Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Dilip-Raj Kapoor-Dev Anand: The famous Trio & Dev Anand

Dev Anand  Dilip Kumar  Raj Kapoor Trio






Too much written & said about this famous trio of Indian cinema , which was formed in 1940’,50’s & 60’s.
Persona , depth & magnitude of these czars of Indian cinema was much bigger than any other stars , trio has left a permamnnet niche for themselves in hall of fame of Indian Cinema. In fact then PM Pandit Nehru even invited all three together to New Delhi, which is a rare photograph (pic), Also Pandit ji took this famous trio along with him as part of cultural delegation on his first official visit to the Soviet Union in 1955. Only other rare photograph of this trio ( pic) , where these big beloved stars looks inseparable young friends , without any star doldrums ,as far as I know as a movie buff  trio was never seen together again ,of course 2 might have met some time , somewhere , but trio , never .
All 3 never worked together , only Goldie thought of bringing all 3’s together ,however Dev-Dilip worked together in 1955 Insaniyat & Raj-Dilip in 1949 Andaz . Raj –Dev had totally contrast filmy images & never worked together , also it was never tried , other reason may be that both have their own production companies a.k.a. Navketan which was formed in 1949 & RK banner in 1948 .We may say Kapoor’s & Anand’s formed 1st & 2nd Families of Indian cinema , where Raj Kapoor marched ahead of Dev Anand & Dilip ,as other Kapoor family members spread the wings of Kapoor khandaan . Raj Kappor was tagged as Great & only Showman ( don’t insult this tag with Ghai) of Indian cinema. There was no such apparent rivalry between them , as they all have their own dedicated fan following , however media has created some competition for Raj & Dev , in case if their movie released at the same time , like Johny Mera Naam Vs Mera Naam Joker .

Dilip was undoubtedly a better actor among them , sensitive & intense performer & mastered the art of tragedy & heart breakups and was tagged as Tragedy King , later on he made good attempts in comic roles & achieved huge success like Ram aur Shyam & in song like mere paroein min ghungroo etc. Dilip was having good female fan following too .Raj was more of a Charlie Chaplin , sabka barabar haq ideology , caring for poor , purane kapde , rich-poor conflict , down to earth socio-comic theme roles ,which most of the time were underlined with hidden social massage , pain & agony of a common man, he was also hugely popular in Russia , also he had green eyes like them. Dev had a distinct style & mesmerism of his own He was rather a suave, urban ,stylish ,flamboyant ,fashionable ( red pant in Amir Gharib) man, had a flair for haute couture, who can forget his Scarves , bright colors , tons of hats, caps , sweaters ,layer of jackets , gabardines ,black shirt and his charming swagger. He was too energetic ,he was like Bombay or I say Bombay is like Dev , always on run , never say die , hope for millions , forced them to dream for big . Dev characters has some noirish inclinations , Gambler, black marketer , thief , smoker , flirt, but he never worn torn/dirty cloths , exception may be Guide (scene where he was sleeping ( song : wahan kon hey tera) .It was said that he was not allowed to wear black shirt , as women got fainted , & he was constantly asked in many interviews , which he denied as some rumors. Dev was a true democrat ,as seen during Emergency & his conflict with congress government , which continued till Sanjay Gandhi .Freedom & individuality is of prime importance for him .His family life was always looked with suspicious & as Mona never accompanied him in social & filmy gatherings & award functions , but as per his philosophy of life & who care’s attitude , he never tried to forced her to Act in real life also & never really bothered to clarify , as he was always short of time & his restless mind was always busy with new ideas .Simi’s 2004 Rendezvous show he said She is an individual & is busy with her own friends & religious commitments ( she was catholic & remained ) & at the end of the day they also seat together on dining table & spent time with their family , however she used to accompanying her abroad for shootings , Mona was with him when he got few ribs fractured in London few years back

 Oh again I am off track , as post is for the 1st Indian cinema triumvirate, but emotionally ,writing about Dev Anand has it’s own free flow & always joyful ( sad now) , I think I also inherited some joie de verve from my Father , Scorpion ( we both) & from Dev Anand , my mother had more of a Nargis & Meena kumari ( Dil ek Mandir) type liking , emotional.

