Indeed Dev Anand here pre-empted Raj Kapoor by throwing a trendy party to announce Tina Munim as his newest heroine-discovery in Des Pardes (1978)!
That Dev bash to introduce Munim to the media remains vivid in memory. Dev's attitude, as he flaunted Munim, was an attitude of there being as good fish in the sea as ever came out of it. Dev's supremely youthful approach to Des Pardes, as a theme, did affect the cineperson in Raj Kapoor. RK's long-in-the-making Satyam Shivam Sundaram, visually, was a cinematic disaster. As Dev's ex, Zeenat Aman, playing the titular sex symbol, cut a sorry skimpy figure indeed, on the silver screen, opposite Shashi Kapoor in sham shorts.
Not for a moment am I suggesting that Dev Anand was ahead of Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar. Indeed the ground position, here, was that Dilip Kumar was the first among three equals though Raj Kapoor had challenged Dilip Kumar's histrionic credentials as early as in Mehboob's Andaz (1949).
Indeed Raj Kapoor, having (some 12-13 years later) spirited away Vyjayanthimala from Dilip (Gunga Jumna) Kumar, even made bold to offer the Tragedy King whichever one of the two key male roles he wanted (opposite that willowy heroine) in his Sangam (1964) -- RK's first offering in colour. But Dilip Kumar would not bite, because he knew that, in an RK film, Raj would ultimately remain in creative control as the director, ordering the placing of the Radhu Karmakar camera.
Also Read: Dev Anand: a role model
Advertisement
