Dev Anand

Somehow, -i didn't expect it-i am affected by Dev Anand's death, affected enough to write this review. My admiration for Dev Anand and the stars I give him are more because of his personality. No doubt I love him as an actor too. Just a month before writing this review I presented a paper at a conference in California about a song from his film'Kalabazar' -"Apni to har aah ik toofan hai.".

He was a man with dignity. A lad from Punjab who made it big in the dream world. He was noble in love and friendship, in success and loss; moreover,  he was patient in adversity. Dev Anand was a man  who could have bought half of Mumbai but he never ran after money. Indeed, he and Navketan Films were a support to many struggling and unknown artists. He was a man of high moral character, discipline, and great optimism. All his co-stars have respect for him, his heroines praise him and his decency. Surprisingly, for all his acquaintance with literature, his knowledge of Indian and western cinema, his love for and understanding of music, his sensibility seems to have failed him in his later movies.

In spite of his mannerisms and his imitation of Gregory Peck, he was a great star. His black and white movies will always be remembered for his image of the urban, debonair young man with a captivating smile and with a twinkle in his eyes. He was one of the great trio. A pity we didn't see him opposite Raj Kapoor(nor with Amitabh, Shahrukh.) though he worked in one movie with Dilip Kumar. He worked with most of the great heroines of his time including Suchitra Sen. His bond with great music directors and singers produced immortal songs. Rafi, Kishore, Hemant Kumar gave some of their best songs for him. Of his colored movies, of course the best is'Guide', which he made in English too. Unfortunately, he became afflicted by the malady of self-love and obsessed with a desire to take upon his shoulders the task of a cinematic messiah-an aged messiah too. Or, as Vaheeda Rehman said, his sense of the script went haywire. That never works. Thus, most of his recent movies did badly on the box office. Still, more than 100 movies as lead actor! And more than half a century of cinema with Suraiya(his first and real love), Nutan,  Kamini Kaushal, Kalpana Kartik, Nimmi, Shaquila, Vaijantimala, Vaheeda Rehman(one of his best pairings), Meena Kumari, Sadhna, Mala Sinha, Mumtaz, Hema Malini, Tina Munim, Zeenat Aman, Asha Parekh, Parveen Babi, Rakhee, Sharmila Tagore, Padmini Kolhapure, Tabu. the Anand brothers, Guru Dutt, Johny Walker, Sahir Ludhiyanvi, Neeraj, Lata, Aasha, Usha Uthup,  the Burmans, O.P. Nayyar, Shankar-Jaikishan, Jaidev, Rafi, Hemant Kumar, Kishore, Raj Khosla, Shatrughan Sinha, Kabir Bedi, Aamir Khan, Jackie Shroff, Shekhar Kapoor.No one can say that he had less than 100% passion for movies. As an actor, producer and director he's proved it.

He did have in him the desire to make the world a better place. Thus, his short foray into politics too.

Dev Anand always seemed to be around. Doing something or the other, even what seemed to people like a crazy obsession.  If someone asked "Where is Dev Anand?", the answer would be "Oh, he must be somewhere, making a movie." I feel that with his passing away a bridge between the old world and the new world has broken down. He was the young man of his times who showed how life should be lived and encountered even in the old age. He made mistakes but knew how to live with them. Robert Browning's lines "But what if I fail in my purpose here?/It is but to keep the nerves at strain/To dry one's eyes and laugh at a fall/ And baffled, get up and begin again" were true of him. I wish his funeral took place in India.

The Evergreen romantic hero of Bollywood Dev Anand is no more. He died at the age of 88, leaving behind a legacy of being one of the most popular and charismatic film personalities of the country. His trademark swagger and shaking the head was a delight for mimicry artistes. Apart from acting, Dev also produced and directed many hit movies. From the 40s to 70s Dev's films charmed us, but unfortunately from the late 70s onwards Dev's films lost its charm and started flopping. But he kept on making movies and acting even till recently.

If Dev Anand is remembered for being a romantic hero, it is the music of his movies that gets the credit. Dev associated with all the great musicians, but his association with the Burmans, father and son is immemorable. This is my tribute to the great Devsaab by remembering the wonderful music from his movies.

