Editing Dev Anand (section)

===Late 1940s breakthrough and romance with Suraiya===
In the late 1940s, Anand was offered a few roles starring as the male lead opposite singer-actress [[Suraiya]] in woman-oriented films.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1L2DAAAQBAJ|title=INDIAN CINEMA A VISUAL VOYAGE|author=NFDC|publisher=Publications Division Ministry of Information & Broadcasting|isbn=9788123021928}}</ref> While shooting these films, they became romantically involved. The two of them were paired in many films: ''[[Vidya (film)|Vidya]]'' (1948), ''[[Jeet (1949 film)|Jeet]]'' (1949), {{Lang|hi-latn|[[Shair (1949 film)|Shair]]}} (1949), {{Lang|hi-latn|[[Afsar (1950 film)|Afsar]]}} (1950), ''Nili'' (1950), ''[[Sanam (1951 film)|Sanam]]'' and ''Do Sitare'' (1951).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/vidya/cast/ | title=Vidya | website=Bollywood Hungama | date=January 1948 | access-date=20 June 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620104902/http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/vidya/cast/ | archive-date=20 June 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="google book nVbGBgAAQBAJ">{{cite book|author=Emily Bronte|title=Wuthering Heights (Annotated)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVbGBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT225|publisher=Bronson Tweed Publishing|pages=225–|id=GGKEY:JXQKH8ETFJN}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In these films, Suraiya was always the first biller in the credits, indicating that she was a bigger star than Anand. She fell in love with him during the shooting of the song ''Kinare Kinare Chale Jayen Ge'' from the film ''[[Vidya (film)|Vidya]]''— while shooting the scene, the boat they were in capsized, and Anand saved Suraiya from drowning. Initially, Suraiya's family used to welcome Anand at home, but when her maternal grandmother found out that the two were in love, and even planned an actual marriage on the set of ''Jeet'', she started monitoring them. The two shared love letters and messages through their co-actors, like [[Durga Khote]] and [[Kamini Kaushal]], who went out of their way to engineer secret rendezvous. During the shooting of the film {{Lang|hi-latn|Afsar}} (1950), Anand finally proposed to Suraiya and gave her a diamond ring worth Rs 3,000. Her maternal grandmother opposed the relationship as they were Muslim and Anand was Hindu, so, Suraiya remained unmarried.<ref name="Rediff love ended"/><ref name="web.archive.org">{{cite news|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19980130/03051004.html |title=Suraiya: the reluctant goddess |access-date=27 January 2017 |work=Indian Express |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030622173236/http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19980130/03051004.html |archive-date=22 June 2003 }}</ref> They stopped acting together after her grandmother opposed their partnership, and ''Do Sitare'' was the last film in which they appeared together.<ref>{{cite web |title=Suraiya |url=http://www.upperstall.com/people/suraiya |access-date=2 November 2011 |date=31 January 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011210834/http://www.upperstall.com/people/suraiya |archive-date=11 October 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=An affair to remember |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080309/spectrum/main7.htm |publisher=The Sunday Tribune |date=9 March 2008 |access-date=2 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107065759/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080309/spectrum/main7.htm |archive-date=7 January 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> Although the films he starred in with Suraiya had been successful, the producers and directors of those films attributed their success to the acting prowess and screen presence of Suraiya. Anand began looking for an opportunity to play the main male lead in a film where his acting skills could be demonstrated, so as to dispel scepticism about his acting abilities.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/jeet/cast/ | title=Jeet | website=Bollywood Hungama | date=January 1949 | access-date=20 June 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170622081948/http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movie/jeet/cast/ | archive-date=22 June 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>

Dev Anand often spoke about Suraiya and his love affair with her, in various interviews, he gave to film magazines, such as ''[[Stardust (magazine)|Stardust]]'' (June 1972 issue), ''Star & Style'' (Feb 1987 issue) and TV to Karan Thapar for BBC (2002), while both were alive and after Suraiya's death in interviews given on TV to Simi Garewal (''Rendezvous with Simi Garewal'') and others on TV and for news magazines.<ref>{{cite news |title=Filmindia in Photos |work=Hindustan Times |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/photos/brunch/filmindia-in-photos/photo-kxLZoXYIKHw81ln3LOYjrK-12.html |url-status=live |access-date=15 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831234730/https://www.hindustantimes.com/photos/brunch/filmindia-in-photos/photo-kxLZoXYIKHw81ln3LOYjrK-12.html |archive-date=31 August 2021}}</ref>