Dev, Suraiya And The "Naani" Who Ruined Their Love Story

By Manohar Iyer

A Tribute in her 16th Death Anniversary

Suraiya's entry into films was accidental. As a child, she had gone with her actor uncle to Mohan Studios in Andheri to watch the shooting of Taj Mahal. A child was needed for a scene and when asked if she would like to face the camera, she said YES and rest is history.

Before entering films, she sang in children's programmes for the All India Radio with Raj Kapoor and Madan Mohan who were unknown names then.

Suraiya was not trained in singing nor was she stunningly beautiful like some of her contemporaries. Yet she made it as a famous singing star of her times.

Her debut song was Boot karun main polish babu for Kardar's Nai Duniya 1941 under the baton of Naushad who almost mentored her in the years to come.

In Kardar's film Sharda 1942, Suraiya sang Panchhi jaa peechhe raha hai bachpan tera ... she was very young then, barely 13 and short that she was made to stand on a stool and sing..... Not to go on her but for Mehtab (who later married a much older Sohrab Modi).

Suraiya gave playback to Mehtab in some more films like Kanoon and Sanjog in early 40s which had music by Naushad. After that she sang only for herself in her 20 years long illustrious career.

Suraiya started getting offers to act too. Her major films as an actress were :

Hamari Baat

(In which she first caught the eye of filmgoers),

Ishara and Phool

(opp Prithviraj Kapoor),

Samrat Chandragupta,

Anmol Ghadi and1857 (with Surendra),

Omar Khayyam, Tadbir, Parwana (with Saigal).

Saigal had heard Suraiya rehearsing a song for the film Samrat Chandragupta and suggested her name for Tadbir. Eventually, she went on to do the other two films too with him.

Most of her heroes: Saigal, Motilal, Prithviraj Kapoor, Jairaj, Surendra were much older than her.

Her post independent era films include : Dard, Naatak, Pyar Ki Jeet, Badi Behan, Kaajal, Singaar, Duniya, Dillagi, Dastaan..... Most of them major musical and commercial hits.

Suraiya was so busy shuttling between her home, shooting studios (at Dadar, Andheri and Goregaon) and recording studio of HMV at Fountain that she requested C Ramchandra to get her songs recorded in the voice of Lata Mangeshkar for Duniya. C Ramchandra shot back that the film had been sold to the distributors only on her strength and reputation as a singing star and that she alone will record her songs.

Suraiya was considered for Mahal too but lost the film to Madhubala because of price issues. Suraiya charged Rs. 50,000 per film in the late forties and Madhubala was signed for Rs. 10,000 or 20,000 for Mahal (not sure about the fact and figures but had certainly read about it). She was also signed for Filmistan's Anarkali on her terms. But when her mother told S Mukerji that the film would be a hit because Suraiya was in it, his ego was hurt. It is said that he tore the contract and threw it before her and then signed a rank new comer Bina Rai for the role.

Suraiya acted in as many as seven films with the emerging star Dev Anand in films like : Vidya (cupid struck when they were shooting for the song Laayi khushi Ki duniya), Jeet, Shair, Afsar, Nili, Do Sitare and Sanam. Almost all the films flopped....

She was besotted by Dev Anand because of his striking resemblance to her famous Hollywood actor Gregory Peck. The Dev Anand - Suraiya romantic pair was a much talked about pair like Raj Kapoor ~ Nargis and Dilip Kamini ~ Kaushal and Dilip Kumar Madhubala... Despite seven flops, their love for each other flourished.

The Dev Anand ~ Suraiya love story was no less than that of the legendary Romeo ~ Juliet. Actors like Durga Khote and Kamini Kaushal helped her in engineering their secret rendezvous. But of no avail. One such was the last meeting between Suraiya and Dev secretly arranged by her mother.

Suraiya's mother was found of Dev Anand but her nani was dead against their affair. Hence her mother told Dev Anand to come and see her on the terrace of her apartments in Krishna Mahal, Marine Drive in the night. Dev Anand was happy but equally petrified. So he asked a policeman friend of his to accompany him upto Suraiya's building. And the policeman stood opp the building with a loaded pistol and he gave a torch to Dev Anand and cautioned him that in case there was some trouble he should flash it. And if the torch was flashed he would come up in no time to rescue him. But that situation never came and they met peacefully and happily.

