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Dev Anand Biography

Invariably referred to as the ‘evergreen,’ star of the Bollywood film industry, Dev Anand’s career has spanned seven decades during which he established himself - alongside Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor - as one of the ‘Trimurthi of Bollywood.’   He was born Dharam Dev Pishorimal Anand on 23^rd September 1923, the second son to Advocate Pishmoral Anand in the Gurdaspur district of undivided Punjab.

 After graduating in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore, British India, Anand left his hometown for Bombay where he worked in the Military Censor Office at Churchgate and joined his older brother Chetan as a member of the Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA), an organisation devoted to bringing theatre to the people and raising their social awareness and knowledge of national integration.

 In 1946, Anand won his first film role as the hero in Prabhat Talkies’ Hum Ek Hain, a film which failed to turn him into a major star, but which did mark the beginning of a close and enduring friendship with Guru Dutt, another legend of the Indian cinema, until the latter’s untimely death in 1964.   According to movie lore, Anand and Dutt used the same laundry man while working on the film.   One day, Anand discovered that one of his shirts had been replaced by a shirt belonging to someone else.   Upon arriving on the set of the movie, he discovered Dutt wearing his shirt.   Dutt admitted that the shirt was not his, and that he was wearing it because he had no others.   Their friendship quickly grew, and they agreed over a glass of beer that if Dutt became a director he would cast Anand as his leading man and if Anand ever formed a production company he would employ Dutt to direct his first film.

 In 1948, Ashok Kumar cast Anand as the lead in the Bombay Talkies movie Ziddi.  He played opposite Kamini Kaushal, another Bollywood long-termer at the outset of her career, and the film proved to be a big hit with the movie-going public.   The film is also notable for containing Chanda Re Ja, Lata Mangeshkar’s first hit song.  

Thanks to the success of Ziddi, Anand was able to launch, with his brother Chetan, the production company Navketan which was still in existence 60 years later.  The new company‘s first release was Afsar, adapted from a Nikolai Gogol play by Chetan who also directed.   Anand starred in the romantic comedy opposite the actress Suraiya.   The film was not a success, but a romance developed between Anand and Suraiya after he saved her from drowning when a boat capsized.   Unfortunately for the couple, the strong opposition of Suraiya’s family to the relationship caused it to falter.   Suraiya would remain a lifelong spinster after vowing never to marry following the enforced end of the affair.

 In 1951 Anand made good on his promise to Guru Dutt, giving him the opportunity to direct Baazi, a crime drama which triggered a trend for urban crime dramas from Bollywood in the 1950s and which also consolidated Anand’s position as a major star.  He made over 40 films In the 50s, many of them, such as Jaal (1952) and Taxi Driver (1954), huge box office hits.   Anand’s leading lady in Taxi Driver was, for the third time, Kalpana Kartik.  A real-life romance had developed between the couple, and they wed in Russia during the making of the film.   Two years later, in 1956, Kalpana gave birth to Suneil, their first son.

 Anand continued to enjoy commercial success, although his lightweight style - often described as a combination of Cary Grant and Gregory Peck - caused many to question his acting ability: a criticism that was overcome to some extent by the award of a Filmfare Best Actor Award in 1958 for his performance as a son determined to clear his father’s name in Raj Khosla’s crime drama Kalapani.

 Anand’s next landmark film would be Guide, his first colour film, made in 1965.   In the film, based on the novel of the same name by R. K. Narayan, Anand played Raju, a tourist guide and con man whose life is temporarily redeemed by his love for Rosie Marco (Waheeda Rehman).   Anand was key in bringing the film - for which he won a second FilmFare Best Actor Award - to the screen by persuading Narayan to agree to the screen adaptation of the book (by Anand’s younger brother, Vijay, who also co-directed).   Anand also managed to obtain US backing, and an English version directed by Ted Danielewski was simultaneously shot and released in an attempt to introduce Anand to a Western audience.   In addition to Anand’s Best Actor nod, the film won a further six FilmFare awards, including Best Film, Best Story, Best Cinematography and Best Director for Vijay.

 More hits followed for Anand and Vijay’s collaborations.   Jewel Thief (1967) had Anand playing a young man who is mistaken for the titular jewel thief, while the 1970 film Johnny Mera Naam saw him take the part of a police officer.  

 While the careers of Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor - the other two members of the ‘Trimurthi of Bollywood’ began to slow in the 70s, Anand continued to enjoy success as a romantic hero.   In 1971 he turned his hand to directing.   His debut effort, Prem Pujari, in which he starred in multiple roles, was not well received, but Hare Raama Hare Krishna, his second film as a director, was a box office success.   The film, which was set in the hippie culture, introduced cinemagoers to Zeenat Aman, who managed to overshadow Mumtaz, then the reigning queen of Bollywood.   Anand also co-starred with Mumtaz in Tere Mere Sapne, an adaptation of A. J. Cronin’s The Citadel, in the same year.   Seven years later, Anand would introduce another Bollywood queen, Tina Munim, to filmgoers in his 1978 film Des Pardes.   This film was to be his last big success at the box office and, although he would continue acting, directing and producing well into the 21^st century, as he grew older he, perhaps understandably, never recaptured his earlier success.

Anand always displayed a social and political awareness uncommon in Bollywood stars, and in 1977 he led a group of film personalities against the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Internal Emergency measures.  He also campaigned against Gandhi in the 1977 parliamentary elections, and formed a short-lived political party called the National Party of India.

 While commercial success on the scale of his earlier hits eluded Anand in his later years, recognition of the immense contribution he had made towards the development of Indian cinema was demonstrated by more than 20 awards garnered since 1991 relating to his achievements and services to the film industry.

 In September 2007, the publication of Anand’s autobiography, Romancing With Life, was celebrated with a birthday party attended by the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.   In February 2011, Anand's 1962 film Hum Dono was theatrically re-released in a colourised version with promises from Anand that if the film was positively received more colourised re-releases could follow.

Dev Anand died of a heart attack in London on 3rd December 2011.   He was 88-years-old.   His body was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium on 10th December 2011, and his ashes immersed in the Godavari River in Nashik by his son Suneil on 14th December.   A memorial service for the evergreen star was held at the Mehboob Studio in Bandra, Mumbai on Friday 16th December 2011.

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