Romancing with life book in hindi

Having been brought up amidst the 70s Hindi film music and many gossipy insights from my father on the lives of the 60s and 70s Hindi film actors, I've looked forward to reading their biographies to know the real humans. Over the 3-day stay at the lovely Walterre, that included many well-stocked reading shelves, I breezed through this autobiography.

I read the first few chapters with some focus to know about Dev Anand's upbringing and then only those paras from chapters that appeared intriguing to me. I'd always wondered about his relationship with his wife so looked for those descriptions with more interest. I needed to know if he remained loyal to his wife or had affairs with his muses--some of them would have been the age of his granddaughter.

He's been honest about the women in his life. He mentions his first sexual encounter with candidness--with an unknown woman on a train journey--and goes into old school English in its description. Elsewhere, the language is contemporary and readable. His wife's screen name was Kalpana Kartik but she met him as Mona--a carefree and spoilt sister of 5 brothers and a Christian. She is talkative and boisterous, wants to be acknowledged for any value she brings to a movie or as his partner. He likes her. But then he easily falls for beautiful women. For a long time, he remains very shy as a person but he's aware of the effect his good looks have on women and he flirts all the time--in his own reserved manner. Mona and he enjoy spending time together but she had to still corner him into a proposal and marriage. He's already had some box office successes by then--2 with her. Before and after he meets her, he's desperate to be with and marry Suraiya but is prevented by her relatives to be with her. She's more famous than him but she's also child-like and accedes to his charm. In years ahead he finds himself falling for his find Zeenat Aman but figures about Raj Kapoor's crush on her, and a possible sexual connection between the two so leaves them to it. Shows him to be a romantic guy and not just a corrupt director. He talks about some other heroines with respect, not implying affairs. His relationship with his wife after the birth of his 2 children is unclear. He mentions her 2 major outbursts and later alludes to her vague ways of staying inside her room with her beautician or Church group. His son Suniel studies management in a foreign university but surprises him by wanting to be an actor. He makes a movie starring him and the son that doesn't do well. Don't know what happens of Suniel after that. The daughter Devina is a produce of boarding schools and marries early. She has a baby girl but ends her marriage early too. Dev Anand mentions his granddaughter with fondness.

In the early years, he goes over his years in Gurdaspur, living in the shadow of his erudite father, doting mother and 8 siblings. Talks about the time he loses his Mom to TB but feels her blessings with him. He likes a pretty girl in his English grad course but never sums up courage to go beyond a hello. He wants to study abroad like his brother Chetan but learns of the father's dwindling financial situation so feels forced to leave for Bombay to become an actor. Struggles for many years in the beginning, lives off some people, including Chetan Anand when he also gets to Bombay after quitting his teaching job in Doon school. The really good innings come with his younger brother Vijay Anand joining him and writing for his movies.

All along, Dev Anand is a polite gentleman. He looks up to Ashok Kumar,Guru Dutt and establishes good relations with the Nepal royal family and many politicians through his polite demeanour and charming ways. He relates his interaction with Pt Nehru with much pride but repeats the general impression of Indira Gandhi being a 'dumb doll.' Later, he was brave enough to speak and act against the Emergency and devotes some energies to supporting BJP. Despite many years of early struggle, he earns and lives well as his movies start doing well.

He always looked for inspiring stories that he could show as movies. Goes over how Guide happened in English and Hindi, and incidents behind major milestones in his movie making or any preliminary groundwork. All the flops of the last decade were based on some strong ideas and always a pretty, 'fresh' face. I feel that Vijay Anand's partnership in his directorial ventures was a balancing factor for him. After his younger brother's death, he keeps working and making movies but sort of loses touch with the audience and reality. But he remains a romantic guy, looking for love and showing love in his movies all his life, almost as if his life depended on it.