In the 1966 film, Devar, he played another interesting role, possibly the only negative one in his career where he marries the woman he was only meant to ‘see’ on the behalf of his best friend. He falls for her instead and manipulates her and the friend out of a marriage that was just perfect for them. There is that scene where a heart-broken Dharmendra arrives at the wedding reception and sings accusingly, Baharon ne mera chaman loot kar, khiza ko yeh ilzaam kyon de diya. And you see Deven squirming visibly, racked with guilt and fear but still holding on to a semblance of self-control. All this without a word. That is why it seems rather sad that he was in the years to come put in the box of comedy and never released. But even in that slot, he held on his dignity and never did anything vulgar or crass for laughs. His most loved performance was his double-role in Gulzar’s Angoor (A remake of Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors).
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You remember him also as the music crazy uncle in Doosra Aadmi singing in his voice, Angna aayenge sawaria and in a similar role in Dil Toh Pagal Hai. Hrishi da repeated him in many films including 1982’s Bemisaal where he played a middle-aged man besotted with a conniving younger woman. His close relationship with Yash Chopra should explain why he was seen in so many Yash Raj films in the evening of his career. The offers never stopped coming but the soft-spoken Deven who had worked for over four decades in the industry could not deal with the brash new generation taking over Hindi cinema. The first time someone snapped their fingers at him and asked him to report for a shot, he probably decided that the time had come for retirement. His life too was like his performances. Dignified, understated and self-contained. He has taken with him, a big piece of that era in cinema when no one was in a hurry to make blockbusters, actors bonded on sets, and laughter was a shared pleasure and not a derisive weapon.
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