Indian Cinema’s legendary and most charming star Dev Anand’s three sisters lived in Delhi, including one the mother of director Shekhar Kapur and another the grand mother of actor and VJ Purab Kohli. Also Anands were not 6 but 9 siblings, an interesting information came to light. It is noteworthy that this fact about Dev Anand is not available to be read anywhere, neither on the internet nor in any book. Dev Anand’s elder brother Chetan Anand and younger brother Vijay Anand have also been excellent directors of Hindi cinema.
All these stories of his life were shared by Dev Anand’s nephew Professor Rajeev Khanna, who came as a guest of honour to a special program ‘An Evening with Dev’ organized by Vasant Vihar Club and New Delhi Film Foundation. Professor Khanna shared many memories of his childhood related to Dev Anand’s visit to Delhi. He also showed the book with Dev Anand’s handwriting, which he had read during his graduation from Government College, Lahore in 1939. This program was organized on the occasion of birth centenary of the legendary actor.
On this occasion, some interesting programs based on the life of Dev Anand and his cinematic innings were organized, in which some interesting video reports based on Dev Anand’s films made by New Delhi Film Foundation and Cinemazi were shown.
Professor Rajiv Khanna also released a book ‘Guide, The Film: Perspectives’ based on Dev Anand’s all time classic film ‘Guide’. In this book published by Blue Pencil, 14 authors have studied and researched various aspects of the film ‘Guide’ and explained in full detail the reasons behind the film’s huge success. Three authors of the book Sandeep Pahwa, Antara Nanda Mandal and Bobby Sing were also present.
An interesting panel discussion was also organized on the life of Dev Anand and his films, which was moderated by Ashish K Singh, founder of New Delhi Film Foundation. It was attended by Cinemaazi head Asha Batra, writer-film critic Bobby Sing and Antara Nanda Mandal.
A very special aspect of the entire event was a dance-drama based performance- ‘Dev Ka Khayal Aaya’; based on the magic of Dev Anand’s films. In this play written and directed by Sandeep Pahwa who is associated with Dev Anand Fans Society, the performances of 71 year old Jaskiran Chopra and young actor-dancer Rahul Paswan enthralled the audience. The main attraction of this play, dedicated to the nostalgia related to Dev Anand, was Jaskiran and Rahul’s dance along with acting on the songs of Dev Anand.
The audience applauded Rahul Paswan’s Kathak dance on the memorable song ‘Piya Tose Naina Laagi Re’ from the film ‘Guide’. On behalf of Vasant Vihar Club, the Club President Lt. General (R) Shankar Prasad and Secretary Rajinder Maggu honored Dev Anand’s nephew Prof. Rajeev Khanna by giving him a memento. The whole event was hosted by Sanjana Raj. The hall was packed during the program.
Another major attraction of the program was an exhibition of the original film posters of Dev Anand’s old films, which was highly appreciated by the audience. In the end, Lt Gen Shankar Prasad and Ashish K Singh presented the vote of thanks on behalf of Vasant Vihar Club & New Delhi Film Foundation.
