Beauty and the Beholder

Then he resumes coaxing, ‘‘Smile for me darling.’’ She does, and twirls to It’s The Time To Disco while Daftary clicks on deftly.

It’s a routine the tireless film-maker has doggedly pursued in the past decade, so what if you can only remember forgettables like Love At Times Square and Aman Ke Farishtey in 2003, and the 2001 multi-starrer Censor.

At 80, nearly a quarter century and 16 unremarkable movies after his last box-office biggie Des Pardes in 1978, Anand still dreams of that next big hit. And though another Hare Rama Hare Krishna has continued to elude him, the plans to get there only get grander.

Currently, he is working on two international projects, hoping to rope in Brad Pitt and good friend Shirley Mclaine. Also in the pipeline is Song of Life about sitar maestro Ravi Shankar’s life. Anand wanted Nicole Kidman to play Anoushka Shankar but Kidman hasn’t confirmed so far.

In his office—he can’t stop apologising for the mess—piles of scripts, old and new, and portfolios of glamourous teens jostle for space with rows and rows of awards won over a lifetime. A reminder that Anand’s self-assurance comes from being a star who has acted in more than 110 films and directed 20. They’re also a poignant memory of the time an entire generation wanted to swagger like him and answer the phone with an Anand-style sing-song ‘‘Hello-o’’.

Nestled in the mess one spots the rough draft of what looks like his autobiography. ‘‘I am in the process of writing an epic,’’ he shares guardedly. ‘‘A lot has to be written, considering I have been around from the pre-partition days, ’’ says the man who saunters into office at a relaxed 1 pm and then works late into the night.

ENGROSSED in the drill, Anand looks into space as if something is missing. ‘‘I want her to turn… here,’’ he says, pointing to a spot on the floor. She tries and doesn’t get it right, so goes through the moves again… and again, only prompting Anand to leap up with a resounding ‘‘N-O’’.

Dressing down time? That’s not his style. He gently looks into her eyes and asks her to focus. ‘‘I never scold my stars, they are my stars,’’ he exclaims. When we attempt to talk to the face in waiting, Anand issues a gentle warning. ‘‘She is a little scared. And I don’t want to reveal my beauty queen. Let it be a grand announcement,” he pleads in hushed tones.

The search for Ms Perfect 10 has always been an obsession with this self-proclaimed star maker. Almost as if each time he decides on making a new film, there is also an overriding need to gift another star to Bollywood. Like Zeenat Aman whom he discovered in 1971. ‘‘I like all the new girls in the industry today. But I’m partial to Zeenat. She was, and is, sensational,’’ says Anand.

His latest project, financed by Naveketan Films International and set to score by Anu Malik, is an endeavour tailor-made for his ambitions. The around Rs 12 crore Beauty Queen, whose script Anand worked on last December in Mahabaleshwar, has apparently attracted more than 400 applicants across cities, and Anand is in the process of shortlisting 17 girls. Not all his picks have applied, though. One girl, for instance, was spotted on the road. ‘‘I liked the way she looked and I’m very sure she can act,’’ he says with a naughty glint.

And the thrill of a new discovery, of a new face is evident when he waves his hands and states: ‘‘I am a star maker. I like freshness, innocence that has not been corrupted so far by harsh lights. I worked with such natural beauties in my time—Waheeda, Madhubala—and now it’s tough to find a girl who looks at you without her contact lenses,’’ he laughs.

Similarly, Anand looks to life rather than fiction as inspiration, keenly following and observing his immediate surroundings and the world at large.

IN the studio he asks his current favourite to look at the camera and not be conscious of her green skirt riding up. She loosens up and Anand is delighted. And we move on to a tricky but inevitable question: How does he think Beauty Queen will fare?

Anand’s retort is swift. ‘‘The one person who has to be satisfied with my film is myself. And there are at least 25 out of an audience of 100 who like what I make.’’

And then follow statements uttered with a conviction only Dev Anand can get away with. ‘‘No one can write me off. I have always given films that are much ahead of their time. Beauty Queen will be path-breaking, trust me.’’

Shooting for the movie, which revolves around a beauty pageant, starts early next month. Will he find his beauty queen by then?

Anand is his usual optimistic self. ‘‘Each day I wake up thinking I’ll find her today. But it will happen. I’ll introduce the most beautiful woman this country has ever seen.’’