How two Kathmandu girls lived the Bollywood magic and made lifelong memories on the sets of Dev Anand’s ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’.
“It took my breath away,”
said Gerda Anita Weise, a Swiss national who grew up in
The sense of thrill was no
different in 15-year-old Meena Singh when Dev Anand approached her parents for
their approval to have her in his film.
The two
That was a time when Bollywood films had already arrested
Kathmandu’s imagination through the screens of its cinema halls, and so the
film’s actors were familiar to the
So, when Dev Anand descended on Kathmandu with his shooting
crew, the entire
It was only natural for Singh and Weise, young teenagers
attuned to the world of Bollywood cinemas, to be awestruck when Dev Anand
approached them. Indeed, as actors in the film, the sense of excitement was
much deeper in them, and from the very first, they ventured into a magical
journey—of thrills and surprises of interacting with Dev Anand and other stars,
being insiders to the shooting process and forming friendships with the actors,
and experiencing celebrity-like fame. Although both of them went on to take
career paths other than acting, their experiences would form inseparable part
of their identities.
Dev Anand surprise
Dev Anand had used many local actors in his film for small
roles. But some had special roles, like Ram Krishna Prajapati and his brother
Shyam Krishna from Indrachowk, who played roles of Dronacharya’s (Prem Chopra’s
character) aides. Singh and Weise were selected to play roles of friends of the
film’s central character Jasbir (Zeenat Aman’s character), appearing beside her
for most of the film, including in the iconic ‘Dum Maro Dum’.
Today, both Singh and Weise recall the thrilling moment Dev
Anand appeared before them in a manner that was no less than his film persona.
According to Singh, his inquiries led him to the doors of
Angur Baba Joshi, the then headmistress of Padma Kanya Campus, the all-girls
college in Bagbazar.
“Padma Kanya in those days was famous as a place for smart
and good-looking girls and Dev Anand requested Angur Baba Joshi to help him
find some artists from her college,” recounted Singh. “I often participated in
musical and stage performances. Shortly before Dev Anand’s arrival, I'd led
Padma Kanya Campus at a grand inter-college opera competition. Our team emerged
the winner and I was awarded a gold medal and other prizes by King Mahendra and
Queen Ratna in a grand ceremony. This made me really popular at Padma Kanya and
a favourite of our principal Angur Baba Joshi. […] She was also a good friend
of my father and she gave our phone number to Dev Anand.”
Soon afterwards, the telephone rang at Singh's residence.
Her mother received the phone as the person on the other end spoke in English,
inquiring after her husband.
“He’s away,” she replied.
“Oh, I’m Dev Anand speaking,” the
man said.
The mention of the legendary actor’s name on the other end
of the phone sent the mother’s heart racing for some time. But, that was a time
when eve-teasing and bluff calls were very common, recalled Singh, and that she
herself got many such calls. So the mother soon collected herself.
“‘Look, some bluffer claiming to be Dev Anand,’ my mother
said, putting down the phone,” recalled Singh.
The telephone came a couple of more times, just for her
mother to pick up and put it down. Finally, gathering that the mother didn’t
understand English, Dev Anand spoke in Hindi, and managed to convince her that
he actually was Dev Anand from
“My mother was totally against the idea,” said Singh,
recalling the conversation that happened between her parents after returning
home that night. “‘No. She shouldn’t act in the film. It’ll disturb her
studies,’ she said. But my father, being a staunch supporter of King, said,
“Even our King has granted permission to shoot this film. So shouldn’t we
support him?’ and convinced her.”
Weise, meanwhile, came to Dev Anand's notice under more
dramatic circumstances. By sheer chance, she was spotted by the actor himself,
amidst the crowds that had gathered to see the film’s shooting.
Weise was three when in 1957 her architect father Robert
Weise came with his family to Kathmandu on an assignment with the Swiss
assistance for
Dev Anand noticed her among the crowd and was curious why a
young white girl was drawn to his shooting with such interest.
One day, he called her in his makeshift office on the site,
and opened his packed lunch to share with her. Weise recreates the conversation
that ensued thus:
“I’ve been seeing you here every
day. How?”
“I grew up in
“I want you in my movie.”
“Which role will I play? I don’t
want to play just any role, [but has to be some special role].”
“No, no, it’s a good role. I'll give
you one special role.”
The next day, she was escorted by Dev Anand’s security to
where the actor was.
“You’ll play the role of the
heroine’s friend and will accompany her. There’ll also be scenes where you'll
have to dance with her,” he said.
“Ok. Sounds good. But I’ll have to
ask my parents first.”
But her mother rejected outright, concerned that Weise would
pick up bad company during the shootings with the hippies.
Her father too declined in the beginning.
‘Dev Anand’s here and he himself
approached me, I'll act in the film anyhow,” she was adamant.
In the end, her mother gave in.
“I permit you, but you can’t hang
around after the shooting. The hippies smoke marijuana around there. I’ll be
fine if Dev Anand sends a vehicle for pick-up and drop after the shooting,” she
said.
Dev Anand agreed to these conditions.
Part of Bollywood magic
Growing up, Weise was an avid film goer. On the screens of
the Jaya Nepal Cinema Hall and Ranjana Film Hall, she had witnessed Bollywood
movies’ power to make
“I’d see many simple women who probably worked in their
fields all day and had a hard life glued to the cinema screens,” she said. “But
before the film screen, they were transported to some other world of songs and
dances. They heartily cried and laughed while watching films.”
During the shooting of ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’, she saw the
locals throng to see the shootings and spellbound at seeing the magic live.
“There was a crowd wherever the shooting was,” she said.
“That was a time with no TV and other [means of] entertainment like [we have]
today, and people went to watch movies. Dev Anand was a big name, so was
Mumtaz. So, the locals were astonished, and said, ‘Oho!
