USS SHAAM KALAAM SAHAAB DEV SAHAAB KE LIYE TAALIYAA BAJAATE REHE AUR BHUL GAYA KI WOH RASHTRAPATI THE ...

I believe there is some power greater than the God we have today which takes major decisions for us - BY ALI PETER JOHN

I believe that it is this other God that brings people together and makes them form different kinds of relationships and associations.

I will give you the outstanding example of the relationship between one of the greatest men I have ever known, Dev Anand, and me…

I was a die-hard fan of Dev Anand and never missed any of his films even at the cost of skipping my meals.

It was Independence Day in 1972 and after attending a flag hoisting ceremony I decided to see Dev Anand’s film, “Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai”.

I had just bought my first bicycle out of the hundred and fifty rupees I had received as a prize for a writing competition.

I placed it outside the compound of a Church where Independence Day was being celebrated.

I came out with all the excitement to go on a long journey on my new bicycle, but I saw no bicycle anywhere.

I tried to look all over, but my new bicycle had vanished. I made a hue and cry about my loss and people advised me to lodge a complaint at the Andheri Police Station.

But I decided to go to the Sangam Theatre nearby where “Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai” was being screened at what was called a matinee show.

Dev Anand and all the beautiful songs in the film made me forget all about my bicycle. I later went to the Police Station and before I could open my mouth, the sub-inspector on duty hollered to a constable, “Aat Gya Yaala” (throw him behind bars) thinking that I was the thief who had come to surrender.

I was pulled into what looked like a cage which had a large wooden plank on the floor with a very heavy baton lying near it.

I was shocked and started speaking in English. The officer was very impressed with my English and he first fired all the constables on duty for treating me badly and then asked one of the constables to bring me out.

He asked me to record my complaint after listening to me, but I just ran out of the Police Station and never went back again.

That day I only thought about Dev Anand and all his songs from “Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai” which helped me to forget the loss of my bicycle which I had bought when I was living a hand to mouth existence…

Little did I then know that I would one day be so very close to the legendary Dev Anand, so close that he told everyone that I was like the son he would have always liked to have.

I would love to go into a rapid flashback into some of the scenes I shared with Dev Anand who I called Dev Sahab like everyone else...

It was the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay. Dev Sahab was having one of his big parties at one of the special halls in the Hotel.

There were hundreds of celebrities from all walks of life who had thronged the hall to wish Dev Sahab.

I was introduced to him by my senior and I soon found myself lost in that illustrious crowd and was slowly trying to slink out when I heard a familiar voice calling out, “Ali, you are not going , come back”.

It was Dev Anand himself and how could I not follow his loving order? It was my first brush with the Dev Anand which was destined to grow into a bond that would last for all time…

The next time I met him was at his office in Khira Nagar in Santacruz. I had to climb a wooden staircase to reach his office.

I couldn’t climb those stairs and kept staring at them till Dev Sahab arrived in an ordinary green Fiat sitting in the front seat with his chauffeur.

I saw him running up the staircase and suffered a major complex and then made brave to climb up and reach his cabin.

The warmth with which he received me, the way he made enquires about me and my family and whether I was happy or not with my job made me feel absolutely comfortable and it was like two long lost friends who had given up hope of meeting finally meeting again.

As I came down I realized that I had a new spring in my walk and running down the same staircase I was scared of. That was the feeling Dev Sahab gave me for the next thirty- five years of our relationship…

He then shifted to a bungalow on Pali Hill where he used to be a struggler trying to catch the attention of the rich and the famous and especially the stars several years ago.

We had hundreds of meetings in the Pent House he had built for himself which was the seat from where he ruled his empire.

And believe it or not I was a new man every time I finished a meeting with him. He had some extraordinary energy and that joy of living which he could pass on to anyone who was lucky to meet him…

I was always overjoyed when the Dev Anand remembered my birthdays and came down to my old and small building with a big basket of flowers, a huge cake and a bottle of the best wine just to wish me.

I have a collection of his notes written for every occasion in his own hand writing which I have treasured and they will be my priceless treasure till the end of my life…

I remember that afternoon when the phone on my table at home rang. I was in one of those typical Dev Anand kind of “Anandi” moods.

I heard the voice on the other side and I don’t know why or how I thought it was someone who was trying to play a prank on me.

I started talking to the voice just like Dev Anand would and I kept talking till I suddenly realized that it was the Dev Anand himself talking to me.

I was embarrassed and did not know how to continue the conversation, but he said, “nahin nahin, ruko mat Ali, tum meri nakal bahot achchi karte ho”.

