Devanand

Devanand is undoubtedly one of the greatest , most popular , highly successful and most handsome actors in the history of hindi cinema .Devanand was born as Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand on 26th,September 1923 in the Shakargarh tehsil of the then Gurdaspur district of west Punjab ( now in Pakistan ) . His father Pishori Lal Anand was a prominent lawyer in the District Court and had four sons with Dev being the third . Dev’s elder brothers were Manmohan Anand (Advocate ) and Chetan Anand while Vijay Anand was his younger brother. Devanand did his graduation in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore .Anand aspired to become an actor after seeing Ashok Kumar’s films such as Achhut Kanya and Kismet and thus after  graduation Anand shifted to Bombay in the early 1940s and initially started as a clerk in an accounting firm for a small salary while kept looking for opportunities in films . One day,  he barged into the office of Babu Rao Pai of Prabhat Film Studios who kept on seeing his handsome face , his smile , his beautiful eyes full of self confidence and he immediately made up his mind to give him a chance in his films and soon he enrolled him as the lead actor in his film Hum Ek Hain हम एक हैं ( 1946) and that took off the long and illustrious career of devanand in cinema world . He thereafter acted in several women -centric films such as Vidya (1948), Jeet (1949), Shair (1949), Afsar (1950), Nili (1950), Sanam and Do Sitare (1951) in which actress and singer Suraiya played the dominant role . During this period Suraiya ( from a muslim family) fell in deep love with Devanand but because of difference in religions , Suraiya’s family had objections and thus they couldn’t marry and Suraiya  decided to and remained unmarried till the end of her life . Devanand had his first commercial success in film Ziddi (1948) co-starring kamini kaushal .As Part of the Anand family, he then co-founded  a film company “Navketan Films “ in 1949 ( ketan was his nephew ) with his elder brother Chetan Anand .In 1951 , devanand produced the block buster film Baazi बाजी acting along side newly introduced heroin – kalpana kartik . It was a crime thriller movie directed by Guru Dutt ( a close friend of Devanand) and set the trend of a series of such films in 1950s and gained widespread recognition and appreciation and with this film kalpana became a hit and thereafter the duo of Devanand and kalpana did several hit films together namely Aandhiyan (1952), Taxi Driver (1954), House No. 44 (1955) and Nau Do Gyarah (1957) . During the production of super hit film Taxi driver in 1954 , the duo fell in love and married quietly and thereafter kalpana Kartik retired from cinema world and became a home maker having become mother of a son ( named suneil) and a daughter named devina . Devanand had his own unique style of acting marked with fast delivery of dialogues and a unique nodding ( सिर हिलाना) style which eventually became his trademark which others tried to copy unsuccessfully . In later years, he was hero in top hit films such as Jaal (1952), Insaniyat (1955), Munimji (1955), C.I.D. (1956), pocket Maar ( 1956 ), Funtoosh (1956), Paying Guest (1957), Dushman (1957 ) , Ek Ke Baad Ek (1959) , Kala Pani (1960) , Kala Bazar (1960) and Bombai ka babu ( 1960 ) . He also built up his romantic image with his films Manzil (1960), Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai (1961), Hum Dono (1961), Asli-Naqli (1962) , Tere Ghar Ke Samne (1963) and film Sharabi ( 1964 ) .In the 1950s his films mainly centred on mystery or light love comedy or on social issues .In 1965 he made a block buster film Guide गाइड which was an adaptation of R. k. Narayan’s novel . This movie created a major milestone in Anand’s career and the movie entered for Best Foreign Language Film at the 38th Academy Awards. His next famous and super hit film was Jewel Thief in the year 1967 . Besides pairing with Suraiya and kapana kartik ; Devanand also paired with Nutan , waheeda Rehman and geeta bali and this pairing was very popular with the audience during 1950s and 1960s . From the early fifties till the mid-sixties ( i.e till the entry of new stars like Dharmedra, Rajesh khanna, Amitabh etc on the screen) the trio of actors Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Devanand almost dominated the hindi cinema world , while their contemporaries Rajendra kumar , Manoj kumar and Raj kumar had their own personal and superb acting style and image amongst the film lovers . 

