It is hard to imagine Guide without Waheeda Rehman. Yet the actor has now revealed that she nearly walked away from the 1965 classic before it even began. In a recent chat with ETimes, Waheeda Rehman opened
up about why she was reluctant to sign the film and how Dev Anand’s persistence changed her mind. “I almost didn’t do Guide.” Speaking candidly, Waheeda admitted, “I almost didn’t do Guide.” At the time, filmmaker Raj Khosla was expected to direct the project. Waheeda shared that they were not on good terms after creative differences during an earlier collaboration. “I never worked with him after that. I wasn’t willing to change that for Guide or any other film.” Despite her hesitation, Dev Anand kept trying to convince her. She recalled that he repeatedly asked her to “let bygones be bygones.” “But I refused to budge,” she said. The director shuffle Waheeda even suggested that Dev’s brother, Vijay Anand, should direct the film. However, he was then occupied with the shooting of Tere Ghar Ke Samne. Later, Chetan Anand was brought on board. But this time, the hesitation came from the other side. “I think Chetan Saab wanted Priya Rajvanshji. But Dev was adamant,” she recalled. Eventually, the team needed a heroine who could dance, something Priya Rajvansh did not specialise in. Waheeda was finally cast, and the film ultimately went on to be directed by Vijay Anand. Calling him ‘Dev’, not ‘Dev Sahab’ Waheeda also spoke warmly about her bond with Dev Anand, with whom she had made her Hindi debut in CID. She remembered how he would insist she drop formalities. “Do I look like a school teacher to you?” he once teased when she addressed him as “Anandji” or “Dev Sahab.” From then on, she called him Dev until the end of his life. Today, Guide is considered one of the most iconic films in Hindi cinema. But as Waheeda’s recollection shows, it almost had a very different cast.