Suraiya was all in tears and so was Dev Anand.

That was the last they met in their active romantic phase.

At the time when their romance blossomed, Suraiya was already a big star. Whenever she came on sets she had a team of big retinues. And on sets everybody would get up and pamper Suraiya.

Also her stern and strict nani accompanied her. She smoked a lot and carried two big thermos one with tea and other with something cold.

And in years to come, her relation with Dev Anand was never 'warm' as the tea in one thermos but was 'cold' as what the other thermos had.

They couldn't marry because of religious barriers and it is said that Suraiya's super nani threw the diamond ring (worth Rs. 3000) presented by Dev to Suraiya (on the sets of Jeet) in the sea opposite to her spacious plush apartments in Krishna Mahal in Marine Drive. The super nani also burnt all the love letters that Dev Anand had written right in front of Suraiya's eyes.

Sanam was the last film they did together and the lyrics of the song O Sanam....Main tujhe pukarun sanam sanam is symbolic of their unrequited love.

A must watch video.

Dev Anand always used to look out of the window of his car whenever he passed Marine Drive by default. Incidentally, Dev Anand's first car was Hillman (but couldn't get past the uphill task) and she travelled in Lincoln.

Suraiya acted with Raj Kapoor in just one film Dastaan (in which Shakila played the young Suraiya). She was signed by K Asif for a film titled Janwar with Dilip Kumar. Few scenes were shot and then the film was shelved. In any case, she was not drawn to Dilip Kumar and the two were never paired again.

As a consolation, she acted with an emerging 'Janwar' Shammi Kapoor in the muslim social Shama Parwana.

At the peak of her career, Suraiya generated hysteria comparable only to that of Rajesh Khanna and later Amitabh Bachchan. Like fans thronged outside these actors' bungalow, fans would wait outside Krishna Mahal just to catch a glimpse of her. The craze was incredible.

Shop owners would pull down their shutters to see her films on the very first day first show itself.

Dharmendra confessed that he was so smitten by her almond shaped eyes and aristocratic looks that he saw Dillagi at least 40 times.

For her charming looks and charisma, she earned the epithet 'Chocolate Charms of the Indian Screen'... a little known fact this.

After Noorjahan and Khurshid migrated to Pakistan, Suraiya was the only top heroine in India who acted and sang her songs and was highly successful.

Her looks, her flair for acting, her dancing abilities and her natural singing talent made her the most sought after actress of the forties and fifties.

Suraiya was convent educated and was also well versed with Persian and Urdu literature. No doubt she looked the hallowed heroine of Persian poetry and her performances in muslim socials or films set in persian backdrop like Mirza Ghalib, Shama Parwana, Shama and her last film Rustam Sohrab bear ample testimony to this.

Suraiya remained a spinster all her life and after her last inconsequential films post Mirza Ghalib, she preferred to stay away from limelight. She was occasionally spotted in some select film functions like the Screen Awards where she was presented with Life Time Achievement Award. No doubt, she looked graceful and gorgeous, radiant and resplendent in a white elegant salwar Kameez and exquisite jewellery and of course, heavy layers of make up to hide her wrinkles! She was very conscious of her looks.

At the awards nite, Javed Jaffery cajoled her to sing or at least hum but she refused though her voice was intact.

Her illustrious career had come to an end in early sixties itself and her end came almost forty years after that on this day in the year 2004 following a brief illness.

 It is believed that when Dev Anand heard the news of her death, he cried badly all alone and was depressed for over three days. He did not go to see her in the hospital when she was ill nor did he attend her funeral only to avoid the media persons and their spicy questions about their much talked about romance and affair.

Many such untold and unheard stories of Suraiya unfolded after she passed away...

 ये कैसी अजब दास्तां हो गई है,

छुपाते छुपाते बयां हो गई है

*Manohar Iyer*

(PRESENTED BY ALI PETER JOHN)

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