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Introduction
03 December, 2025
Dev Anand: The use of words like ‘style’, ‘swag’ and ‘coolness’ in Bollywood started much later, but if it all started with one person, it was Dev Anand. Today, when we look at his career and his films, it clearly seems that he was many steps ahead of his time. Hindi cinema’s first modern, western-influenced, very smart and always young looking hero, i.e. the real trendsetter. Anyway, the shine of some people is so unique that it crosses every wall of time, borders and era. Dev Anand was one such star. His popularity was not limited to India only. His name was used with equal love in neighboring countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan. Not only this, even veteran Hollywood director David Lean, actor Gregory Peck and filmmaker Francis Ford recognized Dev Anand. This is about the time when the name of Bollywood had not reached the world properly. That is why it is said that the story of Dev Anand is not just the story of an actor, but the journey of a person who made the whole world his fan with a bundle of dreams.
Table of Content
- When I hugged the door and cried
- trip to bombay
- Police did lathi charge
- unique style
- When Dev Anand became a guide
- Suraiya and Dev
- granny becomes villain
Dev Anand was born in Punjab before partition, that is, now that place is a part of Pakistan. After graduating from the big Government College, Lahore, in July 1943, he kept only 30 rupees in his pocket, caught the Frontier Mail and left for Bombay. Then perhaps he did not know that this journey would make him the most evergreen face of Indian cinema. Well, the most emotional turn of Dev Anand’s story came after 55 years, when he returned to Lahore for the first time. There was so much love for this city in his heart that it burst forth as soon as he returned. Dev Anand never forgot that afternoon of 1999, when Dev Anand reached Lahore with the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Even the watchman at the college gate was stunned to recognize him. As soon as Dev Anand saw his old college, his eyes filled with tears. He hugged the door and cried as if some forgotten part of his childhood had suddenly surfaced. Well, this was also true. Clinging to the door, he was calling the same name again and again – Usha. Usha was the girl with whom Dev Anand was in love during his college days. He kept crying while sitting on the stage, hugging the walls and crying. From this you can guess that Dev Anand was more sensitive from within than how stylish he looked on screen.
trip to bombay
Let’s go back to Dev Anand’s journey to Bombay…. When he reached Bombay after studying from Lahore. At that time the country was close to independence and the entire city was full of energy. Now, he had to earn even two meals a day in such a big city, so after coming to Bombay, he sometimes worked as a clerk and sometimes worked in the Censor Department of the British Army, but Dev Anand’s mind always yearned for acting. Then a friend told the name of film maker Baburao and asked to meet him. Baburao had seen the glow on Dev’s face in the very first meeting, which he was looking for. He was called to Pune and the making of his first film ‘Hum Ek Hain’ started. But a strange condition was put before Dev Anand for this film. Actually, there was a slight gap between Dev Anand’s teeth and the director wanted it to be filled with fillers. Dev Anand tried but even after several days he did not like this filler at all.
Police did lathi charge
Ultimately he got it removed and said that the world should like him the way he is. What Dev Anand said also came true. Later, the world not only liked him but liked him so much that many fans tried to make their teeth like his. In fact, during the shooting of ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’, ‘Johnny Mera Naam’ and ‘Ishq Ishq Ishq’ in Nepal, the craze of fans for Dev Anand was at its peak. At that time, boys used to use hot oil and bamboo comb on their hair to get a hairstyle like Devanand. Even some fans used to distort the shape of their teeth and create a gap like Dev’s. Not only this, when the song ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ was being shot, there was such a crowd on the streets of Kathmandu that the police had to resort to lathicharge. The boys used to think of themselves as Dev Saheb’s clone by wearing ‘Jewel Thief’ cap and black and white shoes. Well, Dev Anand’s first film ‘Hum Ek Hain’ was released in 1946, but he got real recognition from the film ‘Ziddi’ released in 1948. Kishore Kumar also sang his first song in this film. The very next year i.e. in 1949, Dev Anand started his company ‘Navketan’ with his brother Chetan Anand. Its second film ‘Baazi’ made history. This was the first film to be made under the direction of Guru Dutt. Hollywood-style and Dev Anand’s gambler look, together made this film a blockbuster.
