Bollywood World

Chetan Anand�s Neecha Nagar was the first Indian film that was selected in any International film festival.Neecha Nagar had to compete with many amazing films that year(1946) like Roberto Rossellini�s Rome, Open City (Italy), David Lean�s Brief Encounter (UK), and Billy Wilder�s The Lost Weekend (USA). It won the hearts of critics and viewers alike and emerged as a winner for the category. Despite of Producing and Directing many great films like Taxi Driver,Haqeekat,Heer Ranjha,Akhri Khat,Hanste Zakhm he remained the most underrated Director
Chetan Anand was Born on 3 Jan, 1921 in Gurdaspur, Punjab, Chetan�s formative years were nourished by the teachings of the Vedanta in a Gurukul before he went to Government College, Lahore, and then onwards to Cambridge.In 1944, he shrugged off a motionless stability and plunged into the chaotic ecstasy of motion pictures.
In 1946, Chetan Anand became a big name with Neecha Nagar
He was a progressive thinker,he kept company with literary and political radicals such as Khwaja Ahmed Abbas, Sahir, Kaifi Azmi Bhishm Sahni and Sardar Jaffri.He along with his younger brother Dev Anand started Navketan in 1949.
After the success of Taxi Driver (1955) , Chetan moved away from Navketan to establish his own banner Himalay Films and make his own kind of films.In 1957 he directed two movies Arpan and Anjali, in which he played lead roles too. He went on to act in Kala Bazar, Kinare-Kinare, Aman, Kanch Aur Heera and Hindustan Ki Kasam, which he directed too.
In 1964 he emerged as a great Director, it was to a standing ovation for, depicting the Chinese invasion of 1962, in one of the best war films ever made � Haqeeqat (1964).
In 1966 he came out with another memorable film Aakhri Khat,This film was about a 15-month-old child without any star cast,though Rajesh Khanna was in it but that time he was a strugler.The film was very well apreciated by the critics,His another masterpiece was Heer Ranjha in 1970.first and onlly movie in verses with no dilogues,it was the poetic imagination of Kaifi Azmi and Chetan Anand�s skill as a director
After separating from his wife, Uma Anand, whom he married in 1943,he had a long-term relationship with the actress Priya Rajvansh.who was his heroine in almost all the films he directed after starting his own film company..He had a relationship with her till his death On 6th July 1997.
Today on his 20th death anniversary I present few of his films immortal songs.

Pt Ravi Shankar was introduced in films as Music Composer in Neecha Nagar,this song was picturised on Kamini Kaushal

Song from Neecha Nagar 1946

Song from Afsar 1950

Song from Taxi Driver (1954)

Song from Funtoosh (1956)

Song picturised on Chetan Anand

Song from Kinare Kinare (1963)

Song from Haqeeqat (1964)

Song from Heer Raanjha (1970)

Song from Hanste Zakhm (1973)

Song from Jaaneman (1976)

Song from Kudrat (1981)

Lesser Known Facts About Dev Anand
Born Dharam Dev Anand, the actor was fondly addressed as DD, an abbreviated version of his first name by his peers in school
Dev Anand's first role model was his elder brother Chetan Anand
Chetan had studied in London and was a man of intellect and refined tastes. While Dev Anand eventually grew out of his shadow, his early acting efforts were inspired by his elder brother's mannerisms.
Dev Anand's first trip was to Venice when he accompanied elder brother Chetan Anand for the screening of their film Aandhiyan
The late star played tennis for his college and participated in inter-college tournaments but was, by his own admission, awful at it.

Apart from Chetan and Vijay Anand, Dev Anand had an elder brother Manmohan Anand, who was an advocate at the Gurdaspur District Court.
The first girl he was ever attracted to was Usha Chopra, an Anglo-Indian girl who was an undergraduate student in the same Lahore college Dev Anand was studying in.

He worked in the postal department of armed forces for a while.The actor was paid Rs 165 a month. His work was to read the letters that came for soldiers and censor any unwarranted information.

Dev Anand�s first acting job was at the Prabhat Film Company, where he was paid 400 rupees per month

Guru Dutt, first met at the Prabhat Film Company in 1946. After they exchanged polite hellos, Dev Anand noticed that Guru Dutt was staring at his shirt. It turned out that the washerman had mixed up their shirts and Dev Anand was wearing Guru Dutt�s shirt. Dev Anand said: �we had a hearty laugh and embraced each other. We were to be friends for all times.

The first time Dev Anand played a leading man was in Ziddi, opposite Kamini Kaushal. The actor got his big break as a hero when introduced thus by Ashok Kumar, already a major star.
He may have drawn comparisons with Gregory Peck but it is Ashok Kumar he truly admired.Dev Anand aspired to become a performer in Dadamoni's class, awed by his work in films like Achhut Kanya and Kismat.

When the love story between Dev Anand and the actress widely known as Suraiya was at its peak, Suraiya�s grandmother started monitoring their movements to ensure that the Hindu hero didn�t get too close to her Muslim granddaughter. A scene in �Afsar� (1950) required him to kiss her on the eyes but grandmother, who was on the set, wouldn�t allow it. she stood on the spot where the scene was to be enacted and wouldn�t budge. Ultimately a member of the crew whisked away the grandmother on a pretext and they quickly shot the scene.
The late actor was known for his flambouyant personality that reflected in his outfits.
He owned 800 jackets and his favourite colours were yellow, brown and black. He wore red once in a while.

Dev Anand, who is best remembered for his romantic roles and style statements left an impressive impact on the generations to come. The legendary actor�s iconic, checkered print cap worn in the film Jewel Thief was reportedly purchased from a shop in Copenhagen, Denmark.
One of the most handsome actors of his times, Dev Anand was asked not to wear black suit in public apparently because women would go crazy seeing him dressed in black and would jump from buildings.

Dev Anand never wanted to die in films, he did just one death scene in his entire film career,it was in Guide
It is said that Dev Anand had refused to star in Zanjeer,because there was no song situations for him, which turned out to be Amitabh Bachchan's big break. Earlier also he refused Tumsa Nahi Dekha and Teesri Manzil both the films went to Shammi Kapoor.

Dev Anand took keen interest in politics. He formed a party called National Party of India which he later disbanded.He stood up to the Internal emergency imposed by then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. In 1977, he actively campaigned against her with his supporters in the Lok Sabha.
Great Hits Of Dev Anand's Songs