5 min readNew DelhiAug 12, 2026 09:45 PM IST
Operation Safed Sagar, the latest Netflix series, which follows the events of the 1999 Kargil War from the perspective of the Indian Air Force, released just a few days ago and has captivated the audience. The show opens a few months before the war started, when Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee travelled to Lahore, Pakistan, in an attempt to initiate peace between the two countries. The visit was considered historic as Vajpayee had travelled from Delhi to Lahore in a special bus, and many notable celebrities accompanied him on this visit. Veteran actor Dev Anand was also on this bus, and that too, on special insistence from Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
In the show Operation Safed Sagar, Nawaz Sharif, played by Vinay Pathak, talks about his meeting with Dev Anand, and how it was like a dream come true for him. In real life too, Nawaz had a soft corner for the actor. Known for films like Guide, Jewel Thief, CID, Taxi Driver, Johny Mera Naam, among many others, Dev Anand was born near Lahore, and finished his education at the Government College in Lahore. He moved to Bombay (then Mumbai) before the Partition, and did not get a chance to visit his hometown until 1999.
‘If possible, bring Dev Anand along with you’
As per journalist Punya Prasun Bajpai, it was Nawaz Sharif who had requested Vajpayee to bring Dev Anand along with the delegation. In an article published by Outlook in 2024, Bajpai said that Dev Anand was informed about his visit to Pakistan only a day prior. “Be ready tomorrow. Some officials will visit your place. Please come to Delhi. Yes, do remember to keep your passport. You have to come to Lahore with me. You have many admirers in the neighbouring country as well,” Vajpayee told Dev Anand. This last-minute visit was organised after Vajpayee asked Sharif if he wanted something from India. “If possible, bring Dev Anand along with you,” he reportedly said.
This was the beginning of a long association between the two. After Dev Anand’s death in 2011, Nawaz Sharif told The Indian Express that Dev would check on him after he went into “exile” in Jeddah, post 1999. “He enquired about my well-being. We had several meetings in London as well. I remember we went for a stroll in Hyde Park. It was a dream come true. He loved me a lot,” he said.
‘Dev Anand said I have come to bring the two countries together’
In the same conversation, Nawaz recalled his first meeting with Dev. “As soon as the bus rolled into Wagah, Dev saab jumped out and we hugged each other. Then he took my hand and Vajpayee’s, and brought us together, saying, ‘Main dono mulkon ko issi tarah ikathha karne aaya hoon (I have come to bring together both countries just this way)’,” he had shared.
Story continues below this ad
Nawaz described Dev’s “energy and excitement” as that of a “youngster.” “When he visited Lahore with Vajpayee, he walked around the Lahore Fort and his alma mater, Government College, saying, ‘I’ve come to my city. I want to make a film here’,” he said.
Nawaz Sharif would watch Dev Anand films on repeat
Dev Anand would visit London quite frequently and during these visits, he would sometimes visit Nawaz Sharif as well as he had a home in Hyde Park. Mohan Churiwala, one of Dev’s close aides, shared with Bajpai that after one of his visits, Nawaz Sharif’s wife revealed something that proved that Nawaz truly admired the actor. “We had a CD of the film CID. It has been destroyed by Mian Saheb (Nawaz Sharif) because whenever the song, ‘Leke Pehla Pehla Pyaar’ would come on screen, Mian Saheb would see a particular part of the song over and over again in slow motion because he loved the way Dev Anand turned in the song,” she revealed.
After Dev Anand’s passing in 2011, Nawaz told The Indian Express that he had last spoken to the actor a couple of years ago, when he promised that he would, one day, return to Pakistan. “Main tumhe milne Pakistan aaunga Nawaz. (I will come to Pakistan to meet you, Nawaz). But that meeting never happened,” he said.
Dev Anand passed away in 2011 at 88.
