Dev Anand at Cannes and (below) a glimpse of Guide

In his 85th year, Dev Anand has come to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. This is because Guide, the 1965 movie scripted and directed by his brother, Vijay Anand (Goldie), and starring himself and Waheeda Rehman in the lead roles of Raju and Rosie, is being shown on May 20 in the section, Cannes Classics, started five years ago.

This year’s festival is the 61st and if Dev Anand is to catch up on what Cannes is all about, there is not a moment to lose. There is no better way to begin the day than take a dawn walk along the Croisette, the curved pathway along the beach, and see yachts anchored out at sea, the revellers still asleep after partying the night before.

He may observe the posters of the L’Oreal girls, including those of Aishwarya Rai. He will have to get a pass to gain access to the Palais des Festival where there is another picture of Aishwarya right next to that of Penelope Cruz, a rival L’Oreal “face” who has been in Cannes recently along with other members of the cast of Woody Allen’s comedy, VickyCristinaBarcelona.

He will pass the red-carpeted steps of the 2,500-seat Grand Lumiere Theatre, where, in his imagination, he may dream of hundreds of photographers in black tie snapping away as he and his cast members take a bow before the screening of the next Dev Anand blockbuster. Earlier in the day he would have spotted pretty girls in an open topped car publicising his movie, which would also have been advertised in the Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Screen, three magazines which bring out daily editions for the duration of the festival.

Television would be playing and replaying footage from the red carpet — this year Indians recognised the Bachchan family at the opening movie, Blindness, when Ash wore a black gown with cross-straps on the back. He would try and remember to tell her to wear a sari next time. Perhaps, while taking afternoon tea or treating friends to cocktails in the terrace restaurant of the Carlton, he would talent scout.

Talking of pretty girls, Cannes is fitted out, wall to wall, with long-legged, short-skirted, pretty girls, so he should have no difficulty in finding one to turn into a star for his next movie. This year, in the last few days alone, there has been a wealth of top female stars — Cate Blanchett, Catherine Deneuve (“Queen Catherine” to the French media), Angelina Jolie to mention just three — who would have begged him for his autograph, as would Sean Penn, the president of the main jury.

He would take advantage of his presence in Cannes to catch as many movies as possible. Since there were hundreds, possibly thousands, on offer from all corners of the globe, he would rely on a careful analysis of the daily screening schedules plus word of mouth on making the best possible use of his time.

With so many restaurants to choose from, dinner would be an important part of the social menu. Afterwards, he would take coffee at one place on the Croisette, a cognac at another and discuss movies with new best friends. Since word had got around that he was looking for a girl — “18, maximum 19, very pretty” — for his next project, he would have to be careful none could take advantage of him. Possibly, the one there, trying to catch his attention, was desperate — to discuss Guide, of course.

Rosie by any other name

One of his fans, an S.V. Nathan, had also posted his feelings about Guide on the Net: “Decades have passed, but I think Guide must be literally a guide for film-makers aspiring to turn out a well-balanced entertaining classic! When it comes to modern Hindi film classics, the Guide shall always lead ahead!”

“I have written about it in my autobiography,” Dev Anand reminded a friend, shortly after arrival in Cannes. Indeed, he has. In Romancing With Life, Dev Anand recalls he and his wife, Mona, were in London in the early 1960s when “somebody suggested a book called The Guide. I had not read it but felt curious. So I went to Foyle’s, the largest bookstore in London, and asked for the book. They did not have a copy left, but the sales girl at the counter promised me she would procure one for me.”

The next day the book arrived at his hotel. Dev Anand sat down and began to read The Guide by R.K. Narayan. “Raju welcomed the intrusion — something to relieve the loneliness of the place,” was the first sentence. He then came to the character of Rosie about whom the author had this say: “Why did she call herself Rosie? She did not come from a foreign land. She was just an Indian, who should have done well with Devi, Meena, Lalitha, or any one of the thousand names we have in our country. She chose to call herself Rosie. Don’t imagine on hearing her name that she wore a white skirt or cropped her hair. She looked just the orthodox dancer that she was. She wore saris of bright hues…”

By and by, Dev Anand got to the end: “It was difficult to hold Raju on his feet, as he had a tendency to flop down. They held him as if he were a baby. Raju opened his eyes, looked about, and said: ‘Velan, it’s raining in the hills. I can feel it coming under my feet, up my legs’ — he sagged down.”