It is difficult to select a starting point. But I would like to start from the 1952 movie Jaal where Dev's mainstay S D Burman (Dada) composed the music. The memorable duet "Yeh Raat yeh Chaandni phir kahan sunja dil ki dastaan" sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Hemant Kumar comes to mind. This movie was also the second movie of Dev's strong association with another genius Guru Dutt.

Patita in 1953 saw Shankar Jaikishan composing for a Dev movie with again Lata and Hemant singing the popular duet "Yaad kiya dil ne kaha ho tum".

Taxi Driver in 1954 saw Dev working with Kalpana Kartik whom he married later, once his love for Surayya was truly lost. Here it was Talat Mahmood who sand the unforgettable "Jayen to Jayen Kahan". SD Burman was by this time established as the inhouse composer for Dev's Navketan banner by now.

Munimji in 1954 saw Kishore Kumar establish himself as the voice of Dev Anand with the hit song "Jeevan Ke Safar Me Rahi"

1955 House No. 44 and Hemant Kumar have two hit songs "Chup hain Dharti Chup hain Chandsitare" and "Teri Duniya Me Jeene Se"

1955 saw yet another musical hit Funtoosh with a Kishore Kumar philosophic number "Dukhi Man mera sun mera kehna". For the first time SD used his son RD's tune for the song "Ae Mere Topi "

One of the biggest musical hits of Dev came in the 1956 Guru Dutt movie CID. The maverick OP Nayyar created one of his best musical scores. The movie had amazing hit songs - the Rafi-Geeta dutt duet "Ankhon hi ankhon mein ishaara hain", "Leke pehla pehla pyaar" (Rafi, Shamshad,Asha) and the iconic Rafi-Geeta duet "Ae Dil hain mushkil....yeh hai bombay meri jaan".

Paying Guest in 1957 saw some great songs. Kishore's "Mana Janab Ne Pukara Nahin", Lata's "Chand phir Nikla" and the Kishore-Asha duets "Oh Nigahen Mastana" and "Chod do aanchal".

Nau Do Gyarah in 1957 had hit songs like Kishore's "Hum hain Rahi pyar ke" and the naughty Asha-Kishore duet "Aankhon me kya ji woh pehla badal"

1958 Solvah Saal had one of the biggest hit songs Hemant Kumar's "Hai Apna Dil To Awara" picturised on Dev. All the above had music by Dada Burman.

SD Burman's songs in Kaal Paani in 1958 had Rafi as the lead singer with the soulful "Hum Bekhudi Me Tumko pukare" and a duet with Asha "Acchaji main hari chalo maan jao na"

1960 and Kalabaazar saw SD using Rafi again as the anchor. Great songs like the Rafi solo "Khoya khoya chand" and the Rafi-Geeta duet "Rimjhim ke tarane leke aie barsat".

1961 Dev worked with Nasir Hussain and Shankar-Jaikishan for "Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hain". The title song “Jiya o jiya o kuch bol do…jab pyar kisi se hota hain”.and the Lata-Rafi duets “Uff umma” and “Sau saal pehle” were the highlights.

1962 saw one of Dev’s great hits “Hum Dono”. Dev used Dada’s assistant Jaidev as the composer. And he came out with hit songs like Rafi’s “Main Zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya”, Lata’s “Allah tero naam”, Rafi’s “Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi halat pe rona aaya” and Asha-Rafi “Abhi na jao chod kar”

SD was back in Tere Ghar Ke Saamne in 1963 which saw hit songs like Rafi’s “Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar” and “Tu kahan yeh bata” and the title song by Lata and Rafi.

In 1965 the SD-Dev Teen Devian had great music with songs like Rafi’s “Aise To Na Dekho” and my favourite songs the Kishore-Asha duet “Arre yaar meri tum bhi ho haseen” and the Lata-Kishore duet “Likha Hai Tere Ankhon Me”

1965 also saw the greatest hit of Navketan Guide. SD Burman excelled in the music dept. with Rafi’s great solos “Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang hain”, “Kya se kya ho gaya” and “Din Dhal jaye”. Lata’s great duets “Piya Tose Naina Lage Re”, “Saiyaan Beiman” and the legendary “Aaj phir Jeene ki Tamanna”. The Kishore-Lata memorable duet “Gaata Rahe Mera Dil” and the two songs by Dada himself “Allah meghde” and “Waha kaun hain tera musafir” were the other noted songs in this classic movie.

