Key Points
There is a song in the 1961 film Hum Dono, in which the hero sums up his philosophy of life: Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, har fikr ko dhuen mein udata chala gaya (I go through life as it unfolds before me, letting go of every worry in a puff of smoke)...
Nothing symbolises the onscreen and offscreen persona of the evergreen actor Dev Anand better than these lyrics, written by the poet Sahir Ludhianvi; sung by Mohammed Rafi..
In his 65-year career (from Hum Ek Hain in 1946 to Chargesheet in 2011), Dev Anand acted in over 100 films, directed 19, launched an influential film banner (Navketan), won multiple awards, introduced a plethora of newcomers to Hindi cinema (including Zeenat Aman, Tina Munim, and his brother, the filmmaker Vijay Anand), saw magnificent professional highs and setbacks, fell in and out of love, travelled the world, was adored by fans, took firm political stands even at serious personal risk, retained his buoyant outlook and always, always dressed sharply..
The PL Santoshi tale of Hindu-Muslim unity fared reasonably well, but real success eluded Dev Anand until Ziddi (1948), directed by Shaheed Latif for Bombay Talkies..
Most were composed by the brilliant SD Burman, and constitute a legacy of monumental proportions, representing the greatest years of the Hindi film song. . Burman would, in fact, become almost the in-house composer for Navketan, the film production studio launched by Dev Anand in 1949..
