64 Facts About Dev Anand

Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand, better known as Dev Anand, was an Indian actor, writer, director, and producer known for his work in Hindi cinema, through a career that spanned over six decades.

In 1949, Dev Anand launched his own company Navketan Films, under this banner, he produced and directed some of his most successful films.

Dev Anand acquired a romantic image with films such as Manzil, Jab Pyar Kisi Se Hota Hai, Hum Dono, Tere Ghar Ke Samne, His first colour film, Guide was based on the novel of the same name by R K Narayan was entered for Best Foreign Language Film at the 38th Academy Awards.

Dev Anand's father Pishori Lal Anand was a well-to-do advocate in Gurdaspur District Court.

Dev Anand did his schooling till matriculation from Sacred Heart School, Dalhousie, and went to Government college Dharamshala before going to Lahore to study.

Dev Anand left his hometown for Bombay in the early 1940s.

Dev Anand began his career in the military censor's office at Churchgate, for a monthly salary of Rs.

Dev Anand joined his older brother, Chetan, as a member of the Indian People's Theatre Association.

Dev Anand aspired to become a performer after seeing Ashok Kumar's performance in films such as Achhut Kanya and Kismet.

Dev Anand began looking for an opportunity to play the main male lead in a film where his acting skills could be demonstrated, so as to dispel scepticism about his acting abilities.

Dev Anand was offered his first big break by Ashok Kumar.

Dev Anand spotted Anand hanging around in the studios and picked him as the hero for the Bombay Talkies production Ziddi, co-starring Kamini Kaushal, which became an instant success.

Dev Anand chose Guru Dutt as director for the crime thriller, Baazi.

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.

Dev Anand's style was lapped up by the audience and was widely imitated.

Dev Anand attempted films of tragic genre occasionally, such as Pocket Maar, Kala Pani, Bombai Ka Baboo and Sharabi and tasted success with them.

Dev Anand played a few characters with a negative shade, as in Jaal where he played a smuggler, then as an absconding gang member in Dushman, and as a black marketer in Kala Bazar.

Dev Anand played a double role in the film, acting as Major Varma, his look-alike who he runs into in the army and forms a deep friendship.

Dev Anand himself was the impetus for making the film version of the book.

Dev Anand met and persuaded Narayan to give his assent to the project.

Dev Anand tapped his friends in Hollywood to launch an Indo-US co-production that was shot in Hindi and English simultaneously and was released in 1965.

Guide, directed by younger brother Vijay Dev Anand, was an acclaimed movie.

Dev Anand played Raju, a voluble guide, who supports Rosy in her bid for freedom.

Dev Anand is not above thoughtlessly exploiting her for personal gains.

Dev Anand reunited with Vijay Anand for the movie Jewel Thief, based on the thriller genre which featured Vyjayanthimala, Tanuja, Anju Mahendru, Faryal and Helen and was very successful.

Dev Anand's directorial debut, the espionage drama Prem Pujari, was a flop but has developed a cult following over the years.

Dev Anand tasted success with his 1971 directorial effort, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, shot primarily in Nepal around Swyambhunath, and Bhaktapur, in which talks about the prevalent hippie culture.

Dev Anand's find Zeenat Aman, who played the mini-skirt sporting, pot-smoking Janice, became an overnight sensation.

Dev Anand became known as a filmmaker of trenchantly topical themes.

Dev Anand bounced back with the double-role film Banarasi Babu in 1973.

Dev Anand delivered commercial hits again with young heroines like with Sharmila Tagore in Yeh Gulistan Hamara, with Yogeeta Bali and Raakhee in Banarasi Babu, with Hema Malini in Chhupa Rustam and Amir Garib, with Zeenat Aman in Heera Panna, Warrant, Kalabaaz and Darling Darling and with Parveen Babi in Bullet.

Dev Anand attempted different genres of films to acquire versatile hero images.

Dev Anand was already 55 when he was paired with Tina Munim in 1978 in Des Pardes, which became among the top five-grossing films of the year.

