Blast from the past: Dev Anand weds Kalpana Kartik during a shooting break

by Devesh Sharma | April 24, 2021, 19:46 IST

It’s well known that Dev Anand was madly in love with Suraiya. He even bought her a huge diamond ring, which one account says her maternal grandmother threw in the sea, and other accounts say she herself flung it in the sea. He was heartbroken when she said no, allegedly because they belonged to different religions.

Some even say that she was the bigger star than Dev Anand, and was the sole breadwinner of the family, hence her family didn’t want the union. They apparently had one last meeting where they both reportedly cried their hearts out. According to an interview given by Dev Anand’s close associate Mohan Churiwala, Suraiya’s mother asked Dev Anand to come on their terrace at 10 pm and meet her one last time. Raj Khosla and Guru Dutt asked him not to go alone fearing trouble. He took an inspector friend along. With two torches and a loaded gun, the inspector sat on the parapet. He asked Dev Anand to flash his torch if he sensed trouble. The anguish of the two lovers was voiced more in tears than in actual words. Suraiya never married, though Dev Anand moved on.

It was Mona Singha, who was given the screen name of Kalpana Kartik, who brought out Dev Anand from the morass of grief he was feeling. Dev Anand’s elder brother Chetan Anand spotted the pretty girl in Shimla. The young collegian, who was studying at St Bede’s College in Shimla had been crowned Miss Shimla and was a minor celebrity. Mona was a Punjabi Christian and her parents were originally from Lahore and had settled in Shimla after the Partition. Chetan Anand was on the lookout for a new face and persuaded them to let her try her luck in films. Her first break came with Navketan Film’s Baazi (1951). She played a doctor in the film. 

It was Navketan’s second production and was directed by Guru Dutt. Inspired by American noir films, the film became a huge hit. Her other films -- Aandhiyan (1952), Humsafar (1953), Taxi Driver (1954), House No. 44 (1954) and Nau Do Gyarah (1957) were also with Dev Anand.

It is said Dev Anand was enamoured by her during the making of Baazi itself. He didn’t want to take any chances this time and decided to marry her as soon as she said yes. Trust Dev Anand to do something different. He actually married her during a shooting break during the filming of Taxi Driver (1954).

This is what he said during an interview with Simi Garewal about his courtship and marriage. “She was beautiful, bubbly, naughty and educated. We fell in love with each other on the sets of Baazi and decided to get married secretly. Why? Because isn't marriage a very personal affair? We had planned that we'll get married and will not tell anybody and then we'll throw a reception." 

He states further, "We were shooting on the sets of Taxi Driver. I had the ring in my pocket. We had asked the registrar to come there. In between the breaks when the lighting was being done on the sets, I signalled to her, we went into our departmental room, got married and came back. But, the cameraman... because she had that ring on her finger spotted the ring and said that it is breaking the continuity of the scene. He knew of my affair with her and therefore he was so confident. I said 'shut up, don't speak about this... later, let's take the shot first'. It was great fun.”

They became parents in 1956 when Suneil Anand was born. They were also blessed with a daughter named Devina.

Dev Anand was linked with many women afterwards but remained loyal to Mona during their five-decade-long marriage.

He died of a heart attack on December 3, 2011. Kalpana Kartik gave up acting in films after Nau Do Gyarah (1957) and slowly disassociated herself from showbiz, choosing to remain a recluse.