I have never been a 'tribute' sort of person nor someone to praise someone to the stars. I have reached that age which do not get excited nor moved to the extreme degree by anything. The only public reaction that is evoked at the most is a twitch of the lips or lifting of an eyebrow maybe, but nothing more than that. So it surprised me the most when I had this sudden urge to write this... I liked Dev Anand, no doubt about it, but So did I like Jagjit Singh , Bhupen Hazarika and Shammi Kapoor. Well I do not have much explanation other than maybe that I could connect to some of his numbers and movies. Maybe nostalgia.. maybe self realization or whatever... But can somebody's basic nature change over night? So no,no no! No eulogies from me or a biographical account, rather I am writing this just as a sort of note to myself, a kind of journal entry so that I can look back at it in fond remembrance if in case some day I suffer from some serious memory lapse. (anyways it isn't possible to memorize every nuance, every feeling no matter how intense , hence this entry) because this is something I would like to turn back to, time and again, just to go through it all and remember . And yes maybe someday I would like my daughter to read it and listen to those numbers. As it is, generation gap spoils all the communication between parents and offsprings and my simply saying that- "In our times we used to ..." might just turn her off hence it is better to store it as an entry and pray that she comes upon it one fine day or maybe I will leave her the link in one of those perfumed letters that mothers store for their daughters to be opened when they are gone.. Oh hell! I am rambling. Let's come back to Dev Anand and what I have to share, for I just want to share with brief notes and not go into one of those long speeches.
I just want to list my favourite Dev Anand numbers . I could list them in my youtube playlist too, but this, I guess will make things simpler for me to connect to.
Choosing a couple of numbers or songs is like fishing in an ocean full of fish. You go crazy that is, with confusion and with choices. So I am going by the flash method. I will just think of few key words and the song that flashes through my mind in an instant wins over the rest. I know, not a technical method or sane one, but i am just going by the logic that the thing that impresses you most gets the deepest slot in one's psyche and which peeks out in flashes .
And then again how can I forget the number Tasveer tere dil mein from the same movie as he courted Mala Sinha. Soft and melodious, the song can be described as one of his most romantic ones, though he was not famous for his romances, I simply cannot forget his face and expressions as he looked lovingly at his ladylove.
That was Maya!
Moving forwards from Maya , though I am not sure of the chronological order, I will move on to Bombay Ka Babu, a movie exploring a very difficult topic , with an unconventional ending. It was about an impersonator who has to make some ethical or not so ethical choices in his life... but apart from the story line this is one movie where I found Dev Anand completely sexy. Of course Dev Anand had always this dignified way about him, where the word sexy doesn't fit in, but yes I did find him sexy in this movie
Any mention about Dev Anand is incomplete with Guide. All the numbers were equally superb and it is difficult to choose the best from them, but two of them stand out for me for the melancholy notes and the lyrics. Melancholia always attracts me more than Romance hence maybe these two numbers scored over the more popular ones like Gaata rahe mera dil and Tere mere sapnein.
So, one of them is Din dhal jaye...
And the other is the very much philosophical Waha kaun hai tera... echoing one of the universal truths beautifully sung by none other than S. D . Burman .
A little while back I had mentioned Tasveer tere dil mein as one of the most romantic numbers. Well another of his number that I find very sweetly romantic is Chudi yeh nahin mera, a dreamy romantic number by my standards, from the movie Gambler , not to be confused with The great gambler. Though the movie was an average one from my point of view , the song was one of those that caught the fancy of most of the viewers including yours truly.
Hare Krishna Hare Rama was a cult hit and brought a new cinematic movement of sorts. Though I am inadequate a person to comment on the cinematic brilliance of the movie and its music, I just wanted to mention that the music of Heera Panna made a far reaching impression on me than Hare Ram Hare Krishna, not that I did not find them like-able. I did like the music of HRHK but I loved the numbers from Heera Panna.
This is one movie that I could not watch or more appropriately haven't watched it yet, but I have heard the song many a times and every time I listened to its poignant tune and thoughtful lyrics, it made me sit up and take notice (of course I know , here the credit goes more to Md Rafi and S D Burman) . Maybe one day I will watch the movie and 'feel' the 'song' and connect to it in a visual way. but it makes a good number to be tuned into and set into the replay mode. Here is Hum Bekhudi mein... from Kala Pani
Finally I come to my tenth in the list and it has to be this one- again from Des Pardes, for the energy and liveliness that can be associated only with Dev Anand- always evergreen in life and death. I hate to say this but yes, Rest in Peace, for rest is something that we do not want you to be doing. We wanted you to create your magic forever and forever...
