Mumtaz: My lasting memory of Dev Saab is his beautiful smile

Mumtaz, the absolutely stunning heroine of the swinging 60s and 70s, who worked with the late Dev Anand in films like Tere Mere Sapne and Hare Rama Hare Krishna, recounts her fond memories of the late actor in an exclusive interview to Firstpost from London. The actress, who divides her time between Mumbai, London and Uganda, likes to keep a low profile ever since she chose wedded bliss over her thriving acting career with businessman, Mayur Madhvani  in 1974, but she made an exception when it came to Dev Saab. On Dev Saab’s demise… He was special not only to me, but to the whole world. His death has saddened me… we will miss him till we join him up there. It is our turn next… When did you first meet Dev Anand and what was your first impression of him? My first meeting with Dev Saab was when we started filming Tere Mere Sapne in 1970. He was a huge star and I too, was an established heroine when we worked on Tere Mere Sapne. [caption id=“attachment_148686” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Film poster of Hare Rama Hare Krishna. Image from Wikipedia”]  [/caption] Dev Saab was an extremely friendly person and made everyone feel at ease almost immediately. Working with him was extremely fun – he was a very light-hearted person and made the atmosphere on the sets very easy and comfortable. We got used to each other’s working styles after the first schedule of the film and then we went on to do Hare Rama Hare Krishna together. It was interesting how he signed me on for the movie. You see, in those days an actor was allowed to do only 7 films, and only after completing the seventh film, were you allowed to sign the eighth film. So when Hare Rama Hare Krishna was being planned, I was under what was called a ceiling back then. Dev Saab fought with everyone and challenged them all by flying me out to Kathmandu with police protection! He was a very strongheaded person. Dev Saab was a real man and he was not scared of anything or anyone. We finished filming in Kathmandu in 40 days and I remember him getting up early and going with his view finder to look for locations to shoot in. He was very protective of me and women in general. I felt safe around him. He used to remind me of the late Sunil Dutt_ji_ who was also very protective towards heroines. Both Dev Saab and he would go out of their way to make us women feel secure. You must have been the envy of every girl when you romanced Dev Saab on screen? Well, then I should have been the envy of the entire industry and the world as I was working with the biggest stars then – Dharmendra, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna… everyone! We are professionals and all these things like envy and all are not serious and don’t really matter. All my producers will tell you I was a thorough professional up till my last film, Aandhiyaan. I was always on time and had no issues with anyone and did my work sincerely. That’s all that matters you know. Did he have a special name for you? Oh yes indeed! He used to call me Mumzy. It’s a name only Dev Saab used to call me by, no one else. Everyone had some sort of name for me like Amitabh (Bachchan) calls me Puttu and some called me Mumu, but Mumzy was a special name. Were you in touch with him in recent years? No actually, we were not in touch. He had called for my daughter, Natasha (married to Fardeen Khan) a long time ago as he had wanted to cast her in movies. I told him, “Dev Saab, I’m honoured that you would think of my daughter, but I doubt it will happen.” You see my husband, Mayur Madhvani, did not want the girls to act at all. I did not mind – I was more than happy if they became actresses. I had to say no because of Mayur. But that is all a long time ago. You are a fabulous cook and Dev Saab was a spartan eater… Did you ever succeed in breaking his stringent food rules? Dev Saab used to eat to live and not the other way round. He was extremely health conscious. He would not go beyond two drinks at a celebration or a party, he would always go to bed on time and get his rest, he was very fastidious about his diet and he looked after himself well and that is why he lived such a long and healthy life. He did not indulge in excess food or drink, no matter what, so obviously he broke his rules for no one. Something you learnt from him… He always used to tell me, “Mumzy, when you’ll grow old and get grey hair, and you’ll have to dye it, oil it for three hours in the night and then wash it off. The hair needs nourishment and this will protect your hair.” I started doing it and it really helped my hair. I am 64 years old now and I went through a lot of health issues in my life, but touch wood, my daughters look after me very well. Even after chemotherapy, I still have great hair for a woman of my age. I have some  grey hair in the front and every time I dye my hair, I do the oil therapy Dev Saab advised me years ago and I remember him. You can delay everything and anything, but not age. Will you be going to his funeral in London? I’m told it hasn’t been decided where it is going to be held. But if it is in London, I’ll try and go for the funeral. I hate to go where there are large crowds – I feel suffocated now. It was so difficult to bury Feroz (Khan) in Bangalore as people were clamouring to see him. One lasting memory of Dev Anand… Dev Saab’s beautiful smile.