unique style
Dev Anand’s style cannot be described in words. The stooped gait, colorful scarves around the neck, tall hats and speaking continuously without stopping – all this became his trademark. Many used to say that they could not go out on the street wearing a black shirt because the girls would faint. But Dev Anand wrote about this in his autobiography Romancing with Life and told that there was nothing like that. Meaning all these things were just rumours. Yes, but it is true that girls did not even care about their lives to get a glimpse of him. Well, not only girls but even big leaders were fans of Dev Anand. When he went to Indonesia to shoot ‘Kala Paani’, President Sukarno came especially to see Dev Anand. Then a song from the film was re-shot in the honor of the President. Not only this, Egyptian President Nasser also gave the Filmfare Award to Dev Anand. What’s more, even Chambal’s dacoits were fans of Dev Anand. Once he was shooting in Chambal, someone informed him about the arrival of bandits. Dev Saheb replied – “Tell him to bring the camera. This will be his last chance to get photographed with me. The next day the robbers actually came and were engrossed in shaking hands with Dev Saheb, hugging him and getting their photographs clicked.”
When Dev Anand became a guide
The subject of the film ‘Guide’, released in 1965, was quite different and risky. Love, incompleteness and spirituality – no one had made such a film with the combination of these three in Hindi cinema before. Surprisingly, everyone refused to buy this cult film in the beginning. However, Time gave it the status of a cult classic. In an interview, Dev Anand had said that – “If people say that guide is my best work, then they should be accepted, but I can do better work than this. I am Dev Anand. Based on RK Narayan’s novel, the story of this film shows the relationship between a guide and a married dancer. Even though the film was not a big hit at that time, but today it holds a place in the list of top 10 best films of India. Then in the year 1971, ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’ came, which made Dev Anand’s image more modern. The song ‘Dum Maaro Dum’, which was considered very bold 50-60 years ago, remains a party anthem till date.
Suraiya and Dev
Dev Anand’s personal life was as beautiful as any story. His love for actress Suraiya was well known, but the wall of religion came in between and both of them got separated. Dev Saheb always used to say that he wished the ending of the story was different. But Suraiya always remained in his memories. On the day of his death, Dev Anand sat alone the whole day with tears in his eyes. Actually, Devanand was aware of Suraiya’s stardom and status since his Lahore days. Suraiya had become one of his favorite actresses. Devanand also writes in his biography ‘Romancing with Life’ that, ‘If a simple boy like me developed the desire for acting, it was because of some actresses and Suraiya was one of them’. Suraiya’s popularity in the 40s was such that films used to become hits in her name alone.
Suraiya’s stardom
Suraiya played many brilliant characters, while on the other hand, the songs sung by her used to resonate in the gatherings. Recalling those days, Dev Saheb wrote in his biography – ‘When I used to go to studios in search of work, I used to see Suraiya’s magic. As soon as she reached the gate of the studio in her Ampala car, the crowd gathered. When she reached the set, there would be silence. People would keep looking at Suraiya. She was such a big star that at that time, leave alone love, friendship with Suraiya did not even come to Devnand’s mind. But then came the year 1948 and the film ‘Vidya’ was made. While working together on this film, Suraiya and Dev Anand came close to each other. Dev Anand mentions a scene from this film in his book. That scene was something like this – ‘The camera rolled on the set, the song played and Suraiya hugged me. I could clearly feel the warmth of his breath. I kissed his hands and then the director said loudly – Great shot. This was the same scene from where the journey of love between Suraiya and Dev Anand began.
granny becomes villain
Also read: Samantha and Raj Nidimoru had a secret wedding, know who are the Raj whose brides were South actresses.
