He is at a stage where Bollywood's mundanities hold no value. Films are now mere vehicles of his fathomless creative energy. Dev Anand now seems to be on the verge of merging completely with his alter-ego 'Raju the Guide', leaving behind all material considerations, immersing in what seems to be the only reason he was born.
"I am not making films for a house, for good clothing or for two meals to eat. At this stage I make films for my pleasure so that I can radiate that pleasure to the world," the octogenarian star-producer-director told PTI in an exclusive interview here.
"My creative impulse and creative intoxication with myself and my own feeling that people like you still want to meet Dev Anand. That is the source of my energy," Devsaab said.
What may seem to many unbridled narcissim is actually the manifestaion of this man's obsession with the desert spring within himself, his uriosity for anything humane within him.
"I am in love with myself, with the god within me. One day I looked into the mirror with a hat on and said 'my god, I look good'," and it became my style on teh screen.
Ever clinging on to his best movie till date, the 1963 classic Guide, in which he played an adulterous, unscrupulous and yet extremely lovable guide Raju, Devsaab has no qualms admitting that he, right now, is living that movies' climaxing moments.
Borrowing Raju's parting monologue to express his state of consciousness, in that inimitable style, the affable Devsaab says, "Look at what he says at the end, I am leading that life this moment:
Zindagi ek khayal hai jaise ke maut ek khayal hai. Na sach hai na jhooth hai. Na deen hai na duniya. Na insaan na bhagwan, bas main, main, main…" (Life is a thought, like death. There is no truth, neither is there untruth. There is no pain, there is now world, There is no man, neither god. It’s just me, me, me…)."
His thoughts and their vehicle – his movies – may not be appreciated or accepted nowadays. But that is no reason for him to call it quits. He is far from that.
At the ripe age of 83 this indefatigable optimist is planning two movies in the near future, one of them a Croatian production in English and the other being a murder mystery called Chargesheet.
As he tells us more about the two ventures with typical child-like enthusiasm sitting in his studio in western Mumbai's Bandra suburb, one gets the feel that this man is indeed contagious in his optimism.
"I have been making films, which nobody else could conceive. They were offbeat. I may have suffered in promotion. I may have suffered in distribution. The world is so corporate that unless you picture is promoted well it will not succeed.
"Marketing is more important than the movie, in fact. It makes an average film a super duper hit," Devsaab said with all the irreverence and nonchalance he is known for.
Once elated by lay comparisons with Hollywood Gregory Peck and Cary Grant, Devsaab now hates the uttering of their names in a single line. All the more if that is for comparison's sake.
"I hate to be called that (Gregory Peck) now. That age is gone. You see, in your impressionable age you are looking upto somebody – parents, teachers, professors. But after a certain point of time you want to be on your own.
"You realize 'my god! I have got my own style. I am not following anybody anymore. The world has to follow me," he said with the typical drag in his voice that endeared him to millions in the country.
The weaved hair, the arms of the inseparable pullover over his shoulder, the impeccable dressing and his sophisticated conversation, however, only hide – quite unsuccessfully – his inherent vivaciousness, sprouting out of what he himself calls his "creative energy".
Perhaps the same energy is now flowing out of his pen as an autobiography.
"I started writing a few chapters in
"Probably, I could have been a writer, if not an actor. I can feel it now. Because I came from a very good college. Like you I would have been a journalist, traveling, meeting people, rambling with a restless mind," he said.
Always restless with passion, the man, whose six-decade career in films seems like a lifetime compared to many reigning stars' and starlets' ephemeral hobnobbing with fame, revels in his own world, caring two hoots about the world.
He says: "When an idea disturbs you, the definition of that disturbance is 'it is eating, drinking, sleeping in the subconscious state of your mind'. And then you start developing a plot around it. You start making a script out of it.
Evergreen, debonair, urbane and classy are words which have described Devdutta Pishorimal Anand or simply Dev Anand aptly during parts of his six-decade career and often throughout.
