When Dev Anand said being in love ‘doesn’t mean you are sleeping with women all the time’

Sunday marks the 99th birth anniversary of Dev Anand. The actor-filmmaker was called the “evergreen Dev Anand” and was popular as a romantic hero. In an interview, he had once said that he was “always in love”.

Dev Anand had told Reuters in 2008 “Romance is beautiful. I am always in love. But it doesn’t mean you are sleeping with women all the time. Even thinking about a beautiful girl or reading poetry is romantic.” 

Dev Anand famously fell in love with Suraiyya.  He had even talked about it and confirmed that they fell in love when they began working together. He called her his first love and claimed it was passionate and very intense. Dev Anand also talked about his attraction to Zeenat Aman in his autobiography, Romancing With Life.    

He wrote, “Whenever and wherever she was talked about glowingly, I loved it; and whenever and wherever I was discussed in the same vein, she was jubilant. In the subconscious, we had become emotionally attached to each other. Suddenly, one day I felt I was desperately in love with Zeenat – and wanted to say so to her! To make an honest confession, at a very special, exclusive place meant for romance. I chose the Rendezvous at the Taj, on top of the city, where we had dined together once earlier.” 

However, Dev Anand never proposed to her after watching her with Raj Kapoor at the same place. After his book came out, Zeenat said that she was not aware of his feelings. 

Born in Gurdaspur district in Punjab had a six-decade long career. He worked in films such as Guide, Taxi Driver, Jewel Thief and CID. Dev Anand was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002. During the infamous 1975 national Emergency, he led a group of film personalities against the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

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The actor-director-producer worked till his last. His last project Chargesheet released months ahead of his death in 2011. Dev Anand was also planning an extension of his cult hit, Hare Rama Hare Krishna. He died in December 2011 aged 88 in London after a cardiac arrest.

Asked if he regretted anything in his life, Dev Anand had told Hindustan Times in a 2008 interview, “No. That’s why, even today, I’m so full of energy and enthusiasm. This involvement with life is important. It shows in your face, body and system. It stops you from growing old.”