Bollywood icon Dev Anand was made to wait outside Amitabh Bachchan's residence for nearly half an hour before being allowed to enter. This incident did not go well with ‘Jewel Thief’ actor's fans, who described this unsettling situation as humiliating.
Dev Anand’s close friend and associate, Mohan Churiwala, disclosed details of this incident, which occurred almost two decades ago, in a recent interview with Vickey Lalwani.
In the conversation, we learn about an incident in which a close friend of the Bachchan family, Amar Singh, had previously mentioned that Dev Anand had come to visit him. This episode dates back to 2007, when Dev Anand, accompanied by his close friend and associate Mohan Churiwala, visited Bachchan's residence, Jalsa.
How ‘Romancing with Life’ book launch created tension between Big B and Dev Anand?
Narrating the happenings of that time, Mohan Churiwala said that this incident is of the time when Dev Anand's book “Romancing with Life” was launched. Mohan Churiwala said, “Amar Singh had promised to bring Amitabh Bachchan to the launch event to unveil the book.” He further noted that it was previously decided that one of Dev Anand's colleagues would unveil the book. However, the plan was called off.
Mohan stated, “Amar Singh was a close acquaintance who regularly met Dev Anand when he visited Bombay and even played the role of home minister in Dev's last film ‘Chargesheet’.” Suggesting that Amar had volunteered to ensure Big B's presence, he recalled and said, “Amar Singh had called and said that he would arrive with Amitabh Bachchan, Tina Ambani and Anil Ambani.” For all four of them, Dev Anand had kept an autographed copy of the book.
Detailing the happenings, Mohan Churiwala said all of them were affiliated with the Samajwadi Party and were uncomfortable with the Congress Party's presence at the event. Since it was an “open-house” event, they could not refuse anyone from attending the launch. During this period, the Congress party, led by Vilasrao Deshmukh, was in power in Maharashtra, and tensions were strained between the two opposing parties.
Initially, Amar Singh had indicated that the group would have dinner with Dev Anand after the book launch, but all four of them departed before the programme ended and did not even take the book. Despite repeated calls, Amar Singh did not respond and eventually, late in the night, called back and confronted over the Congress party's presence. It was then decided that Mohan Churiwala would deliver the books the next morning.
To settle the matter, one of the most revered cinematic icons of the 1950s and 1960s decided to accompany Mohan Churiwala to personally deliver the book copies to Bachchan's residence. The duo was left waiting for over half an hour until Amar Singh appeared in a night suit. The wait for Amitabh Bachchan stretched even further as he joined them after another delay.
Years later, following Dev Anand’s death in 2011, Amar Singh disclosed to journalist Vir Sanghvi that the veteran actor was made to wait for so long as entry inside Jalsa was restricted and only allowed after approval from the Bachchan family.
