A moment in time
Tags:
My sister and I were big fans of Dev Anand since the time we were children. One night my bua, Nargis, had a surprise visitor. Our maid came into our room all excited and informed us that Dev Anand and his wife, along with Sunil Dutt, had come to our house. Nargis bua was not married then. It seems they had just dropped in after watching some English film in a cinema hall near our house.
We were allowed to come into the living room at that late hour. I went into the corridor leading from Nargis bua’s bedroom, peeking from behind the curtain to locate Mr Dev Anand in the living room, when some one tapped from behind on my shoulder. I turned around and almost froze: it was Dev Anand. He smiled and said, “Hi and Good Night. You must sleep, tomorrow is school.”
Years went by. Nargis bua got married, Sanju was born and she was shooting her last film, Raat Aur Din, at Mehboob Studio. We were also there to watch the shoot when Dev Anand dropped by to meet my aunt. He asked me what I was doing and would I be interested in a film career and, if yes, I should come and meet him after 10 days for a narration of his first directorial venture, Prem Pujari.
The first shot was taken in Mehboob Studio. I can never forget how nervous I was. It was a close and I was getting very nervous and conscious. I had to smile and look confident and somehow I just could not get the correct expression. He was very patient. I remember he called for a stool and sat opposite me and asked Fali Mistry to run the camera and record. He said, “Okay Zahiedi, just relax, you know I love you and your smile.” I couldn’t help but blush and that did it — he got the shot he wanted and I was on cloud nine.
When we were shooting for Prem Pujari the mirror man came to me to check my makeup. Dev Anand yelled at him to take away the mirror and said to me, “Forget about the mirror. It’s not important. Concentrate on your acting.” This brought a smile to my face because the biggest mirror on the set was in his dressing room-cum-office in Mehboob Studio.
Today, after hearing about his demise, I was very sad. It is a very sad day for me and all of the film industry. May God bless his soul. His dialogue from Guide keeps reassuring me: “Na din hai, na duniya hai — sirf main hoon, main hoon, main hoon.”
Zaheeda acted in two films with Dev Anand: Prem Pujari and Gambler. Prem Pujari was Dev Saheb’s directorial debut.
Post new comment