Legendary Actor and Bollywood Icon, Dev Anand, Passes Away
Dev Anand. Credit: withfriendship.com
Veteran Bollywood actor, director, and producer Dev Anand passed away Saturday in London due to a cardiac arrest. He was 88.
The epitome of charm and a symbol of the golden era of Hindi films, Anand encompassed all that was wonderful and enjoyable about that era of Bollywood. From his boyish charm to a unique style of dialogue delivery and acting, to his notorious head nodding while speaking–a Dev Anand character was recognizable from a mile away and emulated for decades to come.
Known for such hits as ”Ziddi”, “Paying Guest”, “Baazi”, “Jewel Thief”, “Johnny Mera Naam”, “Des Pardes”, and the infamous ”Hare Rama Hare Krishna”, Anand was an artist that oozed charisma and made a home in all our hearts.
Among his many achievements, such as establishing a highly successful production company and foraying into directing, Anand also had an eye for discovering and launching classic talents of the 1970s, including Parveen Babi, Zeenat Aman, and Hema Malini.
Anand was awarded both the prestigious Padma Bhushan award in 2001 and Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2002 by the Indian government for his contribution to Hindi cinema.
An inspiration to many and an idol for many more, Dev Anand was Bollywood personified. The loss felt after his demise was best conveyed by Amitabh Bachchan, who tweeted, “An era has come to an end.. Dev Anand leaves a void never perhaps to be filled again .. his never give up belief, his joy of life !” Shahrukh Khan, an avid fan who actually did a tribute to Anand in the “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi” song “Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte” added, “Dev sahib’s sad demise makes me feel that the film industry is incomplete & has lost its magical energy. May Allah bless his soul.” Interestingly, Anand was a user of Twitter himself and the oldest member of the Bollywood fraternity on the social networking site.
With his memory in our hearts and his songs on our lips, one of his famous song lines comes to mind. “Abhi na jao chhodkar, ke dil abhi bhara nahin…”
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Saniya Tabani is a contributing writer to Divanee.com.
