Dev Anand Saab

‎88 is an age even Gregory Peck who is called America's Dev Anand hasn't lived. While we all recollect the golden period that Dev Anand belonged to - there are many things that made Dev Anand adorable and different. My father and I read his autobiography "Romancing with Life" avidly and recount his candour, zen for life and creative juices that kept flowing till the last. Dev was well-read throughout and didn't stop reading after B.A.English Lit. For most of the actors or anybody, reading was something to be done when you have lots of time and money. Hardly the case with Dev Anand - he made movies despite dwindling response - movies spurred by reading a Times edit or an article in "India Today". Movies with Rs.1-2 crs. budgets with a point or two on current issues. So what if Bharat Dabholkar asked the famous questions: "Who watches Dev Anand's films now?" and "Who finances his films?". Dev Anand took care of his health (almost as legendarily as ANR does today). He takes wine to de-clog his arteries in the same doses as kids take alcohol - in teaspoonfuls or tiny pegs each day. He never worried about his health or wealth, never let his stardom get to his family in arclights. He gave many starturns to star aspirants- male and female - and gave them teasers and cameos. He gained commercially sometimes and left the starturns to happen based on the young actors' luck and self-belief. He knew that his self-belief took him to the pedestal that he stood on and thought that the world will continue to oogle at him. In his heydays, he took on mighty superstars with his youthful effervescence and taught stylish dressing to so many of our fathers and grand-fathers. He was mighty humble and never believed he was the smartest guy in town - I remember he came to one of the cine awards function in South and somebody was introducing Bhanumathy Ramakrishna as a multil-faceted lady - Director, playwright, singer, producer, writer etc. Dev said he was astonished and humbled by her talents. A few years back, he hugged Saif Ali Khan who was imitating Dev Anand at another Awards Nite - so much for his ability to laugh at himself. Dev Anand had great work-life balance but worked hard to deliver creative output with 18-hour schedules. He gave space to so many talented music directors and technicians - SD Burman, RD Burman, Kishore Kumar and so on. He built a studio NavKetan Films that boasts of a marquee catalogue of films that will mostly stand the onslaught of time. Yes, he had famous run-ins with literary giants like Pearl S.Buck and RK Narayan and gave us International Productions and Bi-linguals when we are just getting into color; of course, I never liked the way he short-changed RK Narayan's "The Guide" by feigning that he will adapt the movie from "Guide" but paid a paltry sum to RK Narayan. That experience has forever made RKN shy of giving his books for screenplays and you will find two-three versions of what happened in Dev's autobio, RK's autobio and a rejoinder by Jerry Pinto. Whatever be the truth, Dev Anand fiercely fought till the last to protect his halo and his fading "youth". Of the famous trio, you now have only Dilip Kumar Saab remaining from the Bollywood of the 1950s. But Dev Anand will be remembered as the original happy-go-lucky Hero who gave Independent India its happiest reason to watch Hindi films - to dress like metrosexuals during years of Hindu rate of GDP growth, to live and love like chivalrous men, to live merrily and selfishly and to keep the youthful vigour alive till the last. To me and my dad, the moving visual of a black and white or a color Dev Anand whistling in full-buttoned shirts and driving open-roof cars at fuel-efficient speed is a lasting memory of happiness whenever we see - something that knows no generation gap.