Now come back to the trio again .

Teams & Music:

Raj Kapoor : His camp has primarily Mukesh , then Shankar Jaikishan, Shailendra & Lata . Shailendra was a genius & due to touching & meaningful wording & simple Mukesh singing all his songs were great success & always had a dedicated following . Raj had good sense of music .Raj kappor had huge success as director like Barsaat , Shree 420 etc but was heart broken after his philosophical dream project Mera Naam Joker failure , which is mine & Dada ( my eldest bro) favorite movie. dada hated Jis desh mein .. ,as it lacks the artistic contents & depth & Raj Kapoor conflicts, as dada is fond of his famous classics like Shree420, Awara etc.

Dilip Kumar : No such camp but most of his songs were from Naushad, Shakeel Badayuni & Mohmd. Rafi , few songs by Kishore & Mukesh also . It is dilip kumar who’s songs gave footings to the legendary Mohammad Rafi . Mukesh , Mohd, Rafi , Talat ruled the Indian music in 40’/50& 60’s with occasional hit songs form Kishore , Hemant Kumar & Manna Dey .

Dev Anand : Sachin da gave music to Navketan 1st film Afsar & afterwards he became the permanent member of all Dev Anand's movies, Sahir Ludhiyanvi & kishore , later RD formed team Dev Anand. Majrooh Indeevar,& Kavi Neeraj also gave many hits for Dev. Surprisingly Kishore name was synonymous for Dev , but it was Mohammad Rafi who gave his & Dev Anand best songs like ( Tere mere sapne , Din dhal jaye, Khoya Khoya , Meim zindagi & Tere ghar ke same ),( Separate Blog post for Dev & Mohammad Rafi soon) . Infact Kishore Kumar used to sang only for himself & Dev until Aradhana gave him wide recognition & he ruled the music world afterwards & sang 98 % of all songs released for some years & nearly put all other male singers on sidelines ( Hashiye par) .Thanks to Prakash Mehra for not including any romantic song in Zanjeer , as for the same reason Dev had declined Zanjeer , which gave desired break to the Amitabh & the movie became a turning point for Amitabh & for Hindi Cinema too ,and a Superstar as an angry young man was born. Dev Anand’s performance excelled under Goldie directional ventures & together they made classics like Kala Bazar ,Guide ,Tere Ghar ke Samne ,Johney Mera Naam , Jewel thief which is seldom referred as the Bible for suspense movies .
His initial directional movies got some success , Hare Rama Hare Krishna was a cult , Des Pardes , Warrant , Amir Gharib were hits & others flopped , still movies made before Des Pardes were watchable with great music & for the sake of debonair Dev , like Gambler , Sharif Badmaash & Joshila by Yash Chopra. I also like Goldie’s Tere Mere Sapne & Basu’s Man Pasand with Tina & Girish Karnad.

Later on Raj Kapoor acted in few movies after Mera Naam Joker & produced a blockbuster & trendsetter movie “Bobby” as a launch pad for his son Rishi , while Dilip shifted to supporting but powerful pivotal roles & there also he was appreciated like Shakti , Saudagar , Mashal etc. but evergreen Dev continued his journey as a hero , refused to grow old ( someone said he was 22x 4 yrs old) ,only stopped by god himself at 88 , while he was scripting his next movie “ Songs of Life” .Oh!!

I stopped watching his movies after Hum Najuwan & was deeply unhappy about those dud movies he was making , but always luv to see him on television, his interviews , I remember his intelligent Thanks note ( Life time Achievement) at IIFA @ Johannesburg , remarkable , infact Sunil Gavaskar liked it so much , he said listening to such great personalities itself is a such an enjoyment more than any stage act. Dev never commented on others & always encouraged & recognized new comers & other rising stars , which others big fading stars fail to accept , for the same reason he was well respected by Amitabh/Dharmendra/Rajesh/Khans & Kapoors & others , I remember Once Shashi Kapoor told media in 1970’s that Dev Anand films 1st show still draws more crowd than present day superstars , also read Rishi Kapoor’s tribute in other blog post.
Also Dev Anand was fond of reading & was socially aware of what’s all happening around the world & was in touch with internationally renowned artists & was global in his approach from the very beginning of his career.

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