In Romancing With Life, Dev Anand records his feelings: “The character of Raju, the guide, was quite extraordinary. R.K. Narayan, the author, was a very distinguished novelist and had made a name in the Western literary world.”

Dev Anand rang America to speak to the author Pearl S. Buck, whose husband, the Polish-American director, Tad Danielewski, had wanted to make a movie with him. He told her he had found the book on which they could collaborate. Buck was eager and said: “Fly over to the States right away.”

The couple also read The Guide and “agreed it would make excellent cinema, with a great part for me”. There was the small matter of getting the rights and so from California Dev Anand rang R.K. Narayan in India. The actor said he wanted the author’s blessings — “seeking ‘blessings’ appeals to the Indian emotions, no matter how harsh and tough the person from whom it is sought might be”, Dev Anand notes in his book.

Trying times

A deal was struck between Stratton Productions of New York and Navketan International, Dev Anand’s Mumbai studio. “The Guide was to be an Indo-American co-production, to be shot simultaneously in Hindi and English.” Dev Anand would star in both versions, with Buck working on the script. She and her husband arrived in Mumbai and gave a press conference at the Taj. Later, the actor met Nehru, and “broke the news of my new project to him, and he gave me a pat on the back”.

The casting began: “The role of the dancer Rosie finally went to Waheeda Rehman. She had already worked for Navketan in Kala Bazaar, and was a natural choice for the central role. Pearl Buck took charge of my English diction.”

The English and Hindi versions were going to be shot simultaneously on location in Udaipur, with Dev Anand’s brother, Chetan, directing the latter. But this did not work out as “a clash of creative egos began to come to the fore”. It was decided to do the English version first. Chetan, though, pulled out completely. “As soon as Chetan walked out, I had persuaded Goldie (his other brother, Vijay Anand), to step into his shoes.”

It was also agreed that the English script would have to be “rewritten from scratch. We needed a new screenplay to suit the Indian ethos and the sensibilities of the Indian mind. Not a single shot taken in the English version would be repeated or included in its Hindi counterpart.”

The work was undertaken by Vijay Anand who directed the movie. As Dev Anand observes, “all great works of art are born out of madness”. The English Guide was released in America, with a premiere in New York, but sank without trace. Meanwhile, “back home, the Hindi Guide was finding it difficult to find distributors. The commercial market quoted the failure of the English version in America back at us”.

The culture police of the time, who disapproved of the relationship between Raju and the married Rosie, also mobilised a campaign urging the censor board to withhold a clearance certificate. Dev Anand approached the new information and broadcasting minister, Indira Gandhi, to see the film for herself. She did, ticked off Dev Anand for talking too quickly to her and, to her great credit, gave him the review that mattered: “It was nice. We shall send you the letter of clearance from the ministry.”

Dev Anand remembers that “when Guide was finally released, it opened to unprecedented crowds. In its Delhi premiere, the entire cabinet except the Prime Minister came to watch the film.” The initial box office returns were mixed but word of mouth saved the movie. Guide was India’s official entry for the Oscars in the foreign language category.

The music for the film is now part of popular Indian culture. It was composed by Sachin Dev Burman and the songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar and Burman himself. Memorable songs include Gaata rahe mera dil, Tere mere sapne, Kya se kya ho gaya, Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna, Piya tose naina and Wahan kaun hai tera.

In his book, Dev Anand has written: “I have met people who have seen Guide 30 times or more and still want to see it again.”

Some of them are in Cannes, waiting to hum along with familiar lyrics nearly half a century after they were recorded. There is probably no other film this year at Cannes, even in the classics section, about which such a claim can be made. Many also feel that perhaps the time has time to rerelease the English version which was clearly ahead of its time.

What do you think of Guide? Tell t2@abpmail.com