Singing in rain and sunshine. Review on Dev Anand - Jeevan Ke Safar Mein

If Dev Anand had passed away in 1971, after *Hare Rama Hare Krishna, *with a lot of black and white movies and a few colored movies behind him, his fame as an actor may have been more, his mystique hundredfold. After 1971, there is little of his work that is remarkable. But after that we've seen how his failures made the staunch man in him emerge.

"Jiwan ke safar main rahi milte hain bichud jane ko" from the 1955 movie Munimji * has been sung by Kishore Kumar and the music director is S.D. Burman. *It is a song  about four minutes long. Dev and Nalini Jaywant look well in this song, travelling in a car. There is little camera shift, the focus is more on Dev. The naughty handsome young man with waving curly hair is singing this song with as much elaborate body gestures as possible while driving. The young lady appears to be peeved with his singing which is intended to tell her about about the brevity of life and meetings, about the fickleness of beauty, . Appears. Ladies running to avoid the open car, girls bicycling  ahead also occur in the song. There is a sad version of this song too, in a female voice. sung in a similar situation but in a sad mood. Ironically, Nalini Jaywant, a famous actress of the yesteryears, on whom the female version is filmed, died a recluse, about one year before Dev Anand. Both proved true, in a way, what the song says.

True, Dev Anand was not versatile like Sanjeev Kumar, had less exuberance than Kishore Kumar, less tragic sensibility than Guru Dutt or Dilip Kumar and many other things less than others. His mannerisms started looking hackneyed and caricaturish, his messages crass and embarrassing. What was it then in him that we still remember and cherish? The actor in him was made of a happy-go-lucky man self-assured of his looks, and his acting with its assured body language and relaxed yet firm dialogue delivery reached the hearts of millions, across three generations or more.

The  songs filmed on him are little masterpieces. Perhaps they are half his appeal. No doubt Dev Anand was assisted by great music directors, singers and lyricists even though there were no choreographers in those days. The haunting "Ye rat ye chandni phir kahan" sung by Hemant Kumar fits him as will as the yodelling "Ye dil na hota bechara" by Kisore Kumar. "Pal bhar ke liye koi hame pyar kar le" showed him play with windows, "Apni to har aah ek toofan hai" sung by Rafi showed him sing a naughty song of wooing in the guise of a'bhajan' inside a moving train, "Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar" showed him explore the mazes of Qutub Minar while going through the mazes of love, "Hai apna dil to awara" became a legendary song not only with those learning to play the harmonica but with all song lovers. If "Phoolon ke rang se" was a poetic song of love, "Panna ki tammana hai" was so too with a different imagery. "Wahan kaun hai tera musafir" sung from the background by S.D. Burman established the tragic fate of an erring young man while "Phoolon ka taron ka sabka kehna hai" is a song expressing a brother's love for his sister. He could sing "Hum bekhudi main tum ko pukare chale gaye" and "Hai ye nigahen" in intoxication as well as bold songs of inspiration.

There are lots of excellent songs from his movies not filmed on him too. "Dam maro dum" by Asha, "Rula ke gaya sapna mera", "Alla tero naam ishwar tero naam" by Lata, "I love you" by Usha Uthup are just a few examples.

"Main zindgi ka saath nibhata chala gaya"-this was the philosophy with which Dev Anand kept singing his life. Till the end.