Mumbai: In the 1960s, the Hindi film industry was dominated by Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand. Dilip Kumar was a Tragedy King and played serious characters, while Raj Kapoor used to play a very jolly or comedy type character. But romance, style and heart touching roles were offered only to Dev Anand who still has millions of fans.
Dev was born 26 September 1923 so on the occasion of his birthday, let us tell you some unheard stories related to his life.
Dev Anand’s real name is Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand but he was known as Dev Anand only in B-town. He was born in Punjab. Dev’s family used to affectionately call him Chiru.
Dev started his career as an accountant in a company at a salary of Rs 85. Dev’s first film as a hero was ‘Hum Ek Hain’ in 1946.
Dev Anand’s unique acting style always set him apart from other actors.
People liked his monologue and his style of working. In 1949, for the first time, Dev started his production company under the name of Navketan Films (named after his elder brother Chetan’s son Ketan which means ‘New Banner’).
Dev gave Guru Dutt a break in the Hindi film industry.
Dev Anand was the most handsome hero of his time. The magic of his beauty was such that a rumor spread at that time. According to this rumor, Dev was banned from wearing black clothes. Such rumors arose when girls used to jump from their rooftops to see him in black clothes.
His first love was Suraiya. During the shooting of the film ‘Vidya’ in 1948, Suraiya was drowning and Dev saved her by risking his life and from here there love story started.
On the set of the film ‘Jeet’ (1949), Dev proposed Suraiya with a diamond ring worth Rs 3000 but Suraiya’s grandmother did not approve of this relationship. The biggest reason for this was that Dev Anand was a Hindu while Suraiya was a Muslim.
During the shooting of the film ‘Taxi Driver’ (1954), Dev Anand fell in love with his new heroine Kalpana Karthik and the two got married in secret during lunch break.
After her marriage, Kalpana decided not to pursue her acting career any further. ‘Nau Do Gyarah’ was the couple’s last movie together.
Kalpana was the wife of Dev Anand until Dev passed away in 2011.
PNN/Agencies
