Here I present Suraiya and Dev Anand's love story, in their own words, from an interview conducted in February, 1987 by 'Star & Style', by now a renowned defunct film magazine of Bollywood. This interview appears to be most authentic and personal of all Suraiya-Dev Anand interviews and reveals the genuineness of the affection for each other. It also throws light on the shenanigans that went on in Suraiya's house to break her heart and her impending marriage, which would have been one of the most celebrated marriage of Bollywood of all times.
Here is the complete interview:
Dev Anand – Suraiya Love
Story … in their own words
She was the prettiest star of her time blessed with a melodious voice that
captured millions. He was the shy, handsome newcomer try to gain a foothold in
films. They met on the sets of a film and fell madly in love. Their love story
had all the ingredients of a fairy-tale romance, complete with the wicked
godmother (read that as grand mother). Only, unlike in the fairy tale, the
grandmother triumphed and the lovers didn’t live happily ever after.
The Suraiya-Dev Anand romance was easily one of the most passionate ones of
their time, and most unfortunate too, because like the others, there were no
impediments like a spouse or children.
I met the two ex-lovers in an attempt to recreate the romance that had the
whole-hearted involvement of all movie buffs of the time. Suraiya spoke
reluctantly after much persuasion. But when she did speak, it seemed like it
had all happened just yesterday. Her memories of those passion-filled days are
crystal clear. Dev, on the other hand, recollected his first love with a nostalgia
that betrayed the outward indifference.
“I remember the first time I met Dev, it was on the sets of ‘Vidya’. I was
already an established star and he was a new comer. He was very nervous,
specially in the romantic scenes. So the director asked me to try and put him
at ease. I walked up to him and said, “You remind me of my favourite actor
Gregory Peck.” He smiled shyly and said, “Oh you think so?” That was it. The
next day I noticed that he had started copying a few of Gregory Peck’s
mannerisms. He also started looking at me in a special way. I was attracted to
him.
“Soon after, we were shooting in a boat and it capsized but Dev saved me
from drowning. I told him, ‘if you hadn’t saved my life today, it would have
ended.’ He just said quietly, ‘if your life had ended so would have mine.’ I
think that’s when we fell deeply in love.”
“Dev was the first young, handsome hero I worked with. He was very charming,
cultured, well-educated and had impeccable manners. It is very difficult for me
to say what exactly it was that I really liked about him. I think it was his
overall personality. He often told me that in spite of being a big star I was
very sweet and child-like.”
Dev too recalled with fondness the girl without whom he thought he just
wouldn’t survive. “Suraiya and I fell in love when we started working together.
She was a very nice girl who radiated warmth and friendliness. She was an
established star but had no airs about her. I was passionately in love with
her. I was young, It was my first love and very intense. But her grand mother
was always around. She really guarded her zealously. Suraiya’s mother though,
was on my side and encouraged us. But her grand mother hated me.”
“Actually in the beginning my grandmother didn’t mind him” said Suraiya. “We
even invited him over to our place for dinner once. I remember we made chicken
specially for him because it was his favourite dish. Later, I too went over to
his Iris Park home for dinner. His elder sister, mother and father were very
fond of me. Dev was so happy that day. He saw to it that I was given VIP
treatment. I remember the exquisite crockery they served the dinner in.”
“Oh yes, I remember the day she came over for dinner,” smiled Dev. “Where
does she live now? Does she still live at Krishna Mahal?” he wanted to know. “I
remember we used to meet on her terrace.”
“My grandmother had banned me from meeting him so we had to
meet secretly on the terrace of my building. Dev would come with the late
Dwarka Divecha by the backstairs. We would sit behind the water tanks and chat
while downstairs, Dwarka would keep my grandmother engaged in conversation. But
I was always tense. One day I saw my servant coming up and I crouched behind
the tank to hide. I was afraid we would be caught red-handed one day. Dev of course
assured me that we wouldn’t have to meet in this manner for long. He wanted us
to get married soon…” her voice trailed off. When she spoke again she said,
“Dev used to call me ‘Nosey’ because in those days my nose seemed very long on
my slim face. I had nicknamed him ‘Steve’ after a character in a novel who
reminded me of Dev. All his letters to me were addressed to ‘N’ and signed ‘S’.
His letters were so precious to me but it was so difficult to get anything past
my grandmother. Once she got wind of our romance and she tore up the letters
that fell into her hands. Dev had many friends who carried messages and letters
for us, like Dwarka Divecha, Durgabai Khote, Pratap Rana (Vidya Sinha’s
father), Om Prakash and K.N. Singh. Dev wrote the most romantic letters. I have
still preserved them. During the shooting of ‘Sanam’ his director had even
devised a scene in a library where Dev had to pass me a book. Dev had actually
put in a love letter inside it before passing it to me.”
“It was so frustrating to communicate with Suraiya those days what with her
grandmother being around her all the time. Of course I remember passing on the
letter in the book” recalled Dev.
“My grandmother wouldn’t leave us together for even a minute. Once we were
shooting at Andheri and it was suddenly discovered that the earrings I was
supposed to wear for the scene were left behind at home. The director decided
to send my granny home to fetch it but she refused to go without me. They
somehow managed to convince her that I was needed for rehearsals and as soon as
she had left Dev and I sat in the make-up room in peace. Even a touch of his
hand was enough to send a tremor down my spine.”
Dev spoke with just as much feeling, “I loved her dearly.
The fact that she was inaccessible made me want her even more.”
