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Vijaya Sharma
The Nanavati murder case was
the original crime of passion. A love triangle, a betrayal by a
friend, a handsome commander, his stunningly beautiful wife and
a high society playboy. And then a murder with no witnesses…
It was just the right masala
to set creative minds afire in Bollywood and in the world of books.
Soon enough in 1963 when Nanavati
was still serving a
sentence, came a film directed by RK Nayyar. It was a suspense thriller
with Sunil Dutt, Leela Naidu and Rehman in the lead.
Among books and magazines,
the extremely popular tabloid of the day, Blitz by Russy Karanjia,
a Parsi, campaigned vigorously for Commander Kawas Nanavati.
Then, in 1972 came a book in
Hindi, Nanavati ka Mukadama followed by a salacious article on the
case by a journalist Mohan Deep. Mohan Deep later established himself
as something of a scandolographer when he penned biographies of
Madhubala (Madhubala), Meena Kumari (Simply Scandalous) and Rekha
(Eurekha) in almost the same gossipy, sensationalist tone as the
Nanavati story.
Fifty years later, the case
continues to haunt memories and has resulted in a corking good book,
The Death of Mr Love, by London-based celebrated ad maker and writer
Indra Sinha. (Mr Love is the English translation of Prem Ahuja's
first name).
 The
book, spanning three decades (1950-90) weaves enticingly the Nanavati
case, and you are bewildered in the dark alleys where myth and murder,
fact and fiction merge". The story moves between England and
Bombay, between Maya, Bhalu and Phoebe and Sybil to uncover an unpunished
crime. "Because behind the uproar and sensation of the Nanavati
trial hid another monstrous crime which remains undiscovered, its
perpetrator unpunished… and Indra Sinha writes "that murder
of forty years ago … its threats are still alive, running unbroken
into the future…"
But let's come back to the
1963 film. The film was "Yeh Raaste hain Pyar ke".
The film closely followed the
real life drama. The physical attributes of Commander Nanavati,
Sylvia and Prem Ahuja were kept in mind while choosing the lead
actors for the movie. The six feet tall, handsome, well-built, immaculately
clad Nanavati with the manners of a gentleman was essayed by Sunil
Dutt.
Petite and pretty Leela Naidu
was the beautiful Sylvia. The posters showed Leela Naidu complete
in a Western attire (Sylvia was a British lady) with a coiffure
to match.
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