Anand, Dev (1923-2011), was an Indian motion-picture actor and director. He was one of the most popular leading men in the Indian cinema of the 1940’s and 1950’s. With his energetic, youthful image, he became an institution in the Indian motion-picture industry.
Anand made his film acting debut in 1946, in Hum Ek Hain. In 1949, he cofounded Navketan, a motion-picture company. He appeared in more than 100 movies. His most successful films include Ziddi (1948), Taxi Driver (1954), and Jab Pyaar Kisise Hota Hai (1961). The award-winning Guide (1965), based on the novel by the Indian writer R. K. Narayan, was the first joint production involving both American and Indian companies. Anand started directing films in 1970 with Prem Pujari. Anand had his first big hit as a director with Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), a film that looked at “hippie” Westerners from an Indian perspective. Other films directed, written by, and starring Anand include the drama Des Pardes (1978) and the comedy Mr. Prime Minister (2005).
Devdutt Pishorimal Anand was born on Sept. 26, 1923, in Gurdaspur, Punjab. He was educated at the Punjabi University. During World War II (1939-1945), he moved to Bombay (now Mumbai), where he began acting in the theater. Anand’s brothers, Chetan and Vijay, both became film directors. Vijay and Dev Anand frequently made films together. In 1979, Dev Anand made an unsuccessful attempt to gain a parliamentary seat as head of the National Party, which was opposed to Indira Gandhi’s Congress Party. Anand wrote a memoir, Romancing with Life (2007). Anand died on Dec. 3, 2011.
