Dev Anand

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Lore & Background

Dev Anand was born Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand on 26 September 1923 in the Shakargarh Tehsil of the Gurdaspur district in Punjab, British India (now Narowal District, Punjab, Pakistan). His father Pishori Lal Anand was a prominent lawyer in Gurdaspur District Court, also a freedom fighter and scholar affiliated with the Arya Samaj organisation, who studied world religions in different languages (the Bhagavad-Gita in Sanskrit, the Bible in Hebrew, the Qur'an in Arabic while he also knew Persian). His mother was Indravati. Dev was the third of four sons; his older brothers included Manmohan Anand and Chetan Anand, while Vijay Anand was his younger brother. He did his schooling till matriculation from Sacred Heart School, Dalhousie, and went to Government College Dharamshala before going to Lahore to study. Later Dev completed a B.A. degree in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore in British India. Part of the Anand family, he co-founded Navketan Films in 1949 with his elder brother Chetan Anand. After completing his BA, Anand left his hometown for Bombay in the early 1940s. He began his career in the military censor's office at Churchgate, for a monthly salary of Rs. 65. Later, he worked as a clerk in an accounting firm for a salary of Rs. 85. He joined his older brother, Chetan, as a member of the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). Anand aspired to become a performer after seeing Ashok Kumar's performance in films such as Achhut Kanya and Kismet. He gate-crashed into the office of Babu Rao Pai of Prabhat Film Studios, who gave him his first break. He was soon offered the lead role in Prabhat Films' Hum Ek Hain (1946), a film about Hindu-Muslim unity, where Dev Anand played a Hindu boy and was paired opposite Kamala Kotnis. While shooting the film in Pune, Anand befriended the actor Guru Dutt. Between them, they agreed that if one of them were to become successful, he would help the other also to be successful. They formed a mutual understanding that when Anand produced a film, Dutt would direct it and when Dutt directed a film, Anand would act in it. In the late 1940s, Anand was offered a few roles starring as the male lead opposite singer-actress Suraiya in woman-oriented films. While shooting these films, they became romantically involved. The two of them were paired in many films: Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar (1950), Nili (1950), Sanam and Do Sitare (1951). She fell in love with him during the shooting of the song 'Kinare Kinare Chale Jayen Ge' from the film Vidya. While shooting the scene, the boat they were in capsized, and Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. During the shooting of the film Afsar (1950), Anand finally proposed to Suraiya and gave her a diamond ring worth Rs 3,000. Her maternal grandmother opposed the relationship as they were Muslim and Anand was Hindu, so Suraiya remained unmarried. They stopped acting together after her grandmother opposed their partnership, and Do Sitare was the last film in which they appeared together. Anand was offered his first big break by Ashok Kumar, who spotted him hanging around in the studios and picked him as the hero for the Bombay Talkies production Ziddi (1948), co-starring Kamini Kaushal, which became an instant success. After Ziddi's success, Anand decided that he would start producing films. It was in the film Ziddi that the first ever Kishore-Lata duet, 'Yeh Kaun Aaya Karke Yeh Sola Singhar', was recorded. His association with Kishore Kumar started when the former sang the first solo of his playback singing career, 'Marne Ki Duayen', which was picturised on Dev Anand in Ziddi. In 1949, he launched his own company Navketan Films. Nirala (1950), a commercial success, saw him being paired opposite Madhubala for the first time. Dev chose Guru Dutt as director for the crime thriller Baazi (1951). The film, starring Dev Anand, Geeta Bali, and Kalpana Kartik, was a trendsetter, regarded as the forerunner of the spate of urban crime films that followed in Bollywood in the 1950s. The film Baazi saw the debut of Kalpana Kartik (aka Mona Singha) as the lead female actress and Guru Dutt as a director. The collaboration was a success and the duo of Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik were offered many films to star in together. They signed all the film offers and subsequently the movies Aandhiyan (1952), Taxi Driver (1954), House No. 44 (1955) and Nau Do Gyarah (1957) went on to become big hits too. During the making of Taxi Driver, the couple fell in love and Dev proposed marriage to his heroine Kalpana. In 1954, Taxi Driver was declared a hit and the two decided to marry in a quiet ceremony. The couple had a son, Suneil Anand in 1956 and later a daughter, Devina. After her marriage, Kalpana decided not to pursue her acting career further. Nau Do Gyarah was the couple's last movie together. A rapid-fire style of dialogue delivery and a penchant for nodding while speaking became Dev's style in films such as Baazi (1951), Jaal (1952), House No. 44 (1955), Pocket Maar (1956), Munimji (1955), Funtoosh (1956), C.I.D. (1956) and Paying Guest (1957). In the 1950s his films were of the mystery genre or light comedy love stories or were films with social relevance such as Ek Ke Baad Ek (1959) and Funtoosh (1956). He starred in a string of box office successes for the remainder of the 1950s opposite newcomer Waheeda Rehman in C.I.D. (1956), Solva Saal (1958), Kala Bazar (1960) and Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962). In 1955, he co-starred with Dilip Kumar in the blockbuster actioner Insaniyat. With his acting in the box office success Kala Pani (1958) opposite Madhubala and Nalini Jaywant, as the son who i... (source cuts off). He consistently starred in top–grossing Indian films from the early-1950s to the 1970s, such as Jaal, Taxi Driver, Insaniyat, C.I.D., Paying Guest, Kala Pani, Kala Bazar, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Hum Dono, Asli-Naqli, Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Guide, Jewel Thief, Johny Mera Naam and Haré Rama Haré Krishna. Despite the arrival of new crop of stars in the latter-half of the 1970s and 1980s, Anand continued to star in highly successful films, such as Amir Garib, Warrant, Jaaneman, Des Pardes and Lashkar. Some of his most acclaimed performances include Munimji, Funtoosh, Baarish, Nau Do Gyarah, Solva Saal, Manzil, Jaali Note, Baat Ek Raat Ki, Sharabi, Teen Devian, Duniya, Prem Pujari, Tere Mere Sapne, Heera Panna and Lootmaar. The 2011 film Chargesheet, which Anand also directed, was his final film.