Tu pee aur jee...
I just want to list my favourite Dev Anand numbers . I could list them in my youtube playlist too, but this, I guess will make things simpler for me to connect to.
Choosing a couple of numbers or songs is like fishing in an ocean full of fish. You go crazy that is, with confusion and with choices. So I am going by the flash method. I will just think of few key words and the song that flashes through my mind in an instant wins over the rest. I know, not a technical method or sane one, but i am just going by the logic that the thing that impresses you most gets the deepest slot in one's psyche and which peeks out in flashes .
So going by that method, the first number that I will list is Nazrana bheja hai... from the hit movie Des Pardesh, a lovely movie with some beautiful songs and superb acting by all and a touching story line which of course had a serious core issue of illegal immigration and human trafficking. Dev Anand sure was a nazrana (gift ) from the almighty.
The first movie of his that I had seen was Hare Krishna Hare Rama, but as I was too
young I did not remember that as my first Dev film though I did watch it again later , thanks to Doordarshan. And really thanks to Doordarshan, I can proudly say that the first movie of Dev Anand that I remember leaving a big mark on my young mind was Maya and the first image that flashes on my mind the moment someone mentions his name is of him playing the piano and singing Koi sone ke dilwale... from that movie
And then again how can I forget the number Tasveer tere dil mein from the same movie as he courted Mala Sinha. Soft and melodious, the song can be described as one of his most romantic ones, though he was not famous for his romances, I simply cannot forget his face and expressions as he looked lovingly at his ladylove.
That was Maya!
Moving forwards from Maya , though I am not sure of the chronological order, I will move on to Bombay Ka Babu, a movie exploring a very difficult topic , with an unconventional ending. It was about an impersonator who has to make some ethical or not so ethical choices in his life... but apart from the story line this is one movie where I found Dev Anand completely sexy. Of course Dev Anand had always this dignified way about him, where the word sexy doesn't fit in, but yes I did find him sexy in this movie
Any mention about Dev Anand is incomplete with Guide. All the numbers were equally superb and it is difficult to choose the best from them, but two of them stand out for me for the melancholy notes and the lyrics. Melancholia always attracts me more than Romance hence maybe these two numbers scored over the more popular ones like Gaata rahe mera dil and Tere mere sapnein.
So, one of them is Din dhal jaye...
And the other is the very much philosophical Waha kaun hai tera... echoing one of the universal truths beautifully sung by none other than S. D . Burman .
A little while back I had mentioned Tasveer tere dil mein as one of the most romantic numbers. Well another of his number that I find very sweetly romantic is Chudi yeh nahin mera, a dreamy romantic number by my standards, from the movie Gambler , not to be confused with The great gambler. Though the movie was an average one from my point of view , the song was one of those that caught the fancy of most of the viewers including yours truly.
Hare Krishna Hare Rama was a cult hit and brought a new cinematic movement of sorts. Though I am inadequate a person to comment on the cinematic brilliance of the movie and its music, I just wanted to mention that the music of Heera Panna made a far reaching impression on me than Hare Ram Hare Krishna, not that I did not find them like-able. I did like the music of HRHK but I loved the numbers from Heera Panna.
This is one movie that I could not watch or more appropriately haven't watched it yet, but I have heard the song many a times and every time I listened to its poignant tune and thoughtful lyrics, it made me sit up and take notice (of course I know , here the credit goes more to Md Rafi and S D Burman) . Maybe one day I will watch the movie and 'feel' the 'song' and connect to it in a visual way. but it makes a good number to be tuned into and set into the replay mode. Here is Hum Bekhudi mein... from Kala Pani
Finally I come to my tenth in the list and it has to be this one- again from Des Pardes, for the energy and liveliness that can be associated only with Dev Anand- always evergreen in life and death. I hate to say this but yes, Rest in Peace, for rest is something that we do not want you to be doing. We wanted you to create your magic forever and forever...
Tu pee aur jee...
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