I’ll colour all my films if ‘Hum Dono’ succeeds: Dev Anand (Interview)

MUMBAI - Dev Anand is 87 but doesn’t hide his excitement at watching his hit 1961 film “Hum Dono” in colour. He wants audiences to see his charming self 50 years back and says he will colour more of his black and white films if viewers so demand.

“If ‘Hum Dono’ is widely accepted by the audience, I would take the idea and turn all my films into colour. I love all my films, as a painter is passionate about his paintings,” Dev Anand told IANS on the sidelines of a promotional event.

“This film is the last black and white film of the Navketan (his home production) era and my first double role…It became the official entry from India in the Berlin film festival,” the veteran actor recalled.

The movie was written by his brother Vijay Anand and directed by Amarjeet.

Dev Anand admits that he did not take the initiative of adding colour to “Hum Dono”, which starred Nanda and Sadhna as his leading ladies.

“Some time earlier, someone approached me from Hyderabad and said they are looking at colourising the film ‘Hum Dono’. It was so beautifully colourised. So I decided to make people see Dev Anand of 50 years back,” said the actor, who played the role of two look-alike army men.

Apart from Dev Anand’s acting, the film’s music caught on with audiences with lilting melodies like “Main Zindagi ka Saath” and “Abhi Na Jao Chod Kar”.

Asked if he believes the drama of black and white can be recreated in colour, Dev Anand said: “Drama can be recreated…Only there are some mysteries, some shadows, some grey areas, which can’t be shown. But you see ‘Hum Dono’ in black and white and then in colour. I thought that I would never touch ‘Hum Dono’…when I saw it in colour my views changed. Watch it.”

The veteran actor, who cast an enduring spell on audiences with his films in the 1950s and 60s, is against remakes. He is clear that he will not do remakes of his films nor will he let others do so.

“I will not repeat my pictures. If I repeat my picture that means I am repeating myself,” he said

“No, I will not allow remaking of a film like ‘Guide’. No one can ever forget the film. Don’t remake it. Let people take the challenge of making a better picture than ‘Guide’,” Dev Anand urged filmmakers of today.

“Guide”, based on R.K. Narayan’s novel by the same name, was directed by his brother Vijay Anand and went on to become a hit critically and commercially. The 1965 film also starred Waheeda Rehman in one of her most fascinating roles.

(Dibyojyoti Baksi can be contacted at dibyojyoti.b@ians.in)