The day laughter died

The day laughter died
Deven Verma
October 23, 1937 - December 2, 2014


He was the 'creative improviser' to Amol Palekar in Golmaal, Sanjeev Kumar's partner in crime in Angoor and broke hearts as Patient No. 22 in Gulzar's Khamoshi. Actor Deven Verma, who passed away at the age of 78 in Pune on Tuesday, December 2, was the force who made many of the films of the '70s and '80s so memorable.

The actor's death was caused by kidney failure and a cardiac arrest, family sources informed. As the news broke, his Kalyani Nagar home was crowded with tear-lined faced, remembering the man who was equally adept at making the audiences laugh and cry.

His wife, Rupa Verma, the daughter of acting legend Ashok Kumar, says, "Deven was the best thing that happened to me. He was a caring husband. And he kept up the smile even when he was suffering."

That is no surprise as Verma, a frequent and favourite collaborator of auteurs like Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar, is best remembered for rib-ticklers like Chori Mera Kaam, Chor Ke Ghar Chor and Angoor.

But comedy was a late entrant in Verma's life. He started his career with BR Chopra's 1961 drama Dharmputra, a controversial film which took a hardhitting look at the effects of religious fundamentalism.

The next few years saw him hone his histrionics in films like Anupama (1966), Khamoshi (1970) and Mere Apne. He worked with tragedy queen Meena Kumari in the latter.

It was in the decade that followed that Verma's name became synonymous with comedy. He walked away with his first Filmfare Award for 'Best Comedian' in 1975 for Chori Mera Kaam, followed by Chor Ke Ghar Chor four years later in the same category.

A third statuette came his way in 1982 with Angoor in which both he and co-star Sanjeev Kumar had dual roles. He shone as Bahadur, the weary, devoted Man Friday and his bhang-loving doppelganger. The harum-scarum masterpiece remains one of the most loved comedies of all time.

It is no surprise that one of Verma's favourite shows was the oddball comedy Mr Bean. "I did not like Bean, so whenever I entered the room while he was watching the show, he would switch off the television," says Rupa.

Another love was music. "He listened to classical songs and had a group of friends with whom he jammed. As usual, he started each song with a joke. Sometimes he would repeat the jokes but his delivery was so pitch perfect that he had everyone laughing," she recalls teary-eyed. "We are sure Mr Deven Verma is laughing in heaven too."


I'LL MISS DEVEN, THE FRIEND AND ACTOR: GULZAR

Ihad no idea the end would come so soon for Deven. I got the news this morning and reached out to his wife, Rupa. My condolences are with her and his children.

We take life for granted, forgetting that none of us know when the end will come. Both of us were in touch all along, phone pe baatein hoti rehti thi. While ringing off he would casually say, "Let's meet one day." I would instantly agree but we never did. Now that I know we will never meet again, I feel so sad.

Deven was a really good actor with a fine sense of humour. But I never accepted the label of a 'comedian' that he had been tagged with, because he has played character roles in the films he did with Hrishida (Hrishikesh Mukherjee) and me, which proved his versatility. Even in Angoor where he played a double role, he ensured that the two characters were distinctively different. His style, his way of enacting a character, was different every time. And that's what made his film memorable.

Yes, I'll miss Deven, both as a friend and as an actor.

HE WAS THE LIFE OF THE UNIT: BINDIYA GOSWAMI

I have done two of my most memorable films with Deven Verma, Golmaal and Khatta Meetha. There was Rang Birangi too but I only had a guest appearance in that film.

In Golmaal he was Amolji's (Amol Palekar) friend who teaches him how to transform from Ram Prasad to Lakshman Prasad with the addition of a moustache. That mooch sparked off laughs in plenty, both amongst us and the audience at large.

In Khatta Meetha I had several scenes with him since he was playing the ghar jamai and we were all part of one big family living under the same roof. The film was shot in Panchgani. Dadamoni who was his father-in-law for real, was there too, and both of them had the rest of us in splits.

There was a sequence in which we are turned out of the house and are sleeping in the open. He was not a part of that scene but was there on the sets, the life of the unit.

Now that I know he's gone forever, I feel sad but at the same time I'm happy that he was a part of my caravan journey through the world of films. He always brought a smile to my lips and made the audience chuckle.

- As told to Roshmila Bhattacharya
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