I did not have to say sorry to the man who was a living legend because he did not give me a chance…

Dev Sahab made it a point to take me with him to all the outdoor shootings of his films and made sure that I was given a suite adjoining his.

Once during the film festival in Goa he did something that will live with me forever. I couldn’t fly with him, but he kept asking me to come to Goa.

I reached Goa and the venue on a bike. He was very busy all day and I did not know how to get in touch with him.

He found me and sent a car for me to take me to the Taj where he was staying with his son Suneil.

There were no rooms in the hotel, but Dev Sahab wanted me to be with him in the same hotel.

He asked his son Suneil to vacate the cottage he was staying in and moves into his suite and gave me the cottage to stay in. How could a man so great be so very considerate to an ordinary journalist like me?

He had King Mahendra of Nepal and Queen Aishwarya as his guests during their visit to Mumbai. He called me and said I should be at the Pent House before three.

I rushed to reach in time because he did not like anyone to be late. I was completely baffled when he set aside all protocol and asked me to sit on the sofa with the King and his Queen and himself. I have rarely felt so honoured…

He shared all his happy and painful moments with me. He once fell in the bathroom of his bungalow in Juhu and I still can’t understand why he had to call me first even when he was in a painful state.

He said, “Ali, I have fallen in the bathroom, the doctor is about to come and if he says I will not be able to work anymore, I will kill myself” .

I met him and he was his own cheerful self. No part of his body had been badly hurt and we both drove down to his office in another hour…
I was woken up at four in the morning by a call, I took it and it was my photographer who knew about my love for Dev Sahab and kept stammering before he could speak and finally said, “Ali Sahab, woh Dev Sahab ki death ho gayi”.

I smashed and broke everything that came into my hands and cried out aloud till I calmed down and called my photographer and gave him the number of Dev Sahab’s bedroom and asked him to call and disconnect if he heard the voice of Dev Sahab.

He did as I was told and when he called back I could almost see him grinning from ear to ear.

Dev Sahab had been “killed” by such nasty rumours several times during his life time, but they did not affect him in any way…

I was privileged when he called me on the day he had started writing his autobiography, “Romancing with life”.

He looked thrilled as he kept looking at the pages he had written in his own handwriting. I kept prodding him to continue writing and he wrote with the kind of speed I still find difficult to believe.

He completed the book in a month which is a record which must go into the Guinness Book of Records.

The book which was released at the house of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi and by Amitabh Bachchan in Bombay and is one of the biggest bestsellers among autobiographies written by anyone from the film industry…

Talking about Amitabh Bachchan, I remember the evening Dev Sahab told me that he wanted Amitabh Bachchan to release the music of one of his films.

He asked me if Amitabh would agree. I told him to just pick up the phone and talk to Amitabh and after five minutes Dev Sahab was all smiles.

“Maan gaya, maan gaya, Amitabh aayega,” he said in delight. But he said Amitabh had one condition.

He would have to go to Amitabh’s house which he had never seen before they could proceed to the hotel for the function.

Dev Sahab was dressed in his typical corduroy jeans and a flowery shirt with a sweater round his neck.

Amitabh asked Dev Sahab to excuse him for a few minutes and when he came back, he was dressed in the same kind of jeans and exactly the same kind of shirt with a sweater round his neck.

Dev Sahab took a great liking for Amitabh and years later when he had to release his autobiography, it was Amitabh who was his first choice to release the book…

I travelled with him to places like Pune, Bhopal, Lucknow, Kalyan near Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi and wherever I went with him, I saw lakhs of people waiting to just catch a glimpse of him. Entire cities used to come out in the streets to welcome him…

I had once requested him to be the chief guest at an awards function in Chennai. He agreed.

News about his being in Chennai spread and the first man to call him and invite him home was the great Dr. Sivaji Ganesan.

It was a great meeting in the house of Sivaji Ganesan which was as big as a village. Dr. Ganesan kept calling Dev Sahab “young boy” and I was amused.

There were at least fifty women of all ages who had specially come to have a look at Dev Sahab.

When we reached the Taj there were calls from both Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan who wanted to come to the hotel to pay their respects to Dev Sahab.

I was happy to arrange their meetings with Dev Sahab. They both touched Dev Sahab’s feet and sat in silence like stunned fans. It was Dev Sahab who kept telling them, “we young people should get together and make films”.

That afternoon Dev Sahab surprisingly ordered for a “masala dosa” which he had never tasted in his life.

He had it in the lobby of the hotel and there were thousands of people to just watch Dev Sahab having a “masala dosa”.

That evening Rajinikanth asked me if he could come to the function where Dev Sahab was the chief guest. I laughed at his request.

