Dev Anand: Lesser known facts about the actor

Bollywood's evergreen hero Dev Anand, who worked in more than 100 films and has entertained us with films like Guide, Hare Krishna Hare Ram, Des Pardes, Jewel Thief and Johnny Mera Naam to name a few, holds a special place in everyone's heart. One of the most handsome actors of his times, Dev Anand was asked not to wear black suit in public apparently because women would go crazy seeing him dressed in black and would jump from buildings. The Bollywood superstar was born as Devdutta Pishorimal Anand and was called Dharam Dev Anand. His nickname was Chiru.

He earned Rs. 160 before becoming an actor: The legendary superstar spent his early years in Gharota village near Gurdaspur town. He did his schooling till matriculation from Sacred Heart School, Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh (then in Punjab) and went to college Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh before going to Lahore to study. Later, Dev completed BA degree in English Literature from the Government College, Lahore in British India. During his struggling days in Mumbai, Dev Anand worked as a clerk in an accountancy firm for a meagre salary of Rs 85 to make ends meet. He also worked at the Military Censor Office and earned Rs. 160 before becoming an actor.

Ashok Kumar aka Dada Muni inspired Dev Anand to become an actor. Yes, it was Ashok Kumar, whose films like Achut Kanya motivated him to take up acting seriously. Ashok Kumar gave Dev Anand his first movie break in Ziddi. Apparently, he spotted Dev Anand on the sets and took him in for the Bombay Talkies production 'Ziddi'. The film was directed by Shaheed Latif.

The Dev-Suraiya romance: Indian film industry has seen number of beautiful onscreen pairs who light up the screen with their presence and chemistry. One such pair was Dev Anand and his alleged love interest Suraiya. According to reports in the media, Dev Anand and Suraiya's romance blossomed on the sets of the film Vidya. The famous on-screen pair fell in love while shooting for the film Vidya. In fact during the shooting of the song Kinare kinare chale jaayenge on a boat, the boat overturned and in a true Bollywood hero style Dev Saab rescued Suraiya and wanted. He wanted to marry her. He also proposed to Suraiya on the sets of the film Jeet with a diamond ring worth Rs 3,000, but Suraiya's maternal grandmother was strongly opposed to the inter-religious romance. Suraiya remained unmarried all her life.

When Dev Anand turned down Junglee, Teesri Manzil and Zanjeer: The legendary actor, who has given a break to many newcomers in Bollywood had turned down many blockbusters. Very few people are aware of the fact that Dev Anand was the original choice for films like Subodh Mukherjee's Junglee and Nasir Hussain's Teesri Manzil but the actor turned down both the offers owing to differences with the makers. Both the films went on to become the biggest hits of Shammi Kapoor's career. Apart from Teesri Manzil and Junglee, even Zanjeer was originally offered to Dev Anand.

His famous checkered print cap: Dev Anand, who is best remembered for his romantic roles and style statements left an impressive impact on the generations to come. The legendary actor’s iconic, checkered print cap worn in the film Jewel Thief was reportedly purchased from a shop in Copenhagen, Denmark. While shooting for Pyar Mohabbat with Saira Bano, the actor bought this iconic checkered cap.