Youth is prized, revered and spoken with admiration. Maybe because it bestows upon us a zest for life and a clarity of vision. Or maybe because it is flitting. We grow old, wise and possibly cynical and our youthful exuberances give way to more worldly matters.
That is why when one thinks of people such as Dev Sahab, who maintained their youthful persona till the end of their days, one can not but admire.
It was the early nineties when I first started watching old hindi films. Movies shown in good old Doordarshan, serials featuring old songs, radio shows such as Binaca Geet Mala. And you could not experience them and not take a note of Dev Sahab. He was an icon, dominating the movie industry for decades.
I once heard an interview where he said that "No one has helped me in my successes and I am only one responsible for my failures" The words have stayed with me over the years.
This is not a biographical sketch of Dev Sahab. Others more knowledgable about his life, would do it better. I am simply trying to recollect the many years during which I have been fascinated by his movies and songs.
Who can forget his style? He was peerless as the romantic hero, wooing his lady love. But what I liked about his movies was that they weren't merely run of the mill movies where the protagonists meet and fall in love and then the parents or the villain tries to kee them apart from approx midway of the movie till its end (not that I mind such movies). Dev Sahab's movies touched upon a wide range of socio-cultural and economic issues. Such as "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" where he explored hippies and drug abuse, "Prem Pujari" where the dilemnas of a sensitive man thrust into the military by his ex army dad are portrayed, from "Des Pardes" where he delves into the issue of illegal immigration to "Guide" where he is a good but flawed man desperate to hold on to his love till he loses it all. From breezy and suspense thrillers such as "CID" and "Jewel Thief" to the travails of a common man struggling to make his living in the world in "Asli Naqli" to an anguished son trying to clear his father's besmirched name in "Kala Pani". From light hearted comedies such as "Tere Ghar ke samne" to the complicacies of life, death and friendship in the backdrop of war in "Hum Dono".
And his songs. Ah - now where do I begin from? Some of the most mesmerizing songs of the black and white era have been filmed on him. Who can forget "Abhi na jao", "Main Zindagi ka Saath" or "Hai aapna dil to awaara"? Under his production house Navketan, he had forged an alliance with the geniuses of S D Burman and Rafi sahab. And the golden trio beguiled us with peerless melodies such as "Tere mere sapne", "Khoya khoya chaand", "Dil ka bhanwaar", "Jiya O Jiya", "Hum Bekhudi Mein". In his later years Kishore Kumar immortalized songs such as "Phoolon ke rang se", "Phoolon ka taaron ka", "Yeah Dil na Hota". The list is endless...
It is true that the movies he had been making lately were not exactly up to the high standards of his earlier ones. He did not have to. He could have retired long back and rested on his laurels. But that is missing the point. The point is that he was still active and continuously seeking newer outlets for his creative genius. Not because of money, not because of hope of recognition but because he dearly loved his work. He breathed his last while working. That indeed was a fortunate life.
RIP Dev Sahab...