Be it at the beginning of his career, the zenith or what some would call, though the man himself vehemently denies, the fag end; the octogenarian Bollywood legend has staunchly refused to look back.
"It's a shame if you have to look towards the past for strength. That would show you don't have anything more to offer. I don't belong to that set of people," the young-at-heart actor-director said.
"The world is always moving forward. You have to look ahead too," Dev Anand said.
To a certain extent Dev Anand's career – particularly after stardom adorned him – is also the story of independent India, with the inescapable vicissitudes of a long innings adding drama, glamour, sweat, triumph and despair in ample amounts.
Born to Gurdaspur(Punjab)-based advocate Pishorimal Anand in September 1923, Devsaab, as he is fondly called in industry circles, graduated in English literature from
"After graduation when I wanted to study higher, my father could not afford it. The next thing I knew I was on my way to
"I have witnessed the growth of the biggest of stars, directors and other artistes. I have seen them wane away too. But here I am, still continuing," he said with deep philosophic quiver in his voice.
Indeed, from the days when he joined his brother Chetan Anand at the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) and times when he had to read out soldiers' letters to their families as a military censor in south Mumbai's Chuchgate locality for a salary of Rs 160, Devsaab has come a long way.
It was not until Prabhat Studio's Hum Ek Hain (1946) that he got to venture into the celluloid world, although even that was not exactly a dream debut.
"As a youngster like everyone else, I too had my idols, my heroes. Often these idols get replaced every 10 years. But after a while you have to depend on your own values and intellect," the Dadasaheb Phalke Awardee said.
"I, for one, have left them all behind," he said.
Devsaab, in fact, left them behind way back in 1948 with the release of Ziddi in which he co-starred Kamini Kaushal and was directed by his then idol – none other than the reigning star of the day Ashok Kumar. The film turned out to be his first hit and the rest is history.
He soon formed the third pillar of the triumvirate of Raj Kapoor-Dev Anand-Dilip Kumar.
Despite not being hailed as a great performer like Kumar or an intellectual artiste like Kapoor, Devsaab came out as the suave and charming gentleman of celluloid, perhaps the forerunner of today's "cool guy".
His famous pact with fellow struggler Guru Dutt – one of the two relationships of Devsaab which ended up as Bollywood folklore – saw him acting in Dutt's Baazi (1951) – also a landmark for legendary lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and composer S D Burman, especially with the symbolic club number Tadbeer Se Bigdi Hui Taqdeer Bana Le (Change your spoilt fate with my advice).
Launching several stars, including Zeenat Aman and Tina Munim, Devsaab kept delivering hit after hit swaying generations of filmgoers with his style and boy-next-door looks.
"I like to believe that everyone is a teacher and every moment a lifetime. Yet I don't quote people. Not in my conversations, not in my writing. I stick to original ideas," he said.
Indeed, this originality was reflective in may of his movies like the hippie-culture inspired Hare Krishna Hare Ram and Des Pardes.
"I have made 36 motion pictures under my banner Navketan that was launched in 1949. But I'd like to believe that my best moment is yet to come," Devsaab said.
Women of all ages still swoon to Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Khoya Khoya Chaand, Gata Rahe Mera Dil as they flow out of music-players.
Men could still learn a trick or two from his Gregory Peck-Cary Grant-inspired screen persona, his boyish smile and numbers like Phoolon Ke Rang Se and Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar.
But the one song that epitomises Devsaab's exuberance and optimism will perhaps always be that Jaidev classic from Hum Dono - Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhaata Chala Gaya (I continue to accompany life).
"This is me. There is nobody else like this. It is great at moments. At times it becomes a losing proposition too. Because you leave your world behind."
Indeed, Raju, the guide has left the world behind. (An exclusive interview in Jan, 2007 at Devsaab’s studio in Bandra, Mumbai)
No comments:
Post a Comment