Born as Devdutt on September 26, 1923, in the Punjabi-speaking Anand family, son to Advocate Pishorimal, younger and older brother to Chetan and Vijay respectively and one sister, who was subsequently married in the Kapur family, and gave birth to actor film-maker, Shekhar Kapur, two daughters, Neelu, who was married to actor Navin Nischol , and Aruna who was the wife of Ajay Parikshat Sahni, son of renowned Balraj Sahni. Both Neelu and Aruna have since been divorced. Dev graduated from Government College, Lahore, British India, left his hometown to work in the Military Censor Office at Churchgate, Bombay. He was offered a role in the 1946 flick 'Hum Ek Hain '. This is where he stuck a friendship with Bollywood legend Guru Dutt.
Ashok Kumar introduced Dev as a leading man opposite Kamini Kaushal in 'Ziddi'. Thereafter there has been no looking back for the 'evegreen' Dev Anand, who went on to star in over 110 movies, spanning from 1946 through to 2005.
He is perhaps one of the few who dreamed of starlet Snehprabha Pradhan and had his dream come true when he got to not only meet her but also act with her. His other dream was of owning a car, a Hillman, was also fulfilled. In 1954 Dev met Mona, whose screen name is Kalpana Kartik, and married her in 1954 in a quiet ceremony in Russia where they were on a tour to screen 'Rahee ' and 'Aandhiyan'. Mona was a college beauty queen from Simla, and she starred opposite her to-be-husband in all her movies. Both became parents in 1956 when Suneil was born.
Dev is also known for introducing two of the most beautiful actresses to Bollywood, namely Zeenat Aman in 'Hare Rama Hare Krishna' and Tina Munim in 'Des Pardes. Not easily intimidated, Dev Anand, Shatrughan Sinha, Inder Sen Johar, Kishore Kumar were amongst the few that actually stood up against the authoritarian regime of Indira Gandhi during the Emergency, while many in the opposition preferred to free India to escape Mrs. Gandhi's wrath.
The Anand family founded Navketan Films which is still active and being administered by Dev's son, Suneil.