2 years later, SD-Dev combine came out another great hit Jewel Thief. Kishore’s solo “Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara”, Lata-Rafi’s “Dil Pukare Aa re” and the Lata classic “Hothon Pe Aisi Baat” were the highlights of this movie.

1970 saw the release of Prem Pujari with Kishore ruling the roost with “Phoolon Ke Rang Se” and “Shokiyon me Gohola jaye” with Lata.

1970 also had a Dev film “Johny Mera Naam” with music by Kalyanji-Anandji with Kishore’s hit songs like “Pal Bhar Ke Liye”, “Nafrat Karne Walon” and “O Mere Raja”

Gambler in 1971 had Kishore hit songs like “Churi Nahin Mera Dil Hain” and “Dil Aaj Shair Hain”

1971 saw Dev Anand coming out with Hare Rama Hare Krishna which became a cult movie. When Dev broached the idea of the movie with Dada, he was uncomfortable with the concept and thus Dev decided to use RD Burman’s music for the movie. RD had been involved in previous movies as Dada’s assistant, but this was his first movie in the Navketan banner. And he came out with amazing music with Asha’s “Dum Maro Dum” going down in history. Other great hits from the movie included: Lata-Kishore duets “Kanchi Re Kanchi Re”, the beautiful “Phoolon Ka Taron Ka” and the Asha-Usha Uthup title song “I Love you”. While this movie helped to establish Pancham’s position as the numero uno of the music industry, it also marked the beginning of the end of the musical journey of Navketan and Dev.

In my view, Heera Panna in 1973 was the last musical hit of Dev with the title Lata-Kishore duet “Panna Ki Tamanna”. After this, it was all downhill.

The movies after 1973 neither did well nor had the kind of music seen in the earlier years. Yes RD and Rajesh Roshan did come out with songs like “Ruk Jana O Jana” and “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa“, but these were more of exceptions.

The death of SD Burman created a big void which others like RD, Rajesh Roshan, Laxmi-Pyare could not fill. Dev continued to make movies till 2011, but none of them had the musical charm or class of the movies of the 50s, 60s. Incidentally, the first three movies he directed Prem Pujari, Hare Rama and Heera Panna did well, but the rest were average.

Whatever it may be, there is no denying that Dev Anand was a legendary personality in Bollywood whose contribution to Hindi film music is stupendous.

As we bid farewell to the great legend, lets remember these lines from Prem Pujari:

Haan Itna Madir Itna Madhur Tera Mera Pyar
Lena Hoga Janam Hameh Kayi Kayi Baar

The first Hindi movie I saw outside India was Jewel Thief, year 1971, place Tehran Iran; dubbed in Persian. Iranian's in those days had un-fettered access to Western films; and their favorite stars included Clint Eastwood, Robert Redford, Anthony Quinn and Alain Delon. On that day I discovered that they were also great fans of Hindi movies, one of my father's Iranian colleague bought Dev Anand's famous Jewel Thief cap and jauntily wore it. Even though I was quite young, I must

have subconsciously realized something important. In those days Indian products abroad were almost non-existent, and here was an Indian film (and hero) being competitive with the best the West had to offer. Just a year earlier Dev Anand's blockbuster Johnny Mera Naam had made a great impression on all us young kids in my Pune locality, and this Tehran experience cemented his status as my favorite Hindi movie star.

Coming of age in India in the 1970's implied growing up in the Rajesh Khanna/Dharmendra/Amitabh Bachchan era. Although these 3 heroes were far more popular (and also among my favorites); a 50+ year old Dev Anand still retained his niche. The most  significant reason was Hare Rama Hare Krishna and his subsequent relationship with Zeenat Aman. Dharmendra-Hema Malini  was the most popular and written about couple, but Dev-Zeenat were not far behind. This open relationship between an older man and a much younger women was certainly path-breaking for India, and whether you were for it or against it; secretly I suspect most were quite fascinated by it. In his autobiography "Romancing with Life" (inspiration for my reviews title), Dev Anand discusses this relationship in a candid yet under-stated manner. The most honest and poignant revelation is the breakup and Zeenat crossing over to work with rival Raj Kapoor. Real-life shades of Raj Kapoor's eternal triangle in "Sangam", and coincidentally, legend has it that Rajendra Kumar's role was written for and first offered to Dev Anand. Dev Anand analyzes the entire episode in a very mature manner, ending by saying that in his mind Zeenat remains a beautiful person and Raj Kapoor remains a passionate filmmaker.

