On the occasion of Dev Anand’s Birth Anniversary :
Dev Anand’s aspiration to become an actor was a long-held dream from his childhood.
He would often visit film studios and watch movie stars immersing in the world of cinema.
He left home to pursue his dreams after the death of his mother who was his close confidant. He came to Mumbai with limited funds.
He stayed with a friend, visited studios, further stayed in chawls, shared bathrooms, lived on little food and even had to take up a job in Army. It was during World War 2 and his job was censoring the letters of jawans. He left the job after some time as he felt that he was not meant to be a military censor and was destined be a hero.
Fortunately, when Dev Anand heard that Babu Rao Pai of Prabhat Film Studios was casting for a new film, he gatecrashed into his office and got the lead role in Hum Ek Hain. The director of Hum Ek Hain was P. L. Santoshi (father of director Rajkumar Santoshi).
While shooting for this film Dev Anand befriended a young Guru Dutt who was working as an assistant director in the film.
What followed was a six decades career in which Dev Anand starred in about 114 films. He also directed 19 films.
Image(s) Courtesy: Google