QAMYAB – THE FORGOTTEN GEMS OF BOLLYWOOD
Qamyab is our humble tribute to all those lesser-known actors, one hit wonders and junior artists who we see umpteen times but don’t know about; beyond their faces. These actors have been an integral part of Bollywood but didn’t get their due. This series is our sincere attempt to put a name to these faces, familiarize them to our readers and celebrate their achievements in life – however big or small. We believe that every artist contributes in his/her own way to the cinema’s success. Qamyab will explore the unknown lives of such actors and artists as we believe even these forgotten gems of Bollywood deserve their due recognition today.
There have been quite a few tall and gigantic actors, who made their name in Bollywood like Praveen Kumar as Bheem of Mahabharat TV series (1988), Ajay Agarwal as the monster in most Ramsay movies, Shamshuddin as Reecha in Katilon Ke Kaatil (1981), Gorilla as the monster and villain’s sidekick and more recently, Nikitin Dheer in films like Chennai Express (2013) and Sooryavanshi (2021).
There was another giant, who was quite popular in Bollywood from late ‘60s to early ‘90s. But unlike the aforementioned actors, he didn’t start his career as a villain. Instead, he was launched as a hero before switching over to supporting and negative roles. This actor was a staggering six feet four inches in height. His name was Dev Kumar; a common face of ‘70s and ‘80s Hindi movies.
Before entering Bollywood, Dev Kumar had dabbled in several professions. He was once a military officer, then joined the police force and lastly, worked as a customs preventive officer. Somehow, Dev was not happy in all these jobs. He yearned to do something, which would satisfy him personally and felt that he was just complying to the wish of his parents by doing these Government jobs. He wished to do something creative like acting but in those days, this profession was not considered respectable.
Dev Kumar was born as Chamanlal Kohli in Peshawar to Shriram Kohli, a farmer cum wrestler and Laldai, a housewife on 1st January, 1930. He was a big fan of Bollywood legends- Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand- and kept his screen name combining the two as Dev Kumar.
After switching several professions, Dev Kumar understood that acting was his call. That’s what he wanted to do for a living and started by writing dramas and poetry.
Dev Kumar’s acting stint started by doing street plays in Delhi. That is where noted director Satyen Bose spotted him and brought him to Bombay (now Mumbai) and gave him his first break. It is said before Satyen Bose, Dev was considered by Bimal Roy for one of the leads in Bandini (1963), alongside two newcomers Dharmendra and Shashi Kapoor. But it was Ashok Kumar who got the coveted role.
After Bandini, Dev Kumar had to wait for three more years and finally, got his first break in Satyen Bose’s Mere Lal (1966) as the lead hero opposite Mala Sinha and Indrani Mukherjee. Though Mere Lal wasn’t a big success, Dev’s Bollywood career kickstarted and he signed many films as the leading man.
These films include Ghar ka Chirag (1967), Ek Phool Ek Bhool (1968), Fareb (1968), Farishta (1968), Spy In Rome (1968), Bank Robbery, Road To Sikkim (1969), Nai Zindagi (1969), Raat Ke Andhere Mein (1969), Simla Road (1969), Veer Amar Singh Rathod (1970), etc. None of these films could do well at the box office and Dev stopped getting lead roles.
It was then that Dev Kumar decided to switch to character roles but all of a sudden, he opted to bid bye to Hindi films and went to work in Hollywood in 1971 and appeared in small character roles in few films there. He returned back to India within a year in 1972. Later, he regretted his one-year Hollywood stint.
After his return to India, Dev decided to start work again in Hindi films, but luck did not favour him as before. He was not getting any offers. During this time, the ‘Rockstar of Bollywood’ Shammi Kapoor had retired as the lead hero and was trying his hand at direction. He decided to make a controversial film Manoranjan (1974) and offered Dev Kumar, a negative character, which opened the doors for him to play the secondary villain in Bollywood.
After Manoranjan was panned as an adult subject not suited to the Indian palate, Shammi Kapoor decided to make a fantasy titled Bundalbaaz (1976) starring Rajesh Khanna and Sulakshana Pandit. Dev got to play a pivotal role of a genie called Jumjumbo, which was again a negative character.
Bundalbaaz was started in 1974 but got delayed by two years. By this time, Rajesh Khanna’s superstardom was fading and it affected the movie adversely. Bundalbaaz received mostly negative reviews and Dev Kumar’s interesting character of Jumjumbo didn’t get due recognition.
Fortunately, movie offers didn’t stop after Bundalbaaz and Dev Kumar went on to work as the supporting actor in many big projects with top heroes like his idol Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Dharmendra, Jeetendra, Vinod Khanna, etc while playing the sidekick to top villains like Amjad Khan, Prem Nath, Prem Chopra, Amrish Puri, Ranjeet, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and Kader Khan.
Some of Dev’s successful movies include Khel Khel Mein (1975), Nehle Pe Dehlaa (1976), Khoon Pasina (1977), Dharam Veer (1977), Chacha Bhatija (1977), Parvarish (1977), Love Story (1981), Kaalia (1981), Haathkadi (1982), Namak Halaal (1982), Qaidi (1984), Raaj Tilak (1984), Arjun (1985), Elaan-E-Jung (1989) and Hatim Tai (1990).
Occasionally, Dev Kumar played positive characters in films like Khel Khel Mein (1975), where he is suspected to be the killer by lead couple Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh and of course Kaalia (1981), in which he plays one of the jail mates with K.N Singh and Heera Lal, who mentor and transform Amitabh Bachchan from the meek and cowardly Kallu to the dashing hero Kaalia.
In 1986, Dev produced a film titled Devar Bhabhi (1986) with his wife Namrata Kohli (credited as Namrata Dev) as co-producer. His two daughters Rajni and Divya, quite young then, are seen shaking their leg with Prema Narayan in a song.
It was around this time, Dev also decided to pursue his other hobby of writing poetry and very few know that wrote lyrics by the name of Falak Dehlvi. His writing was so powerful and inspirational that he later turned in to a motivational speaker.
On one such occasion, Dev Kumar was called as a motivational speaker to address the students at Mumbai’s K.C College. He took the stage, delivered his speech and after he was back on his chair, suffered a massive heart attack and passed away on 17th September, 1990 at the age of 60.
The Jeetendra- Sangeeta Bijlani starrer Hatim Tai (1990) remains one of his last memorable roles while he was alive. His posthumous releases till 1994 include Farishtay (1991), Numbri Aadmi (1991), Jeevan Daata (1991) and his final movie Rakhwale (1994).
On the personal front, Dev Kumar was married twice. He had three children with his first wife much before he entered Bollywood – two daughters Praveen Kanta Kohli, Madhumita Kohli and son Veer Karan Kohli. In 1966, he married Namrata and they had three daughters together- Maneesha, Divya and Rajni. Maneesha was Miss India in 1987 but before that, she debuted with Kunal Goswami (Manoj Kumar’s son) in the unsuccessful film Do Gulab (1983) and also appeared in B.R. Chopra’s Awam (1987). Until last few years, she was working with British Airways as an air hostess.
His other two daughters are also well settled. Rajni married Dr Sanjiv Rajadhyaksha. Both of them are veterinary doctors and run a vet clinic called Small Animal Clinic in Khar (an elite Mumbai suburb). Diya too is a successful business woman and runs the famous Salon and Spa Studio called Tangy Rose.
It has been thirty-four years since Dev Kumar passed away but fans still remember him for his towering personality and his strong supporting roles in Bollywood. We pay our own tribute to him through this article!!
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