The 1950's was a period where the Hindi Film Industry was establishing itself. Dev Anand along with Dilip Kumar and  Raj Kapoor formed the so called trinity of male superstars. Unlike Hollywood and its studio system; it is interesting to note that this industry was (and for the most part remains) a fragmented free-market entity consisting of many independent production houses. Dev Anand founded his own company, Navketan, and most of his best movies were produced under this banner. Navketan along with Raj Kapoor's RK Studios were considered amongst the top most banners through the 1950's and the 1960's. Several leading lights of the Hindi film industry like Vijay Anand, Raj Khosla, SD Burman, Zeenat Aman, and Tina Munim established their careers via Navketan. Dev Anand and Navketan continue to produce movies to this day, although for the past

25+ years they have not made a commercially (or artistically) successful movie. In the 1980's, he did create a modern state-of-the-art recording studio; which apparently is the funding source for his many failed film ventures.

Dev Anand's forte were light romantic roles, but he also excelled at playing lawyers and CID inspectors. Great music was an integral part of his movies, indeed his song picturizations were often copied by other actors. He was at his best during the first 20 - 25 years of his career, much of it during the black and white film era. As an actor he was mostly consistent, with a few great performances. He defined the urban manfor the Indian audience, with his behavior and clothes sense. A genuinely handsome and good looking leading actor, he had a lot of female fans of all age groups. His one-of-kind mannerisms began to dominate in the latter part of his career, beginning in the 1970's. They were tolerated and even enjoyed for some time; however they certainly are anachronistic in this day and age. After his superstar status began to wane, he tried his hand at direction, but apart from Hare Rama Hare Krishna and to some extent Des Pardes, he did not find much success.

His autobiography is worth a read, he proves that currently he is a much better author than filmmaker/actor. He writes at great length about the relationship with Suraiyya in the early part of his career. Her family terminated the pairing, apparently on grounds of dissimilar religion. Later, Kalpana Kartik came into his life; and they married on the sets of the movie Taxi Driver. They had two children, a boy Suneil and a daughter Devina; and they remain married to this day in a most unusual arrangement. Dev Anand describes this arrangement with a humorous episode; once he fell in his bathtub, hurt his back and shouted "I have fallen". Kalpana, partially serious and somewhat jocularly replied --- "For whom this time".

The best part of the autobiography is the description of his struggles in the early days in Bombay. He fought with his father and came to Bombay with very little money in his pocket. He did odd jobs including a stint at the War censor's office. He was forced to sell his stamp collection to survive, and spent many days living in a chawl in Parel. I suppose this struggle  is probably one key ingredient of his later success, possibly at some subliminal level his many viewers detect these real experiences in his performances.

Among my favorite Dev Anand movies are :-

1) Guide --- wrote an entire review about this one.

2) Jewel Thief --- An entertaining mixture of James Bond & Agatha Christie (I read this somewhere, but do not remember the source)

3) Johnny Mera Naam --- I believe Mani Kaul (or some other art film director) called this movie the best mixture of art and entertainment.

4) Kala Pani --- Won Best actor filmfare award.

5) Hum Dono --- Great songs (as usual).

6) Tere Ghar Ke Samne --- a delightful breezy entertainer, the best of the Dev Anand-Nutan pair.

7) Hare Rama Hare Krishna --- flawed in parts, ahead of the curve in others; his best directorial venture.

8) Asli Naqli --- His only movie with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, they had a fight.

9) CID --- A slick stylish Guru Dutt/Raj Khosla entertainer, the only movie where two other males have better songs than him

(Johnny Walker "Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan", an unknown actor "Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar").

10) Tere Mere Sapne --- A sensitive film, Dev Anand pairs well with Mumtaz, although sometimes he overacts.

and countless songs, but a special mention for

1) Phoolon Ke Rang Se

2) Are Yaar Meri Tum Bhi Ho Ghazab

3) Phoolon Ka Taaron Ka

4) Gaata Rahe Mera Dil

5) Aasman Ke Neeche

6) Hai Apna Dil To Awaara

7) Tere Mere Sapne Ab Ek Rang Hai

8) He Maine Kasam Li

9) Khoya Khoya Chaand

10) Yeh Dil Na Hota Bechara

11) Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar

12) Khwaab Ho Tum Ya Koi Haqeeqat

Dedicated to the #1 Dev Anand fan on Mouthshut.

