Dev Anand-Vijay Anand at their best. Review on Tere Mere Sapne - 1971

To be honest,I have never been a Dev Anand fan.Infact like most of the people of our generation who opened their eyes in end of 70's and realised about their senses in 80's the very mention of Dev Anand and his movies would bring a smirk or a rather irritating feeling to me.The reason was obvious,by that time Dev had reduced himself to be his own duplicate and would talk and walk in an irritating way and would star in his idiotic and senseless home productions(by that time every film-maker worth his salt had stopped asking Dev to star in his movie) disasters.Infact I could not understand that how can a man who cant even walk straight could ever be a top star.However over the years as I grewup and watched some of his old time classics like Nau Do Gyarah,Paying Guest and more effectively Guide,Tere Mere Sapne and Hum Dono I could not help but admire him in these movies.Even with these movies I do not consider Dev a big icon as I think he totally went beserk in early 70-s and from that point he has left no stone unturned to make bad movies.However the combination of Dev Anand as the star-actor-producer and his brilliant brother Vijay Anand as the script writer cum director is one of the best teams in the history of Indian Cinema.Although Dev gave memrable movies with elder brother Chetan Anand,Guru Dutt and Raj Khosla,

it was with Goldie(as Vijay is popularly known) that brought the best in Dev

Anand.I remember one of my aunts showing me a scene from this movie which has what I consider the best scene of a child be brought in this world.Tere Mere Sapne, released in 1971 is the last great movie of the Dev-Vijay winning combination.

Dr.Anand(Dev Anand) is a fresh pass out from the medical college.He is deeply devoted to his profession and places humanity above everything.One of his close friend Paul asks him to join hands with him and offers him the lucrative offer of starting practice and nursing home together which will be an ideal launch pad for them.Anand however has other plans.He thinks

that the villages are in urgent need of doctors and he thinks that by going and serving in a village he can serve humanity.With such noble thoughts Anand leaves for a village.In the village there is an old doctor,Dr.Dr.Prasad is the old doctor of the village who is sick and bed-ridden.He has an old dispensary with an assistant Dr.Jagannath Kothari(Vijay Anand) who is a gynacologist(sorry for the spelling mistake if there).Dr.Prasad's wife known as Madameis a shrewd woman who has hidden the secret of doctor's ill-health from the villagers thinking that if the villagers come to know about the health problem of Prasad they will stop coming to his dispensary.She is very cruel about money anddoes not give the doctors much time for their personal life.Dr.Anand comes and starts to work alongwith Dr.Jagannath better known as Jagan.The village has a coal mine and the prime patients are the mine workers who suffer from every possible ailment.Dr.Anand agrees to work even for a petty amount ofRs.250 per month(which was not enough even in early 70's).

Dr. Anand's arrival to the dispensary brings good fortune as the practice doubles and the inflow of money is much more.However Anand is not able to understand the charcter of Jagan.Jagan holds an esteemed degree of M.R.C.O.G. from the United Kingdombut is a drunkard.Infact on one instantwhen he was required as a woman) was about to deliver,Jagan was dead drunk.In such a situation Madame forces Anand to go and see the patient.A hesistant Anand(he is not a gynacologist) however ensures the safe delivery of the child.The child's father Phoolchand(Sapru) is very impressed with Anand and thinks about him as a holy figure.Jagan has a friend Dr.Bhutani(Agha) who is a dentist and a jolly fellow.We come to know that Jagan although a brilliant doctor became a drunkard as he had come from U.K. to serve the country and he was lost in the corrupt and the ill-equipped Indian system.Hehas no dreams left and warns Anand not to dream too much as the pain in seeing dreams being dashed is bad.Anand also comes in contact with Nisha(Mumtaz) who is a teacher by profession.Dr.Bhutani reveals to Anand that she is from a well to do family but like Anand she also dreams of improving the condition of the not so fortunate.Nisha stays with her aunt(Leela Mishra) who is worried about her marriage.What starts as a fight ends up with both Anand and Nisha falling in love and eventually marrying each other.Anand leaves Dr.Prasad's dispensary due to a fight with Madame.Dr. Bhutani helps him in getting a job in another village.After sometime Anand feels the need of doing a master's course in medicine and finally becomes M.D.Nisha gets pregnant and the world seems to be a happy place till Nisha meets with an accident as a rich powerful

man(Prem Nath in a cameo) dashes his car accidentally against her.Due to the

accident Nisha's child is born dead and Jagan tells Anand that due to internal

injuries it will be very risky for Nisha to deliver a child.Anand's dreams are

dashed.He loses the case against the rich man and feels disillusioned.He decides

to leave the village and shift to Bombay.

On reaching Bombay Anand realises that it is very difficult to make a mark in the big city.He meets his old pal Paul and is surprised to see the progress he has made in staying in Bombay.He feels that he had wasted his years in village and accepts Paul's proposalto make a relationship with the circle of doctors which will eventually help him in getting more patients..One of his patients is the famous movie star Malti Mala(Hema Malini) who develops a soft corner for him.Anand submits a paper on research(I forgot the topic of research) to the U.S.A. and they accept it and confer on him the title of D.Sc.(Doctorate of Science).Anand's life

changes.He becomes a very famous man.He starts to drink,starts neglecting Nisha

and uses his friend's circle to get him more and more patients.Meanwhile in

thevillage Dr.Prasad dies and Jagan accepts the challenge of building a hospital in the village.This changes the lives of both Jagan an Madame and both become much better human beings.Jagan leaves alcohol and puts in his best efforts to complete the hospital which was the dream of Dr.Prasad.He ev goes to Bombay to invite Anand to come on its inaugration but Anand is so busy that he cannot take time from his busy schedule.Infact Anand now thinks that Jagan ''Is A Fool'' as he is spending his life in the village.Malti Mala's entry into Anand's life sours the relationship between Anand and Nisha.However Anand knows where to draw the line and is loyal to Nisha.Meanwhile Phoolchand and his wife come to Anand as their son,whom they have named after Anand,is still not very stable.Anand gives him shelter in a nursing home but due to carelessnes the boy dies.Anand's life is shattered.Nisha although pregnant fights with Anand and leaves him for the village.Jagan meanwhile comes to Bombay and finds Anand sad and lonely.Initially he blames Anand for his present condition but on seeing his condition takes him to village where Nisha is residing with her aunt.He operates Nisha and after a difficult operation saves both Nisha and the child.

The music is another good point of movie.S.D.Burman's score has many gems like 'Maine Kasam Li','Jaise Radha Ne' and 'Jeevan Ki Baghiya'.The song 'Suno Re Suno.' is a satire and very well picturised.All the songs are written very well by Neeraj and Kishore's voice again fits Dev's personality very well.

Overall Tere Mere Sapne is a classic not to be missed and brings the best of the team of Dev-Vijay and perhaps one of the best films of Navketan banner.

P.S.-Read my comments on Tere Mere Sapne.