by ASJAD NAZIR
THIS week marks the death anniversary of Bollywood legend Dev Anand, who passed away on December 3, 2011, aged 88. Although he is best remembered for starring in a massive number of successful movies, the legendary star’s legacy stretches beyond that because he also launched a lot of newcomers to greatness. Those who are still with us will no doubt remember him this week along with fans around the world. Here is a list of some unknowns Dev Anand (right) helped turn into shining stars across the many decades.
Guru Dutt: Dev Anand made friends with aspiring actor/director Guru Dutt during their days of struggle and promised to help him if he ever made it. Anand kept his word and launched Dutt as a director with blockbuster 1951 hit Baazi. Dutt would go onto establish himself as one of the greatest ever filmmakers.
Kalpana Kartik: She may not be as well known as other leading ladies from the golden era of Bollywood, but Kalpana Kartik delivered winning performances in her day. She made her debut opposite Dev Anand in his home production Baazi (1951) and would later go onto marry him.
Sahir Ludhianvi: One of the greatest lyricists in Bollywood history came to prominence after penning songs for Dev Anand’s 1951 home production Baazi. He had written songs for a few forgettable films before then, but Anand spotted his genius and roped him in for his major movie, which turned the lyricist into an overnight star.
Raj Khosla: Dev Anand hired Raj Khosla to assist Guru Dutt and eventually launched him as a director, which included starring in his first five films. Khosla would go onto have a prolific filmmaking career with classics still loved today and never forgot Anand’s kindness.
Waheeda Rehman: Although Guru Dutt is largely credited with launching Waheeda Rehman into Bollywood with a supporting role in smash hit 1956 movie CID, lead star Dev Anand made it happen by agreeing for her to be cast in the crime thriller.
Jaidev: The ace composer made a mark with a string of successful soundtracks and was the first music director to win three National Awards. He started his incredible musical journey by composing for Dev Anand’s home banner Navketan Films in the 1950s. His collaborations with Anand included the stunning songs in Hum Dono (1961).
Vijay Anand: The visionary filmmaker had got his big break from elder brother Dev Anand, who produced and played the lead role in his successful directorial debut Nau Do Gyarah (1957). The two brothers would form a cinematic dream team with many subsequent successes, including iconic classics like Guide (1965), Jewel Thief (1967) and Johny Mera Naam (1970).
Zeenat Aman: The beauty queen turned actress nearly quit Bollywood after her first two films failed, but then was persuaded by Dev Anand to play a supporting role in hit 1971 film Hare Rama Hare Krishna. That award-winning turn would lead the actress to become one of the biggest stars of the 70s and an icon in her own right.
Tina Munim: Today she is known as billionaire Tina Ambani, but before marriage and in the beginning, acting was her big passion. Dev Anand spotted her talent early on and launched her in hit 1978 film Des Pardes. She had a successful acting career before getting married and concentrating on charity work.
Jackie Shroff: The actor was given his first film break by Dev Anand in his 1982 drama Swami Dada and always remembered that very first opportunity. The following year Jackie would become a superstar with his next film Hero (1983), which was directed by Subhash Ghai.
Tabu: Not many people know that Tabu got her first proper acting opportunity as a teenager from Dev Anand in Hum Naujawan (1985). That same film marked the acting debut of Richa Sharma.
Neeru Bajwa: Today Neeru Bajwa is the undisputed queen of Punjabi cinema and has been helping the industry go global. She got her first break into movie thanks to Dev Anand in her 1998 debut movie Main Solah Baras Ki.
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5