On Actress Suraiya's 95th Birth Anniversary, Take A Look At Her Films With Dev Anand

Afsar was directed by Chetan Anand.

Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, fondly known as Suraiya, was an actress and playback singer who worked in Bollywood films. The memories of the actress are still alive in the hearts of fans. She is known for her work in the 40s and 50s. This year, June 15 marks Suraiya’s 95th birth anniversary.

Born on 15 June 1929 in a Muslim family in Punjab, Suraiya worked with almost every actor of that time, but her pairing with Dev Anand was always liked a lot. Along with this, their off-screen chemistry was also very famous among the audience.

They reportedly both loved each other and wanted to get married, but her family was against this marriage. It is also said that the actor Dev Anand had paid double the amount her grandmother asked for when he wanted her role in his film.

The incident happened in 1950 when Dev Anand’s film Afsar was released. The film was directed by Chetan Anand and co-starred Suraiya, who was also the playback singer for the film. It was the first film produced under the banner of Navketan Films.

Along with Afsar, the pair was also seen in several films, including Vidya (1948), Shayar (1949), Sanam (1951), Jeet (1949) and Do Sitaare (1951), which proved to be quite successful. Their first film was Vidya, which was released in 1948, while their last film was Afsar. After this film, Suraiya was never paired with Dev Anand.

According to Imdb.com trivia, when Dev Anand approached Suraiya for the film Afsar and decided to make her the lead actress of his film, her grandmother objected. She did not want Suraiya to do any film with the late actor. But, since the story of the film was good and his brother Chetan Anand was making it, she could not refuse to do this film.

According to reports, when Dev Anand went to sign her, Suraiya’s grandmother, who was handling her work, demanded double the market value. Although her grandmother did not want Suraiya and Dev Anand to work together, she quoted a high price and thought Dev Anand would refuse. But he paid the asked price and signed Suraiya for the film.

Unfortunately, this film failed at the box office. Due to this, Suraiya’s stardom faded in the 1950s. She was then replaced by the actresses Madhubala and Nargis. But, in those days, Dev Anand and Suraiya’s love story often made headlines.