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Home | National | States | International | Business | Cover Story | Sports | Silver Screen |
| Good Morning India |
| Dev Anand: The ziddi who never grows old | |
| by Yogendra Bali | |
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Some of us wondered why it took so long to honour the ever green hero of the Indian cinema, who never looked back after his star debut in the film Ziddi, which I had seen in Lucknow several years ago and reviewed as film critic in some of the Hindi and Urdu magazines. I remember my own sentence that his performance showed that an actor-star was born. The Urdu phrase I had used was ek actor chamakate sitare ki tarah namudar hua hai. But at that time even I was not sure of the longevity of the actor in the silver screen. But Dev Anand was destined to shine on the Indian screen longer than most other memorable actor-stars. His distinction has been so that besides being a star he is an "actor of actors". One of my favourite movies starring Dev Anand was that of the Guide and the haunting song-Tere Mere Sapne. I wonder if any other film actor, who has portrayed characters of such power and variety as in Baazi, CID, Jewel Thief and Johnny Mera Naam on the Indian or even the world screen can compare with Dev. He seems to be a symbol of youth forever on the Indian screen. Dev Anand represented the golden age of the Hindi cinema, which gave the country great actors and stars like Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Sunil Dutt, Ashok Kumar and Balraj Sahni. But even among them, Dev, 80 not out, is still considered the "evergreen hero" despite the fact that he had undergone a painful plastic surgery at one stage to ensure that his "old face remained young forever". The Golden Lotus, or the Swarn Kamal, the symbol of the Phalke Award will come late to Dev although his two companions who, along with him, ushered in the acting idiom of the Hindi cinema in its great days, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar, had been honoured with the award earlier. If one were to look at his own reaction and response to the award, one would realise that he was not even angry. Like the good son of an Arya Samajist father, he takes life rationally and philosophically. He welcomed the award. But the most important thing for a performing artiste is that he should be recognised, remembered and loved by his audiences and Dev would remain the most remembered, loved and respected legends of the Indian screen, on the strength of his lifetime contribution to cinema. Can any cinema buff ever forget films like Taxi Driver, Paying Guest, Kala Pani, Hum Dono, Tere Ghar Ke Samne, Hare Krishna Hare Rama and Des Pardes? No, never, I would say. I am thrilled and greet the 34th winner of the Dada Saheb Phlake Award with the wish, "May you be remembered for ever", Ziddi. |
I
was thrilled to hear the announcement of the evergreen hero of the
Indian cinema, the one and only Dev Anand becoming the 34th awardee
of the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award for 2002. President A.P.J.
Abdul Kalam will present the Rs.2 lakh cash award to him on December
29. There are many others like me and Dev’s angry younger brother
Vijay Anand, who feel that he should have been honoured with this
distinction several years ago.
