'This Is A Trick': How Dev Anand And Suraiya Came Face-to-Face Years After Breakup

Real-life Bollywood love stories are far truer than any romantic drama on screen. The people, stakes and repercussions are all real. Unfulfilled love is not only a favourite genre in Hindi cinema but also a defining feature of some of its most famous on-screen and real-life couples whose stories remained incomplete.

One of those former lover pairs is that of the evergreen Dev Anand and singer-star Suraiya. It's famously believed that the couple fell hard for each other when he saved her from drowning during the shoot of the song Kinare Kinare Chale Jayen Ge for the film Vidya. Very filmy.

She slipped from the boat and he jumped into the lake to save her. Suraiya had once said in her interviews that she wouldn't have been alive had he not saved her. This attracted her to Dev Anand.

They kept meeting and the love only got deeper with each meeting. But Suraiya's grandmother was opposed to this inter-faith match. It is said Suraiya was even planning to elope with Dev Anand but her grandmother got to know about it and ruined her plans.

In a recent interview with Vickey Lalwani, Dev Anand's longtime secretary and aide Ashok Sinha recalled the former couple's almost reunion at an awards event years after their split.

"There was a function in film city. There was a yesteryear actor called Ram Mohan who was quite popular. Ram Mohan ji came to me and said, 'Suraiya is here, she wants to meet Dev sahab'. I said, 'It would be difficult. Let me ask him. It's a delicate issue'.

"I asked Dev sahab, he was uncomfortable. He said, 'Let's go fast. Take me away from here'. Rauf from Zee said 'Get Dev sahab to the awards. It's important for him to attend'. He didn't used to go to award shows," Ashok Sinha said.

Eventually, Dev Anand agreed to attend the event. He was told to present the award in question to Lata Mangeshkar. Popular radio announcer Ameen Sayani was the host of the awards show.

"When Dev Anand and I were backstage, I saw Ameen Sayani almost announce that 'Dev Anand and Suraiyya are going to present this award together'. I said, 'Hold it!' Dev sahab was shocked. Imagine his plight. None of us knew about it. Everything stopped. 'It's a trick', he said. He asked me what I would have done," he recalled.

The air shifted in a few minutes.

Ashok Sinha then recalled the moment he saw Suraiya walking towards Dev Anand.

"I told him, 'Sir, she's coming to you.' He said, 'You're joking. Keep telling me exactly where she is.' I then said, 'She's right behind you.' Dev sahab turned and there was Suraiya. What a moment it was! Two lovers who haven't met in a real long time. Dev Anand had married, Suraiya was still single."

Dev Anand had opened up about their love story in his autobiography, Romancing with Life. "It was destined that way. Had I gone to her, my life would have been different. Had I married her, life at her end would have taken me to a different course. Then maybe I would not have been the Dev Anand I am today," he wrote.

Dev Anand married his Baazi co-star Kalpana Kartik in 1954. They had two kids: son Suneil Anand, who died recently in London, and daughter, Devina.

Ashok Sinha continued, "I can never forget Suraiya's expressions. She could have cried any minute. Dev Anand had the same expression on his face. Both were absolutely silent. Then he touched her cheek and said 'Suraiya'. He slightly patted her cheek."

What happened next?

Ashok Sinha categorically told Ameen Sayani to not announce Dev Anand and Suraiya name together. Meanwhile, Lata Mangeshkar was also backstage. Dev Anand then spoke to both the women, convincing Suraiya to present the award to Lata Mangeshkar.

Dev Anand and his secretary left the event quietly from backstage away from the prying eyes of the organisers and public.

Also Read | Dev Anand's Son Suneil Anand Dies At 70 In UK