Dev Anand, who was the first hero who projected the modernity that a newly independent nation looked forward to, would have been 100 today. In the 1950s, India looked to Jawaharlal Nehru to lead it to a new future. Millions migrated to the cities, which promised jobs, incomes and a life which shed the baggage not just of colonialism, but also the traditions and customs that weighed down the past.
Kalpana Kartik, the yesteryear actress, will soon turn 85. Born as Mona Singha, she was given her screen name by filmmaker Chetan Anand after the latter spotted her in a beauty contest in 1950. She went on to make her debut opposite Dev Anand in Guru Dutt’s ‘Baazi’. She has also featured in films like ‘Aandhiyan’, ‘Taxi Driver’, ‘House No. 44’ and ‘Nau Do Gyarah’. Her midnight marriage to Dev Anand on the sets of ‘Taxi Driver’ also became the talk of the town.
It’s well known that Dev Anand was madly in love with Suraiya. He even bought her a huge diamond ring, which one account says her maternal grandmother threw in the sea, and other accounts say she herself flung it in the sea. He was heartbroken when she said no, allegedly because they belonged to different religions.