After his highly successful performance of two decades of 1950s and 1060s in hindi cinema, Devanand ventured into direction of films and then produced, directed and acted in 19 films  with the first film being Prem Pujari प्रेम पुजारी which was an interesting drama on espionage followed by further hit films like Hare Rama Hare Krishna हरे रामा हरे कृष्णा in 1971, Heera Panna हीरा पन्ना in 1973 , Ishk Ishk Ishk इश्क़ इश्क़ इश्क in 1974 , देस परदेस Desh Pardesh 1978, Loot Maar लूटमार 1980, Swami Dada स्वामी दादा in 1982 and others .However during 1970s and 1080s , besides self production and direction , he as an actor cum hero delivered several hit movies with young heroines like film Johny Mera Naam जानी मेरा नाम with hemamalini in 1970 , gambler in 1971 with Zaheeda, tere mere sapney with Mumtaz in 1971 , Yeh Gulistan Hamara with Sharmila Tagore in 1972 , Banarasi Babu in 1973 with yogita bali and Rakhi , Chhupa छुपा Rustam in 1973 and Amir Garib in 1974 both with Hemamalini , Warrant in 1975 , Bullet in 1976 with Parveen Babi , Kalabaaz कलाबाज़ in 1977 and Lashkar in 1989 amongst others and all these fims were reckoned as commercially hit and successful by the industry and audiences . Devanand’s good on-screen chemistry with beautiful young stars such as Raakhee, Parveen Babi, Hema Malini , Zeenat Aman and Tina munim in various films boosted his  image as an evergreen star even though age wise he had already crossed fifty . He attempted different types of films and acquired the versatile hero image . He was already 55 when he paired with young Tina Munim in a 1978 film Des Pardes which became a top film of that year . Dev Anand’s successful run at the box office continued even in the 1980s with film Man Pasand, Lootmaar (both along with Tina Munim), and Swami Dada (1982), all being critically acclaimed and box office hits . Dev Saheb had produced 35 films of which 18 were commercially successful at the box office. He wrote the stories for 13 of his films. Anand’s films are well known for their hit and evergreen songs. He is known to have been an active participant in the music sessions of his then music directors and play back singers .Devanand is also credited with having given young actors such as Zarina Wahab in Ishk Ishk Ishk (1974), Jackie Shroff in Swami Dada (1982), Tabu in Hum Naujawan (1985) and Richa Sharma (Sanjay Dutt’s first wife) a break in the film industry and also discovered and launched  Zeenat Amaan,shatrughan sinha and Tina Munim in cinema . Dev Anand’s film company ‘Navketan ‘ is also credited for giving film breaks to several new artists like Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Waheeda Rehman, S.D. Burman, Jaidev, Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Yash Johar, Shekhar Kapur and Kabir Bedi all of whom in due course became successful and famous in hindi cinema on the strength of their talent .  Through his career that lasted for over sixty years , Devanand worked in more than 100 films , produced 35 films and directed 19 films . The 2011 film Chargesheet was his final and last film.He was a well-read and stylish actor always conscious of his appearance and also a dedicated yoga practitioner who never missed his daily exercise routine.Dev Saheb breathed his last in a london hotel room on 3.12.2011 at the age of 88 and was cremated in southwest London. Later his ashes were brought back to India for immersion in the Godavari River with vedic rituals . Dev Saheb in his long illustrious career received a number of awards and recognitions with details in part -3 . Super star and highly talented actors like Devanand will be remembered for centuries by future generations as and when they read about him and watch his cinema works .                                          A dozen Salutes to this great great and great actor of hindi cinema. 

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          Seven stars

As one of the most revered and celebrated actors of hindi cinema, Dev Anand has played the role of a fun-loving guy , the role of a romantic hero, as a dashing artist and as a charming spy several times in his film career . 

His movies have left an indelible mark on cinema goers but there is nowhere better to look for insights on love and life than in the songs from his films. The evergreen superstar had some of the most memorable songs shot on him and the stylish actor, with his smile and flamboyant looks has made them as his own.

Here under are some of his most insightful and evergreen songs :- 

Jeevan Ke Safar Mein Rahi ( film- Munimji 1955)

Aankhon Hi Aankhon Mein

( film- C.I.D. 1956 ) 

Leke Pehla Pehla Pyar

( film- C.I.D. 1956)

Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke – ( film- Nau Do Gyarah 1957) 

Chhod Do Anchal Zamana Kya Kahega

( film – Paying Guest 1957 ) 

Mana Janab Ne Pukara Nahi

( film-paying guest 1957)

Hai Apna Dil to Awara – ( film- Solva Saal 1958 )

Khoya Khoya Chand — ( film- Kala Bazar 1960 )

Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar

( film – hum dono 1961) 

Main Zindagi ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya – ( film-Hum dono 1961 )

Tere Ghar Ke Samne 

( film- Tere Ghar Ke Samne 1963 ) 

Dekha Hai Teri Ankhon Mein

( film- Teen Devian 1965 ) 

Gaata Rahe Mera Dil – ( film – Guide 1965)

Shokhiyon Mein Ghola Jaaye 

( film- Prem Pujari 1970)

Pal Bhar Ke Liye

( film -Johny Mera Naam 1970) 

Nafrat Karne Walon Key 

film -Johny Mera Naam 1970) 

Phoolan Ka Taron Ka — ( film- Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971 ) 

Kiska Rasta Dekhe yeh dil hai sodai

( film- Joshila 1973)

Note : During his film career, more than 500 songs were picturised on Devanand . 

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