, he was liked. His
gait, employing a three-foot swing to the left and right, made him look
the biggest drunkard on earth. Coupled with this zigzagging, the
drooping shoulders made him a creature deserving sympathy. Still he was
adored.
His dialogue delivery always ran in the fast forward mode. The notation
and pitch falling and rising every now and then as if someone was
writhing in pain made the audiences lend an extra ear attempting to
decipher what he was saying. Even then he was admired. Added to all
this, his way of dressing and decking gave inferiority complex to those
who boast of having a sartorial sense. His scarves, his headgear, his
jackets, his chosen design or pattern in a particular cloth, black
buttons with scoffed collars, black seams of his stitched apparel;
everything had a Dev Anand mark on it. And he was rightly
“impersonated”.
Old timers recall, although he denied it in a recent TV interview, that
he was advised against wearing a red tie with a black suit since the
combination could prove fatal to certain swooning onlookers of the
opposite sex. His raised puff of hair, resembling perching of a
sparrow, made people pirates of Dev Anand’s style of balon ki chiriya
bithana! Obviously he was copied. His finds, including Zeenat Aman,
Tina Munim et al confirmed his exploration of freshness, ensured
permanence of charm and an anticipated success of the “discoveries”.
Above all his being the one whose one single glance on a “thing of
beauty made joy for ever” made many a man envy him. Nevertheless, they
adored him.
That Dev Anand refuses to age gives me a naughty flash of imagination.
No wonder he had said, “They decorated me with the Dada Phalke Award
whereas I deserved Chacha Phalke one because the latter has more
youthful connotations.” We love you Dev Anand.
Dev Anand with Hema Malini, 2007
with Hillary Clinton
If this picture doesn’t make you nostalgic, then what will?
Here is a photograph taken at Anil Sharma’s latest film Apne’s audio
launch party. No prizes for guessing who these stars are. Clockwise
from left: Sunny Deol, Dharmendra, Saira Banu, Dilip Kumar and Dev
Anand.
Not many would recall that once upon a time Dev Anand and Dilip
Kumar were the leading protagonists of their era. In fact, we heard
that there was rivalry between the two during the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Dev Anand said, “No… Never…. we all were competing with ourselves.
Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar – they all were great actors, great stars in
their own place. We all had worked hard and therefore we were accepted.
All of us had made our loyal audience. In fact, we all admired each
others work and never ever had any sort of cut-throat competition.”
Dharmendra can probably be considered as the little brother of the
three considering that he is more than 10 years younger than the other
two. Flashback to the year 1997 and recall the time when he received
the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award from the hands of none other
than Dilip Kumar and his wife Saira Banu. It is remembered that Dilip
Kumar had spoken of Dharmendra’s good looks and chiseled features.
“Whenever I get to meet God Almighty I will set before him my only
complaint – why did You not make me as handsome as Dharmendra?”, said
he.
Saira Banu may be feeling nostalgic as well as she has co-starred with all the three veterans during her career.
Sunny Deol who alongside papa Dharam and lil’ brother Bobby star in
Apne must be feeling great as well. Though he hasn’t been seen with Dev
Anand or Dilip Kumar on celluloid, he has shared screen space with his
father umpteen times.***