Reader's Guide

Dev Anand's significance lies in his enduring presence across six decades of Hindi cinema, during which he starred in more than 100 films and co-founded Navketan Films in 1949 with his elder brother Chetan Anand. He is credited with helping launch the career of director Guru Dutt, whom he chose to direct Baazi (1951), and playback singer Kishore Kumar, whose first solo 'Marne Ki Duayen' was picturised on Anand in Ziddi (1948). His role in Baazi (1951) is noted as a forerunner of the Bombay Noir genre, influencing urban crime films in the 1950s. Anand received four Filmfare Awards, including two for Best Actor, the Padma Bhushan in 2001, and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002. His legacy includes a string of commercially successful and critically acclaimed films, as well as a noted romantic involvement with actress Suraiya, which ended due to opposition from her maternal grandmother because of religious differences. He remained active in the industry until his final film Chargesheet (2011), which he also directed.

Did You Know?

• Dev Anand's first job was in a military censor's office at Churchgate for a monthly salary of Rs. 65, and later as a clerk in an accounting firm for Rs. 85.
• He proposed to actress Suraiya during the shooting of the film Afsar (1950) and gave her a diamond ring worth Rs 3,000.
• The first ever Kishore-Lata duet, 'Yeh Kaun Aaya Karke Yeh Sola Singhar', was recorded for the film Ziddi (1948), picturised on Dev Anand.
• Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik married in a quiet ceremony in 1954 after the success of Taxi Driver; they had a son, Suneil Anand in 1956, and a daughter, Devina.
• His final film, Chargesheet (2011), was also directed by him.

