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Window Romancing With Dev Anand

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His closet was full of scarves, shirts, jackets, colourful trousers and fashionable hats.It reflected his personality perfectly. A man full of enthusiasm, brimming with life and had positivity running through his blood. The positivity that he easily passed on not only to his co – actors and colleagues but he also brought it on screen and through screen to his audience. His eyes shone with those vibes even in the saddest scenes of his films. He never lost hope because of failures in life – Barbadiyon ka jasn manata chalaa gaya. Dreaming young, staying young. Large hearted, ambitious and dedicated. Dev Anand – represents an era of history of Hindi cinema, of which he was an integral part for almost 65 years. He had a huge influence on Hindi cinema and beyond it. Always alert to new ideas and possibilities. Fearless in his approach, creating contemporary ideas and breaking the old customs. He also possessed a great sense for music. Music in his films laid a benchmark for the other Hindi films. He entered the film world in mid 1940s. The era which was beginning to set the right foot in all the categories from technical to musical. We had trendsetters like S D Burman, Khemchand Prakash, Shankar Jaikishen, C Ramchandra and many more, giving out song after song and mesmerising the listeners with their creativity. It was just the beginning of a good harvest for the music industry. Dev Anand redefined Hindi cinema, making it look younger and approachable. Some of the best songs of the golden era are picturised on him. He brought in loads of romance, style, grace and sophistication. His films never looked gloomy. He believed in entertaining through his films rather than preaching. Romance came alive in a gentler, softer way with Dev around. Serenading his lady love, teasing her, romancing her, Dev Anand skillfully balanced himself on the cusp of romancing and flirting. His way of romancing on screen has always been on the healthier, happier side of the relationships. Amongst all his ways to win his lady love or sing a song, his most favourite style must have been window romancing. So many of his songs are around the doors, windows or balconies crooning soft lyrics in your ears.
Let us have a glimpse of few such songs and window romance with Dev Anand –
1. Johny Mera Naam (1971) – I’m sure this might be the very first song which easily came to your mind for the given topic. Did you happen to count the windows here?

2. Teen Deviyan (1965) – This delightful film with an amazing soundtrack coincidentally has 2 songs where Dev Anand is romancing around the windows.

3. Jaali Note (1960) – An eye candy on screen couple of Madhubala and Dev Anand. What else does one need for soft window romance.

4. Tere Ghar Ke Saamne (1963) – Dev Anand and Nutan, another lovable pair. Their adorable on screen chemistry won the hearts of the audience. In this particular song, Dev is almost peeping through all the doors and windows of the houses, searching Nutan on a chilly, wintery night in Shimla.

5. Prem Pujari (1970) – From the streets of Shimla to the beautiful roads of Switzerland, imagining Waheeda Rehman on one of the windows, Dev Anand is set to charm his way into your heart.

6. Gambler (1971) – This beautiful Rafi number is sure to steal your heart and yes, here too, Dev Anand can be seen around the windows.

7. Jewel Thief (1967) – A quintessential Asha Bhosle number and for a change it is Tanuja who is romancing Dev around those huge glass doors and windows.

8. Solva Saal (1958) – In the sad version of this popular song, you will find him near the window of the train.

9. Ek Ke Baad Ek (1960) – This might be the song with a difference in the entire list. Because it is not a romantic one but a teasing one. Also he’s not teasing his lady but the shop owner who cheats.

Avid music lover and Dev Anand fan

4 Comments

  1. Vijay Kumar Jai

    September 26, 2019 at 3:39 pm

    Not a day passes without thinking about him. Always a fan since I saw him first in Hum Dono, as a 9 year old. We called him our family hero, just like people say, so and so is our family doctor. My grandmother, my father and mother, and all of us siblings were his fans. And among them I was the most diehard, incorrigible avid fan who would rummage through the pages of Filmfare or Stardust to find a mention or a picture of him. Every friday I would sneak into the hairdresser’s salon I had befriended to hurriedly peek into Screen, in which the third page was reserved for his forthcoming release. What ruses and excuses we used to make to watch his films. What sleepless nights I used to have before his films released. Now even at 65, I am just as crazy as a teenage fan. I couldn’t ever think of any other name as password for my logins or accounts. And the morning he passed away, how I cried, howling like a child, even my wife was surprised at my loss of self control. I think he was, or rather is, the most closest to my heart than my best friend. I saw him once at the premier of Sachche ka Bol bala, at Plaza, Delhi, and missed shaking hands with him by just a whisker, as I was pushed back by a crowd. I don’t wish to give a count of the number of times I watched his films, or how I bunked college to watch Heera Panna at Sonepat, some 45 kms from Delhi, when cinema exhibitors in Delhi were on strike, or how I saw films like Ishq Ishq Ishq and Shareef Badmash twice on the same day of their release. Of all his films I’m very fond of Tere Ghar Ke Samne and Hum Dono. I think no one captured him better on screen than his brother Goldie and his friend Raj Khosla. I found him at his handsomest best in the sad version of the song Hai apna dil to awaara, the song is listed in your collection of the window songs in this write up. I felt emboldened to pour out my innermost feelings after reading some of your replies to tweets today. I saw a tweet of Rishi Kapoor about him, followed by innumerable responses within 2 hours. I wonder how he can still manage to have such wondrous outpourings of emotions from fans even 8 years after his passing away and 45 years after his pinnacle period.

    • Deepa

      September 28, 2019 at 9:25 am

      Thank you so much. It always feels good to get such a feedback from the readers.

  2. Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli

    December 17, 2019 at 10:30 pm

    A grand windows 10 to look at fascinating Devsaab’
    One more thing about him is that he generally treated his heroines as equals & not subservient ( both on & off screen)

  3. Rahul Bhagwanrao Muli

    December 17, 2019 at 10:59 pm

    Grand windows 10

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