We used to see them in movies, and now we’re seeing them right here’.”
Weise and Singh became integral parts of the processes of
creating that Bollywood magic the crowds were viewing.
As part of the crew, they were also privy to
behind-the-scenes accounts of the filmmaking—like whether the actors really
smoked hashish during the shooting.
Singh said, “Many people close to me were curious if we
actually smoked marijuana in the songs ‘Dum Maro Dum’ and ‘Phoolon Ka Taron
Ka’.
Weise had her own share of fond on-set experiences, like the
shooting of the final scene in which Jasbir dies of drug overdose.
“All of us had to cry and we had drops put into our eyes to
make them water. It was supposed to be tragic, but we all kept giggling. The
funniest part was Zeenat too got the giggles. The scene was shot over and over
again and finally Dev Anand gave up and changed the whole thing,” she is quoted
in ‘Navketan’, a book by Indian
author Sidharth Bhatia on Dev Anand.
For these girls, it wasn’t only a lifetime opportunity to
work with Bollywood stars; what also augmented their magical experience is the
bonding they formed with them.
“All of us rejoiced in being on the sets with the stars,”
said Singh. “Moreover, the local actors and the stars developed a strong bond.
Dev Anand and Zeenat Aman were both very friendly. Dev always called everyone
by their names, and the Nepalis and Zeenat Aman talked for hours behind the
sets.”
From the party Dev Anand threw for the entire film crew when
Mumtaz won the best actress in the Filmfare Award for the movie ‘Khilona’ to
the dinner with Prem Chopra, these were instances that offered them an
opportunity to mingle with Bollywood stars off the sets.
They both relished the friendliness of Prem Chopra,
Iftekhar, and Mehmood Junior. They became particularly close to Zeenat Aman,
who was only a few years older than them, spending time with her, and her
mother who had accompanied her.
“Zeenat was so nice. We were very close, very friendly… She
became very, very popular [among Nepali actors]. She would speak with
everyone,” Singh said.
“I also met her mother who’d accompanied her to
But, it wasn’t merely proximity with the stars that
augmented the girls’ sense of being part of the Bollywood magic; like Bollywood
stars, they also experienced celebrity-like status.
Unending fame
Weise had to pass through crowds that had gathered to see
the shooting to reach Kasthamandap at
“People in the crowd would extend their hands, trying to
touch me like they’d a movie star,” she said. “Seeing me at the shooting sets,
the locals might’ve thought that I’m a foreign film star. And the police had to
escort me through the crowd—of course they had to do this to other actors as
well. I really found this amusing. They’d also ask for my autograph.”
It wasn't that the crowd’s adulation lasted only during the
shootings. After the film’s release, she became a recognised face for
Singh too was flooded by calls from relatives and
acquaintances telling her that they’d seen her in the film. And in the streets,
she became a familiar face.
“Once released, the movie became a super-duper hit,” she
said. “For many years after that, wherever I went, many people would keep
staring at me, […] and ask if I’m from the ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’.”
After the shootings, Weise returned to
“Even today, people become so excited to meet me. Even
someone who might not recognise me, someone else introduces me to that person
and they start talking of ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’. This happens so often that
I find it so embarrassing at times that I don’t want to discuss the movie.”
To her surprise, people have even recognised her in the most
unimaginable places. A few years ago, she was in
“I never expected this to happen in faraway places like
A part of Weise’s identity too continues to be attached to
the film.
“I currently live in
Journalists and authors have asked them to share their
experiences. Although both have been shy to share their experiences, Weise has
given interviews to books and newspapers, including for Navketan.
Magic goes on
Enduring recognition would fuel Singh and Weise’s ‘Hare Rama
Hare Krishna’ memories. But, all through the five decades since the film’s
shooting and release, certain experiences have relentlessly stayed as powerful
impressions.
To this day, they are amazed at Dev Anand’s work ethics and
humility they saw during the shooting.
“I’d a great time shooting and Dev Anand was the most
wonderful human being you could imagine,” she said. “A great loving person with
a big heart, just someone so special. All others were great and fun, but Dev
really was special.”
Singh particularly remembers an episode as elucidating the
actor’s work spirit.
“[This incident] made a powerful impression on me on Dev
Anand’s professionalism. We were shooting in Bhaktapur. One or two days into
the shooting, he was wearing an […] orange-coloured cap. One day, everyone was
ready for the shooting, but the cap wasn’t found. And it’s quite a lot of
expenditure for the production to delay the shooting.
“Dev Anand was adamant and said ‘The cap should be there for
continuity. How can it disappear in the middle of the dialogue?’ So the
shooting stopped. He apparently disappeared into the crowd and found some local
person wearing the same coloured pants. He had the production unit buy that
pants and stitch the cap from that cloth, which he wore. Only then did the
shooting begin.”
What also keeps their magical memories alive is friendships
that persisted.
“Recently, my husband and I were in
Gerda and Singh too evolved into lifelong friends. In 2019,
when Weise was in
And, there is something else that has and will continue to
fuel their memories.
“Recently, my husband and I were having dinner with a friend
at a restaurant in Mumbai,” recalled Singh. “A South Indian couple were sitting
on a table next to ours. Out of the blue, the friend told the couple that I’d
acted in ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’. Within seconds, the South Indian girl opened
YouTube on her phone and played ‘Dum Maro Dum’. ‘Oh yeah, she’s there!” she
exclaimed and became so excited.”
With the film, and particularly ‘Dum Maro Dum’, garnering
iconic stature across generations, their magic is set to continue.
And as Singh says, expressing her amazement at the song’s
popularity even after five decades, “This song is playing in at least one place
at any given time.”
Prawash Gautam
kathmandu post
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