CELEBS FACTORY

Evergreen romantic star Dev Anand, who has given classic films like Guide and Hare Rama Hare Krishna and epitomised the suave, urban gentleman on screen, died in London.

Mohan Churiwala, The Legendary actor's manager said "Dev Anand was 88yrs old and succumbed to cardiac arrest in a London hotel where he was staying with his son, Sunil, a one-time actor. Sunil saw Dev Anand not responding and called the doctor. The doctor said that he had a heart attack. He died at 2200hrs in London."

The iconic star is survived by his wife, former actress Kalpana Karthik, Sunil and a daughter.

Dev Anand, who started his career in the black and white era with 1946 film Hum Ek Hai, spent 65 years under the arc lights as an actor and filmmaker. The actor worked tirelessly, coming up with new films after short intervals. He never hung his boots or sat on his laurels. In fact, even before his death, he was planning for another movie.

Dev Anand's Chargesheet that released earlier this year, became his swan song. His amazing zest for life and dynamism may have come to an end but it would undecidedly be a source of inspiration for many.

There’s been much hype around the title track of Rohan Sippy’s Dum Maro Dum featuring the sizzling Deepika Padukone. Only Dev Anand, in whose Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) the song first appeared, is unimpressed. “My Dum maro dum… is an eternal phenomenon thanks to the RD Burman-Asha Bhonsle magic. How could they just take away my song on the basis of some clause in the contract? It disturbed me for days and I even wrote an open letter to the producers. I don’t want to stir up faltu ka (unnecessary) controversies. If you can write original stuff, then why would you need to copy someone else’s work?” grouses the veteran actor-producer-director.

Dev Anand, whose 1961 black-and-white classic released in colour as Hum Dono Rangeen recently, has been working on half-a-dozen scripts, including Hare Rama Hare Krishna Aaj.

“It’s too premature to disclose much. All I can say is that the new Hare Rama Hare Krishna will showcase today’s issues just like the earlier film, touched on the decadence of the hippie culture and the dangers of drug abuse,”says Anand.

He was inspired to make the original Hare Rama Hare Krishna after coming across some hippes in Kathmandu where he had retreated following the furore over Prem Pujari (1970).

The earlier film had starred Dev Anand and Mumtaz, with Zeenat Aman in a supporting role as a sister who died in the film but was immortalised as an actor. “The new film will have different characters and younger actors. But who knows I may be able to bring Zeenat back in a different role,” says the 86-year-old.

“Perhaps I will go back to Nepal to shoot it. There’s so much left to do. But one thing’s for sure, I will never borrow from anyone. I may have been inspired but I’ve never imitated. Every Dev Anand film is an original,” concludes Anand.