Sometimes When You Do A Mad Thing You Can Create Trends: Dev Anand article

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In the second part of his interview Dev Anand, the versatile actor discusses The Guide, one of his favorite films with Laalit Lobo.

It was brilliantly written, brilliantly performed. For me one of the best motion pictures in the industry...

it was made in two versions: the first version was in English based on the book which the Americans shot and took it back to America for editing and release...the Hindi version was not the book. We had to change the climax to justify the angle of adultery which was very bold in the picture and it reached spiritual heights and we did script from a new angle.

it was brilliantly done by Mr. Vijay Anand so it never happens in the history of motion picture that the same film in two versions had been shot one after another from different scripts. A mad thing to do and people called me mad but sometimes when you do a mad thing you can create trends. It created a trend and I spent a lot of money but we did it with a lot of conviction and conviction is what matters in motion picture making because I think we’re totally convinced of the subject.

Difficult subject to tackle in those days. Audience was very conventional and the angle of adultery was taboo in the minds of the people and we had to justify it for the Hindi version. It was brilliantly written, brilliantly performed. For me one of the best motion pictures in the industry, the Hindi version

Best performance?
I don’t know I hardly analyze my work. And self praise (is something) I don’t do but a lot of people say so...in fact in the graph of my career I’ve always picked my films, I’ve always chosen my pictures. I‘˜ve never done more than 3-4 pictures at one time so if I pick a film that film at that time becomes a film of my heart so I put all my heart and soul into it. Guide was one of them.

Toughest scene to act in Guide?
I think the climax was superb. ..this man swami is fasting and lakhs and lakhs of people who flock everyday sit at his feet and watch him. The dry bed of river Baramati in Gujrat..I think we made 35 motion pictures at Navketan but nobody has done it...its the most enduring company, started in 1949 and running till now.

Music of Guide?
I think from the point of view of an emotion it was a sad song. Din dhal jaye, raat na jaye was a beautiful song sung by Rafi and it brought tears to the eyes of the audience. Then gaata rahe was a beautiful song then I think tere mere sapne was a brilliant song picturized in early dawn we picturized it. Every day we used to get up at 5am in the morning in Udaipur and go and take a couple of shots and come back. A labor of love total.

R K Narayan and Dev Anand's Guide
I don’t think so.. You must known R K Narayan was the first man who wrote to me from America after seeing the first cut of the English version. (He said) Dev it’s a brilliant movie and then after the English version did not do well then he started writing against it. But he also knew that the Hindi Guide was not the book because we had taken in it in writing as a part of the contract that we have every right to change the storyline to suit the Indian temperament which we did..

In fact when both the versions went to America the Indian version was the Oscar entry. We cut it to suit the western audiences in terms of length and in fact when both the version were seen by the American audiences they loved the Hindi version more than the English one. I think Hindi film was stupendous..great labor, great creative effort by everybody concerned, starting from director to acting to music. We got all possible accolades. People loved it. They even quote it, wherever I go people quote the Guide.