Legendary Actor Dev Anand Passes Away

'Evergreen Romantic Superstar' of Indian cinema, actor, director and producer Dev Anand died of a heart attack in London on December 4, 2011. He was 88 years old. Dev Anand is known for his acting in films like Guide (1965), Kala Bazaar (1960), Hum Dono (1961), Funtoosh (1956) and House No. 44 (1955).

Born on Sept 26, 1923, Dharam Dev Anand started his career in film with Hum Ek Hain (1946). He got his big break in Shaheed Latif's film Ziddi in 1948. He acted in more than 100 (hundred) movies in his lifetime.

Dev Anand also produced and directed more than 50 (fifty) films. Through his film production company Navketan International Films, he introduced many new artists and talents to the Indian Film Industry. He had helped film stars like Jackie Shroff through Swami Dada (1982) and actors like Tabu and Richa Sharma to get into the film industry of India.

Dev Anand worked with many noted film stars, music directors and professionals. One of his closest friends was legendary Guru Dutt. While working for the film Hum Ek Hain in Pune, they promised each other that if one of them were to turn filmmaker, he would hire the other as his hero and director. And they kept their promises in films like Baazi (1951) and C.I.D (1956).

Dev Anand achieved numerous awards for his contribution to the film industry of India. He got two Filmfare Awards, Lifetime Achievement Awards, Padma Bhushan Award in 2001 and Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2002 among many other prestigious awards.

Dev Anand was married to Kalpana Kartik (Mona Singh) and became parents in 1956 when Suneil was born. Suneil Anand is a film actor and he runs the Navketan Films.

- EF News Team