Dev Anand led a group of film personalities who stood up against the Internal Emergency imposed by the then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi.

Dev Anand actively campaigned against her with his supporters in the Indian parliamentary elections in 1977.

Dev Anand formed a party called the " National Party of India", which he later disbanded.

The 1978 hit Des Pardes, directed by Dev Anand was the debut movie of actress Tina Munim and this film's success gave him the tag of the Evergreen Hero.

Dev Anand was offered the lead role in Man Pasand by director Basu Chatterjee.

Dev Anand's successful run at the box office continued in the 1980s with Man Pasand, Lootmaar, and Swami Dada, all being critically acclaimed and box office hits.

Dev Anand expected the film to do well, but the film was a box office disaster, and Suneil Anand decided not to act in films anymore.

Awwal Number, where Dev Anand co-starred with Aditya Pancholi and Aamir Khan became an average grosser in the year 1990.

Aamir quoted: "Dev Anand saab was an icon for many generations and entertained us throughout his life".

Dev Anand was already 60 years old in 1983 when he acted opposite Christine O'Neil and alongside Rati Agnihotri and Padmini Kolhapure in Swami Dada.

Dev Anand's performance as Professor Anand in the 1989 film Lashkar was widely appreciated and was a major success at the box office.

Dev Anand directed Pyar Ka Tarana in 1993, without casting himself in any role.

Dev Anand received offers to star in the lead roles outside of his home banners in films like Return of Jewel Thief and Aman Ke Farishtey but the former was not successful at the box office and the latter wasn't released in 1993 though the film was fully ready to be released.

Dev Anand's performance and direction in the 1991 film Sau Crore was appreciated as it was a movie ahead of its time dealing with the real-life murder of badminton star Syed Modi and the arrest being made of the wife and her ex-lover.

Dev Anand starred in English films such as The Evil Within, where he was paired opposite Vietnamese actress Kieu Chinh and Zeenat Aman and Guide.

Dev Anand knew of the "Indian Star" as an actor, more so probably because his romance with Suraiya was grabbing the headlines, and they had a chat.

The second time they met was in Rome when Dev Anand was on his way back from the Venice Film Festival, he visited him on the set of Roman Holiday.

Dev Anand has directed 19 films and produced 35 films.

Dev Anand's films are well known for their hit songs.

Dev Anand is known to have been an active participant in the music sessions of a number of his films.

In September 2007, Dev Anand's autobiography Romancing with Life was released at a birthday party with the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

Dev Anand is credited with giving actors such as Zarina Wahab in Ishq Ishq Ishq, Jackie Shroff in Swami Dada, Tabu in Hum Naujawan and Richa Sharma a break in the film industry, discovering Zeenat Amaan, Tina Munim and encouraging music composer Rajesh Roshan.

Burman, Jaidev, Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Yash Johar, Shekhar Kapur and Kabir Bedi were given breaks into Hindi films and Dev Anand launched actors Zaheera, Zaheeda Hussain, Zarina Wahab, Natasha Sinha, Ekta Sohini and Sabrina.

Dev Anand had a love affair with actress Suraiya from 1948 to 1951, but they never married, because of opposition by Suraiya's maternal grandmother.

In 1954, Dev Anand married Kalpana Kartik, a Bollywood actress from Shimla, in a private marriage during the shooting of the film Taxi Driver.

Dev Anand died in his room at The Washington Mayfair Hotel in London at the age of 88 on 3 December 2011 of a cardiac arrest.

Dev Anand's death came just two months after the release of his last film Chargesheet, which he directed and produced.

Dev Anand was reportedly in London for a medical checkup at the time of his death.

Dev Anand's ashes were returned to India for immersion burial in the Godavari River.

Dev Anand's career spanned more than 65 years, acting in 114 Hindi films, of which 92 had him play the main solo lead hero, and he did two English films.

Dev Anand was the recipient of the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performances in Kala Pani and Guide, the latter being India's official entry to the Oscars.