For once the TV news channels on Sunday forgot all about the FDI crisis and the Anna crusade. The news bulletins became musical interludes, repeatedly playing the same set of songs - but no one complained. As Dev Anand walked through the song sequences, viewers hummed along with him.
The 88-year-old Dev Anand died in a London hotel room. Tributes poured in from the film fraternity, political leaders, tycoons and the rest. Every superlative in the book was exhausted. Surprisingly, the most telling comment on his career came from one of his favourite co-stars, Waheeda Rehman, who in his company, set the screen on fire in ‘Guide'.
A Mumbai tabloid quoted Waheeda as saying, “Dev and I did share an easy and warm working relationship. When he turned director with ‘Prem Pujari,' I was in the film. But without meaning any disrespect to him, I'd like to say that as the years went by, Dev's script sense went haywire. I think he got too involved with himself.” True words spoken with courage and sincerity.
No one questioned Dev Anand's contribution to Hindi cinema: Sixty-five years, more than 120 films, tremendous public adulation, lifting the level of music scores to unprecedented height and starring with heroines years younger to him.
A handsome hero, Dev Anand was loved by millions, but he was clearly in love with himself. Every famous tragic hero of Shakespeare had one fatal flaw, which brought about his downfall. In the case of Dev Anand, it was this self- love and reluctance to change.
His memoir
He was very much an urban hero but to his line of thinking, a hero was always a hero. Dev Anand explained this in his memoir, ‘Romancing with Life'. Defending the charge of being narcissistic in portraying the hero in his films, Dev saab wrote, “I, Dev Anand, was certainly the central point of everything I say and do. To honour that image, I must project myself as best I can in both my professional and personal life.”
As a romantic hero, he had to project a youthful image. So both in films and real life, he dressed in tight trousers, huge belt and colourful shirts with collars that stood out. This style of dressing suited youngsters. Yet, Dev Anand in the 1989 film, ‘Sache Ka Bole Bala,' where he played a newspaper editor, was dressed that way.
After the 1978 hit, ‘Des Pardes', there were no box office hits. As a Mumbaikar who keenly awaited Friday's new releases, I did not even know when and if Dev Anand starrers such as ‘Life at Times Square', ‘Mr Prime Minister' or ‘Censor' were shown in the city's theatres,
Yet the next time I met Dev Anand, he never referred to these setbacks, but talked with infectious enthusiasm about new projects.
Film writers were kind but critics had to tell the truth. One of them found his latest ‘Chargesheet' a crime! Not wanting to be so brutally frank, some of the dailies stopped reviewing Dev Anand films. But the great man just did not bother.
Why then was he adored so much by the public and the media? Of the holy trinity, Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand, he was the weakest in acting. . Under Vijay Anand's intelligent handling, Dev Anand came out with a competent performance… that was all. But where Dev surged ahead was playing the romantic hero, with a huge following of young men and women. In ‘CID,' he just walked behind heroine Shakila and serenaded her, and the audience erupted. The college boys dressed like him, copied his hair style and wore the ‘Jewel Thief'' cap. He was exceptionally good at this, but when strong feelings and emotions were needed, he was found lacking. As age began to leave its marks, even the youthful, romantic image got blemished.
Love affair
Yet it was a long, love affair between Dev Anand and his fans, now past their middle age. He was a gentleman in a profession where manners, courtesy and good nature were found lacking. On many occasions, he answered the telephone himself, granted interviews speedily and answered questions without embarrassment, keeping his personal life completely out. One hardly got to know anything about his home life, his wife of long standing, Kalpana Kartik (Mona), his relationships with his son and daughter, his health and daily habits.
In later days, he began to open up with certain journalists. To make up for all this, Dev Anand was embarrassingly frank in his memoirs, which had a detailed analysis on the time he lost his virginity. Yes, Zeenat Aman was special. He could have been in love with her and was upset when she defected over to the RK camp.
With journalists who could talk cinema, he was a sheer delight. The hospitality was impeccable. Once on an assignment to interview him, I took my wife Rupa to meet him. He got up as she entered the room, made tea for her, came out with us till the lift, held its door open and shook hands with her. A speechless wife gasped later, ‘Where was all that ‘nakra' one associated with film stars?” That is how we will remember Dev Anand.
