'Deven Verma used to be funny, full of laughter'

'I spoke to Deven a couple of times after he shifted residence to Pune. He had changed. He had become quieter, sober. He used to be funny, full of laughter. I did call him a couple of times but it wasn’t like old times.'

Sharmila Tagore looks back at her close friend Deven Verma.

Sharmila Tagore worked with the late Deven Verma in quite a few movies like Anupama, Devar and Besharam. 

She pays tribute to the actor: 

If I have to select who my friends in the film industry were during my heydays, it would have to be Yash Chopra, Thakur Lulla (producer) Tanuja (to some extent), Shashi Kapoor (to some extent), Gulzarsaab (with whom it was more a respectful relationship) and Deven.

Deven was a lot of fun. We used to laugh a lot. 

There were lots of happy outdoor shootings with him.

Deven directed me in Besharam, where Amitabh Bachchan was the male lead. He was also producing the film.

I was expecting my daughter Sabaa during Besharam. We had to complete it before I started showing. There was a bit of dancing in my delicate condition, which we had to be careful with. 

Much of the shooting happened in Bangalore. 

Like Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee), Deven would joke and keep the atmosphere light. So shooting with him wasn’t tedious. 

I spoke to Deven a couple of times after he shifted residence to Pune. He had changed. He had become quieter, sober. He used to be funny, full of laughter. I did call him a couple of times but it wasn’t like old times. 

Deven had a prominent role in Devar, which also starred Dharmendra. I remember we did a lot of night shooting at Mohan Studios. 

Dharmendra was very busy those days. So Deven and I would spend a lot of time together. That’s when we got friendly. 

Deven and I worked together in Anupama also. He was very close to the film's producer Thakur Lulla. He was also very close to Yash Chopra. So the four of us became very close friends.

Thakur and I would do the crossword puzzles in the newspapers. 

Deven and I became closer when he married Ashok  Kumar’s daughter Rupa. The fact that Deven got along with my husband Tiger also helped. 

Sometimes when only one of a couple is friendly with an individual, it becomes difficult to keep up a relationship. Fortunately, Deven got along famously with Tiger. We had a lot of fun times in Carmichael Road. We remained friends for a very long time.

I am sorry Deven has passed on.