He came in his usual jeans and a T-shirt and with rubber sandals on his feet. There was a huge crowd who had not expected their “god” to be there, but once Rajinikanth arrived there was pandemonium all over with people shouting out the name of “Rajini” till “Rajini” just raised his hand and there was complete silence instantly.

He then ran up to Dev Sahab and touched his feet in public and told the audience that Dev Sahab was like God to him.

The crowd grew mad and the applause did not stop till Dev Sahab and “Rajini” kept embracing each other. That was the magic of Dev Sahab who was a star among the greatest stars…

I was with him when he went to Delhi to receive the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The whole of Delhi seemed to be in a festive mood just knowing that Dev Sahab was in Delhi.

The Award function was attended by President Abdul Kalam and the then I & B Minister, Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad.

The Minister said it was his most glorious moment when he signed the papers declaring Dev Sahab as the winner of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Dev Sahab ran up to the dais and whistled out to the audience even as he took off his cap and waved out to them.

He was again dressed up in his normal jeans and a shirt with a sweater round his neck. The President broke protocol and stood up for full ten minutes and clapped for Dev Sahab together with the entire audience…

How many more incidents must I narrate to remember the unforgettable Dev Sahab who can never die for me but always be the dynamic Dev Sahab he always was?

The last time I saw him climbing a hill in Mahabaleshwar during the shooting of “Charge Sheet”.

He left Jackie Shroff and other young men far behind as he just kept climbing higher and higher; climbing hills was always something he loved even when he was a nobody in Poona…

He had his own diet which he followed strictly. He had a heavy breakfast in the morning and then did not even have a sip of water all day.

Sometimes when he was very hungry, he ordered for some sandwiches from the nearby Candy’s and some tea of which he had a few sips.

He loved having what is called “channas” (dry grams). On locations, he mostly lived on just one apple during the entire day of hard work.

He had just one drink at a party and held his glass as long as he was at the party and if anyone forced him to have another peg, he accepted and waited for a chance to pour it into a flower pot.

I am not saying this to make any kind of impact, but I had the privilege of making him have five small drinks during a party hosted by the paper I was working for.

I also did something shocking during his daughter Devina’s wedding. I was drunk and put my hands round Dev Sahab on one hand and Dilip Kumar on the other.

The legends did not mind, but smaller people looked at me as if I had committed a crime…

He rarely was in a bad mood and hated crying, but the only times he really cried was when he remembered his mother and when his younger brother. Vijay Anand suddenly died.

He had a strange dislike for morbid stories and death. He rarely attended funerals, except for the funerals of his elder brother, Chetan Anand, Raj Kapoor and Vijay Anand…

He was growing older in age but his ambitions were only growing more and more adventurous.

But, life was not the same again for him when his bungalow which was his office and had the best recording studio in Asia was brought down to come up with a multi –storied building.

He had to shift to a small flat where he openly showed how uncomfortable and unhappy he was and kept waiting for the builders to keep their promise to give him a Pent House in the new building…

During one of our last meetings, he had a fan visiting him who had come all the way from Australia.

The way he introduced me to the man moved me to tears. He called me “my son, a sufi, a man who is not of this world but just on a visit with not very good experiences about the world he was trapped in. I always pray for him to find the love and happiness he has been looking for.”…

He had a press conference at the Sun-N- Sand Hotel where he once had a suite (339) and lived for more than twenty years.

He asked me to come an hour early and it was not the same Dev Anand who was talking to me and when he embraced me, I could feel every bone in his body. He had grown very weak…

A few days later he left for London with Suneil. One night I received a call from someone who was close to him.

It was the final call which said that the man who had played a great role on the stage of life had brought the curtains down on his life.

Dev Anand who I frankly believed was someone who would never die had died in his hotel room in London, dead for the world but always alive for me till my life comes to an end…

I as a “son” of Dev Anand have certain disturbing questions to ask about his death and all that happened after it. He was alone with his son.

He felt uneasy and asked Suneil for a glass of water and before he could have a sip, the legend who never had any major health complaints was dead.

His body was not brought to Mumbai where lakhs of people were waiting to say their last farewell to the man who had brought joy (anand) into the lives of millions.

His casket was carried by his son and Subrata Ray of Sahara and he was buried in some unknown place and only a token condolence meeting was held at the Mehboob Studio where people lined up to pay their homage to the eternal Dev Anand framed in a photograph.

This was certainly not the kind of end for a man like Dev Sahab who has no end and will never have an end…

DEV SAHAAB JAISE JAADUGARI INSAAN KABHI PAHELE BANE NAHI THE AUR AB KABHI BANENGE BHI NAHI