A Six-Decade Odyssey Across Hindi Cinema

Dev Anand's professional life stretched across more than sixty years and encompassed well over one hundred films, a body of work that cemented his standing among the most accomplished performers in Indian cinema history. His screen debut arrived in 1946 with Hum Ek Hain, a Prabhat Studios production themed around Hindu-Muslim unity, in which he played a Hindu young man opposite Kamala Kotnis. Two years later, Ziddi delivered his first real box-office triumph, but it was the 1951 crime thriller Baazi that thrust him into the national spotlight and is widely cited as the template for the wave of "Bombay Noir" pictures that followed through the decade. From the early fifties through the seventies he anchored a steady stream of top-grossing titles—Jaal, Taxi Driver, C.I.D., Kala Pani, Guide, Johny Mera Naam, Haré Rama Haré Krishna, among many others. Even as a new generation of stars emerged in the late seventies and eighties, Anand continued to headline commercially strong films such as Amir Garib, Warrant, Jaaneman, Des Pardes, and Lashkar. His more critically celebrated turns include Munimji, Funtoosh, Baarish, Sharabi, and Prem Pujari. The 2011 drama Chargesheet, which he also directed, marked the final chapter of that remarkable run.

Punjabi Roots and a Scholarly Household

Dev Anand was born Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand on 26 September 1923 in the Shakargarh Tehsil of the Gurdaspur district in Punjab, British India, a region that now falls within Narowal District in Pakistan. His father, Pishori Lal Anand, was a prominent lawyer at the Gurdaspur District Court and a committed freedom fighter affiliated with the Arya Samaj. A devoted scholar of comparative religion, Pishori Lal studied the Bhagavad-Gita in Sanskrit, the Bible in Hebrew, the Qur'an in Arabic, and also knew Persian. His mother was Indravati. Dev was the third of four sons; his brothers included Manmohan Anand, Chetan Anand, and Vijay Anand, while his sister Sheel Kanta Kapur would later become the mother of director Shekhar Kapur. Anand completed his matriculation at Sacred Heart School in Dalhousie, attended Government College in Dharamshala, and ultimately earned a B.A. in English Literature from the Government College in Lahore. In 1949 he and his elder brother Chetan co-founded Navketan Films, a venture that would become a cornerstone of his producing career.

The Suraiya Romance and the Fight for Recognition

In the late 1940s, Anand was repeatedly cast opposite the singer-actress Suraiya in woman-oriented films including Vidya, Jeet, Shair, Afsar, Nili, Sanam, and Do Sitare. On set, the two grew romantically involved; Suraiya reportedly fell for him while shooting the song "Kinare Kinare Chale Jayen Ge" from Vidya, a scene in which their boat capsized and Anand pulled her from the water. They exchanged love letters smuggled through co-actors Durga Khote and Kamini Kaushal, who arranged secret meetings. During the making of Afsar, Anand proposed and presented a diamond ring valued at three thousand rupees. Yet Suraiya's maternal grandmother, alarmed by the interfaith pairing—she was Muslim, he was Hindu—threw up her hands, and the relationship ended without marriage. The two stopped appearing together after Do Sitare. Professionally, the situation stung: producers and directors of those successful films credited Suraiya's screen presence rather than Anand's craft, and she consistently held the top billing. Determined to silence the sceptics, Anand set out to land a role in which his own acting could speak for itself.

Honours, the Dutt Pact, and a Final Curtain

Beyond the box office, Anand's contributions were formally recognised at the highest levels. He collected four Filmfare Awards, two of them for Best Actor, and the Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Bhushan, the nation's third-highest civilian honour, in 2001, followed by the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002. One of the most personal and enduring bonds of his career was the pact he struck with Guru Dutt during the 1946 shoot of Hum Ek Hain in Pune. The two young men agreed that whichever of them broke through first would pull the other along; the arrangement was that when Anand produced a film, Dutt would direct it, and when Dutt directed, Anand would act. This mutual commitment shaped a generation of Hindi cinema. Anand's final appearance on screen came in 2011 with Chargesheet, a film he also directed, bringing a full circle to a career that had begun with a gate-crashed visit to Prabhat Studios and a young man's confident smile.