Dev Anand, a name that can evoke a number of emotions. To some, he is a caricature churning out one meaningless movie after another. To some he is some one meant to be made fun of, his dialogue delivery, his walk, the nodding of his head, in short, a total cartoon. Even among old timers, there are many who argue that he was a success only because of his songs, and not at all a great actor. But there are many who swear by his movies, his songs, his mannerisms.

But for me Dev Anand would always be my romantic inspiration. There have been romantic heroes like Rajendra Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Shahrukh Khan but no one to beat good old Dev.  And that I guess was because of his effortless acting. It was as if he was born to romance. Whether it’s serenading Nutan on the steps of Qutub Minar  with “Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar” or  assuring Waheeda that she is not alone with “Tere Mere Sapne” or  cycling with Mumtaz to the tunes of “Hey Maine Kasam Li”he was the ultimate romantic for me. So my advice, forget all his latest movies, and watch some of his best movies, to relive a magic of a bygone age.

Taxi Driver(1954)- This movie firmly established Dev as the leading star of his time, along with Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. This was a crime nourish thriller, the first of it’s kind, attempted by his brother Chetan Anand. Dev’s role was that of a drunk cab driver, who frequents a singer called Sylvie, and lives life on the edge. He rescues another woman Maya from goons, and falls in love with her. When she mysteriously disappears from his life, he goes in search of her. Kalpana Karthik plays Maya, while Sheila Ramani plays the role of Sylvie, the singer. Again an excellent song by Dada Burman *“Jaaye to Jaaye Kahan” by Talat Mehmood.

CID(1956): One of the best entertainers you will see in a long time. This movie marked the debut of Raj Khosla as a director, where he mixes the Hollywood crime noir genre with that of a Bollywood musical. Again the songs don’t serve as a distraction, but flow along with the story. Dev is sufficiently dashing and debonair, as the sleuth, who find himself trapped in a web of intrigue, and finds himself as a suspect. Watch out for Waheeda Rehman in a small role as a vamp here. One of the best musical scores by O.P.Nayyar here, using his trademark style. Rafi’s famous ode to Mumbai “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil Jeena Yahan”, the lilting Geeta Dutt-Rafi duet “Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein”, Shamshad’s “Kahin Pe Nigahen” and Geeta Dutt’s frisky club song “Jaata Kahan Hai Deewane”.

Kala Pani(1958)- One of Dev Anand’s best movies. It showed that there was much more to him, than just being a romantic lover boy. Raj Khosla once again teams up to deliver this taut and gripping thriller. Dev plays the role of Karan, who has to clear the name of his father, wrongly imprisoned for the murder of a prostitte. He takes the help of Madhubala, who plays a reporter and the most important link, Nalini Jaywant, playing a courtesan. Dev’s character again has shades of grey, in that he pretends to love Nalini, just to get to the information, which could clear his father’s name, and then later dumps her.  Excellent performance by Dev for which he deservedly won the Best Actor.  Great score by Dada again, with that evergreen Rafi number “Hum Bekhudi Mein Tumko Pukaare” and of course that unforgettable duet “Acha Ji Mein Haari”between Dev and Madhubala.

Kala Bazaar(1960)- Another great movie from Dev Anand, directed by his brother Vijay Anand. Dev again plays a man on the wrong side of the law, a black marketer, who starts off by selling movie tickets in black. Waheeda Rehman plays his lady love in the movie. Dev later reforms, and also brings about a change in the people around him. This was the only movie in which Dev, Vijay and Chetanappeared together on the screen.  Chetan Anand comes in the climax, as a lawyer, who argues on behalf of the reformed hero. The movie was a powerful statement against the black market. Dada again scores with numbers like “Khoya Khoya Chand” and“ Rim Jim Ke Tarane Leke”.