“Dev liked music and he loved to hear me sing. Very often he would ask me to
sing for him the song from ‘Afsar’ – ‘Nain deewane’. He used to sing ‘Man mor
hua matwala.’ He always used to tell me, ‘when I marry you I will not let you
step into a studio or meet any film people. You will not sing for films, you
will only sing for me.’ And I would retort ‘then I won’t sing at all, not even
for you.’ He would rag me and say ‘How will I go to sleep if you don’t sing’
and I would ask if he thought I sang lullabys?” recalled Suraiya
affectionately.
“I liked Suraiya’s singing very much,” said Dev. “She sang so well.”
“Dev liked me in saris and when I was dressed in a simple manner. He thought
I looked elegant dressed like that. Not that he didn’t appreciate me when I
dressed glamorously. But he liked me best in a sari because it made me look
like a housewife. In one of his letters he had written, ‘Let’s get married
immediately. I’m waiting for a home life that will set an example to the rest. We’ll
build a home that will be the envy of the whole world.’
“Just for fun we had started talking with an Italian accent. In keeping with
the accent he would call me Suraiyana and I would call him Devino. Sometimes we
talked about having kids. I would always say ‘Girl so that I can dress her up.’
And he would tease me and say, ‘You have enough dolls, why do you need another
one?’ I have a passion for collecting dolls. At such times I always told him we
would name our baby Devina. Years later, when I bumped into Dev and he talked
of his children, I asked him what he’d named his daughter and he smiled ‘You
should know. I’ve named her Devina.”
“Those days anyone on the sets was keen on playing cupid. During the outdoor
shooting of D.D. Kashyap’s ‘Do Sitare’ at Lonavla, a long song sequence was
planned deliberately in the haystacks. My grandmother argued and complained but
couldn’t do anything about it. If it was a romantic shot, Dev always continued
to hold my hand much after the director would yell ‘cut’. So my grandmother
would insist that Dev be called only for the final take. I would have to
rehearse with the assistants,” grinned Suraiya.
“Her grandmother would raise a hue and cry if she found that the romantic
shots were taking too long for her comfort” recalled Dev.
“On the sets of Rana Pratap’s film, Dev had planned that we would get
married on the sets. The scene required us to elope and get married in a
temple. A real pundit had been arranged for, who was to get us married. But
thanks to an assistant (he was jealous of our romance) who informed my
grandmother and we couldn’t get married. She dragged me home in fury and
forbade me from meeting Dev after that.’
“Once the actor Shyam, hosted a party and invited Dev and me. Dev insisted
that we go together. There was a director M. Sadiq who used to be smitten by me
and Dev was jealous of him. Dev knew Sadiq would be at this party and wanted us
to go together just to spite him. But it was impossible to do so with granny
around. So Dev suggested that I take mummy along but we’d go in his car.”
“Those days he had bought his first car, a Hillman. My mother was taken into
confidence and we left home in my car and got into Dev’s car some distance away
where he was waiting or us. For the first time at that party Dev and I walked
in together. There was pin drop silence when we entered. Needless to say that
the incident made it to the press and my grandmother made life at home
miserable for me after that.”
“My parents didn’t mind Dev but my grandmother and uncle were totally
against him because he was a Hindu. I was kept under constant vigil. Telephone
calls were forbidden. Dev would phone me every Friday night and I would answer
the call with great difficulty. Many people were brought home to drill sense
into me. Naqshab, Nadira’s first husband even brought the Quran to make me
swear that I would not marry Dev. ‘You’ll be the cause of Hindu-Muslim riots in
the country’ they told me. I gave in only when my granny and mamu (maternal
uncle) threatened to kill Dev.”
“When I told Dev that I didn’t want to be the cause of his death, he called
me a coward. And I think I was. I decided to stop meeting him after that for
fear of his life. We were shooting those days for a film called ‘Neeli’. We had
to enter through a door and until the shot we were arguing behind the closed
door. He kept saying ‘I am serious about you but you don’t care. Perhaps I
don’t come up to your status.’ He got so worked up that he slapped me hard
across my face. I started crying just as the director called for the shot. I
did control myself and faced the camera. For days after that incident Dev
apologized profusely. ‘I went home and banged my hands for what I did to you. I
hated myself.’ He kept saying. It was the first time in my life that anyone had
slapped me but I really didn’t mind. It showed how intensely he cared for me.”
“Dev had borrowed money from friends and bought me a diamond ring. I used to
carry it in my bag. My granny discovered it and threw it into the sea outside
our house. That day Dev cried like a child.”
“Yes, I did cry like a child for her that day,” confessed Dev.
“What touches me most about our romance was that Dev loved me so intensely
in spite of all the insults my family heaped on him. Once they even physically
pushed him out of the house. But for my sake he took it all.”
Dev remembered the hurt and humiliation he had suffered at the hands of his
love. ‘They gave me hell. It hurt very much but I didn’t let it make me bitter.
I cried when I lost her but slowly I got over it. If I hadn’t I would have
become a majnu by now” ended Dev.
“Dev cared for me so much but I used to be so shy that perhaps Dev never
realized the intensity of my feelings. Today, he says he never looks back and
doesn’t care about bygones when he talks of his flops. But I know deep within,
he cares for everything. He doesn’t show his hurt. He is a very sensitive man.”
“She’s right, I am a very sensitive man,” admitted Dev quietly.
It’s more than three decades now, but their romance lives on, in their
hearts and in those of their fans.
(This interview was conducted by Sheila Vesuna and appeared in ‘Star &
Style’ magazine, February, 1987 issue)
