Dev Anand needs no introduction. With blockbuster films like CID, Gambler, Johnny Mera Naam, Guide, Jewel Thief and Hare Rama Hare Krishna, he solidified his position as one of the most successful actors of Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over nearly 6 decades, he worked in more than 100 films. While the late actor’s movies are known to all, there was a tragic side to Dev Anand’s love life that not many are aware of. It is said that his love failed to materialise. Dev Anand was reportedly in love with the celebrated Bollywood actress Suraiya. They were said to be in a relationship for four years, between 1948 to 1951. Dev Anand affectionately nicknamed Suraiya “Nosey,” while she called him “Steve,” a name she chose from a book he had given her. During the filming of Jeet in 1949, both Dev Anand and Suraiya had planned to marry and elope, but their plans were thwarted due to strong opposition from Suraiya’s maternal grandmother and uncle. In an interview, Suraiya had mentioned that she ultimately gave in when both her grandmother and uncle threatened to have Dev Anand killed.
Following their last film together in 1951, Suraiya’s grandmother forbade them from acting together. In a June 1972 interview with Stardust, Suraiya confessed that she lacked the courage to defy her family, despite the actor’s genuine love for her. The opposition from Suraiya’s family was primarily because she was Muslim.
During a media interview, Dev Anand revealed, “I couldn’t marry her because she was Muslim, but the truth is she was my first love and I wept over her. I was young and she was a major star. She travelled by car while I travelled by train.” He further said, “I used to reach the station by train and then while walking I would knock on her door and go and sit with her. I knew that she liked me, she wanted me. I was also madly in love with her. I proposed, and she accepted.”
Dev Anand further said, “I made a picture of her and sent it to her, but she did not reply at all and I was upset. Then I called her mother. Her mother said that I will make you talk to her. Her mother was sympathetic, but her grandmother was not sympathetic at all.” He also said that when he was unable to marry Suraiya, he cried on his brother’s shoulder. Dev Anand would later go on to say that the film Hum Dono was based on the incomplete love story of him and Suraiya.
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