Hum Dono(1961)- Dev Anand stars in a double role as Major Verma and Dr. Mahesh Anand, both of whom are working in the army. The trouble starts when Major Verma is presumed to be dead, and Mahesh has to break the news to the Major’s wife and mother. However when they see him, they assume him to be Major Verma, which leaves Mahesh in a quandary. Typical Indian family melodrama, but still watchable.  Excellent music score by Jaidev here  Rafi’s “Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya” and Lata’s bhajan “Allah Tero Naam” being particularly outstanding. And not to forget the wonderful romantic duet “Abhi Na Jao Chodkar”. Sadhana plays the role of  Dr. Mahesh’s love, while Nanda plays the Major’s wife.

Tere Ghar Ke Saamne(1963)- As romantic comedies go, nothing gets better than this. Dev Anand’s father Om Prakash and Nutan’s father Harindranath Chattopadhyaya are perennially at loggerheads. And to make matters worse, both Dev and Nutan fall in love with each other. How they run around trying to convince their parents is what this movie is about. Vijay Anand shows a wonderful flair for song picturization, especially in “Dil Ka Bhanwar Kare Pukar”, with Dev serenading Nutan on steps of Qutub Minar. Dada again comes up with some wonderful songs like the title song,  Rafi’s “Tu Kahan Ye Bata” and the lovely duet“Dekho Roota Na Karo”.

Teen Devian(1965)- Another superb romantic comedy. Dev uses his real name in the movie, and he plays a salesman for a musical instruments company. He has a gift for poetry, and he falls in love with 3 girls simultaneously, the girl next door Nanda, an actress Kalpana Kartik and a rich socialite Simi Garewal. He is unable to make up his mind, and who ultimately becomes his love, needs to be watched on screen. Great musical score here with songs likeKishore’s “ Khwab Ho Tum”, Kishore-Asha’s duet “Arre Yaar Meri”, Kishore-Lata’s “Likha Hei Teri Aankhon Mein” and Rafi’s solo “ Aise Tum Na Dekho”.

Guide(1965)- An all time classic starring Dev Anand as a smooth talking guide Raju who befriends a lonely married woman Rosie(Waheeda Rehman). She breaks away from her unhappy marriage, to be with him, and he in turn helps her to be successful. But Raju’s character is not all white, he uses Rosie’s money, and is arrested for forgery. He later achieves redemption, but at a tragic cost. While Dev is pretty good, it is Waheedawho steals the show with her brilliant performance. And of course Dada again coming up with a memorable score, with evergreen numbers like “Gaata Rahe Mera Dil”, “ Tere Mere Sapne”, “Aaj Phir Jeene Ki Tamanna”, “Tere Mere Sapne”.

Dev Anand born in 1923 is one of the oldest actors in the indian film industry he has been in bollywood since 1946, so 60 years and no one has experience about acting like he does.

He's one of the underrated actors in bollywood in my point of view. In today's times we say that were great actors in the old days. The names that come up in peoples mouths are amitabh bachnan, raj kapoor, dilip kumar etc. I hardly here dev anand. He was the man with style shaking his head and shaking his hands in every movie. That explains how a different actor he was from other actors.

He was born in punjab gurdaspur, so he was punjabi. He gradauted from english and literature from the government college in lahore and left for bombay to join his younger brother chetan anand I nthe ipta. He struggled like others he had to sell some of his possessions and even worked in a military censor's office reading soldiers letters to their families.

His first movie was called hum ek hain, that didn't help his career any much. He met a cheographer called guru dutt and they became friends and guru dutt promised dev anand he ever turned a film makers dev's the first one he's going to for the lead actor and if dev were to make a film guru dutt would be the director he would go for.

Ziddi which came out in 1948 was dev anand first success and the following year he turned director and launched his own banner called navketan . Navketan's first film was afsar and suraiya and was directed by dev anand brother chetan anand which floped at the box office. Then Dev anand went for guru dutt and they cameo ut with baazi in 1951 the film did very well. It took dev anand to a star status.

He had a relationship with the actress suraiya, but it ended when dev anand started to get success as an actor. The next movie with dev anand and guru dutt was Jaal, in which dev anand played heartless smuggler. The movie flopped and guru dutt and dev anand partnership came to an end and guru dutt formed up his own company and started acting in his own movies.

The big actors of 1950's were raj kapoor and dilip kumar, who were considered better then dev anand. In my point of view dev anand was better then these actors, though dilip kumar was a good actor, I never liked raj kapoor.

Dev anand's forte was boy next doorpart lover, part clown same as like salman khan does these days in most of his movies, but to bad dev anand didn't have no muscles to take off his shirt like salman khan. He did lot of loverboy roles in movies like munimjee, payingguest. Then also did shaded roles like a thied in movie pocketmaar and a gang member in the movie dushman, the black markteer in kala bazaar, and the murdrer in the movie kala bazaar. he did the movie called c.i.d, and jewel thief perhaps he's best known from those two movies.

What made him different from the other actors was his song singing, dialogue delivery and the puff in his hair and the actors that came after him started doing the same hair style for example shammi kapoor's hair style also matches dev anand, but shammi kapoor is a very different actor.

He got his best actors award for the movie kala paani with a very good performance. HUm dono was also a good movie with dev doing double in the movie. Guide is considered dev anand's best movie and his performance, but in my point of baazi was his best performance. Guide did win a him his second filmfare award. In the 70's he didn't have that much success Johnny mera naam did pretty good with the performances of dev anand, hema malini and pran. prem pujari did alright, hare rama hare krishna did well and des pardes did average business.

AS good as a actor dev was he was the worst in the direction. He had directed lot of movies but was unsuccessfull and he keeps on making movies. He launched his son suneil in the movie anand aur anand in 1984 the movie flopped badly. He also directed swami dada, aawal number, censor, love in times square which all bombed at the box office. He is still trying to make a another movie called mr president, which I doubt will do any good.

HIs memorable movies:

Ziddi (1948)

Baazi (1951)

Jaal (1952)

Patita (1953)

Taxi Driver (1954)

C.I.D. (1956)

Nau Do Gyarah (1957)

Paying Guest (1957)

Kala Pani (1958)

Solva Saal (1958)

Bombay ka Babu (1960)

Kala Bazaar (1960)

Hum Dono (1961)

Jab Pyar Kisi se Hota Hai (1961)

Asli Naqli (1962)

Tere Ghar ke Samne (1963)

Guide (1965)

Jewel Thief (1967)

Johnny Mera Naam (1970)

Tere Mere Sapne (1971)

Hi again,

With our very own Dev saab, I was crazily in love with him believe me or not,

The only star of the Indian film Industry who I fell for flat when I was not even in my teens with his Khoya,khoya chand song I went mad.

Because then I never knew playback singers or anything all I could hear him saying and moving with the dialogue paisa babu paisa from the above mentioned movie.

Yes his first movie or last I can never remember but C.I.D.) Kala bazaar.) Hum Dono) Asli Naquli.)Maya) Love marriage and gosh I can go on and on.

Whether Dev saab's movies were flop or hit,one thing you could be sure of his movie songs were super duper hits.

He was a good director as well gave a break to stars like Zeenat Aman. Tina Munin. Zaheera, Zaheeda KhanHe has acted with the very best of old and younger generation some are ther and some are in their heavenly abode.

Jab Pyar kise se hota hai,or Hare Rama Hare Krishna or Jewel thief to a Johnny mera naam, to the best Raju Guide who else but only Dev saab gave us these movies.

Kala Paani, Warrant, Heera Panna,Man pasand, but the best were his black and white era he was the handsomest and best.

Nau do gyaarah had a Kalpana Kartik who became his lawful wedded wife even Taxi Driver they co starred together.

He starred a lot with Geeta Bali and Waheeda Rehman.

Movies like Baazi, Jaal, Guide, Mahal with Asha Parekh, Munimji,Insaniyat with himself and Dilip Saab.

But tragedy has even Dev saab's life with two of his brother's gone one Chetan Ji who gave us movies like Aakhri Khat,Haqueequat,Kudrat, Haanste Zakham and many more.

But the worse loss was his younger brother Vijay Anand ji gone he lost everything, this was the brother he cherished the most and was very close to.

Guide, Johnny mera naam, Main Tulsi tere aangan ki movies were directe by him a good actor himself, He acted with Jaya Bachchan in Kora Kaagaz a beautiful film.

He was in Tere mere sapne, as well as Kala Baazar.

This loss was hard to Dev saab, but his films may give him the hope to live without them when people like me love hearing all old songs of his movies to glory and carry on with life.

Jeevan ke safar mein raahi miltey hain beechad jaaney ko, aur dey jaatey hain taanhaai mein tadpaney ko.

Bye Sushama