I have finally reached my 1st milestone i.e. 100th blogpost , feel good , happy , nostalgic , what else , don't know .
One thing was sure 100th post heading would be Dev Anand , whom I always admired , followed , A Legend forever , never say die attitude .Earlier I used to carry cassettes of his songs while on tour or during long stay outside , which is now replaced with USB ,> 100 songs Kishore/Rafi , Lata/Asha..his songs are always part of my travel , specially on long drives , his songs or voice is must , that gives me a sense of relief ,a sense of attachment,belonging .During my school days when everybody was following Rajesh Khanna, then AB , I used to search morning & noon show movie schedule in old Mohan talkies , where they used to show old , even B&W movies , sometime Naresh has accompanied me , knowing my fondness for Dev.
Recently I was very happy to see re release of "Hum Dono" Rangeen in a multiplex , theater was surprisingly nearly house full , nice , so many Dev fans.
1970 : My mother was admitted to JagjivanRam hospital at Bombay central area for appendicitis operation , as she was a teacher in Railway school , we also got small apt near Maratha Mandir ,provided either by hospital or Railways , i don't exactly remember , the only thing i remember is that her operation was successful & afterwards me ,Dad , dada, n both sis had extensive Bombay tour & enjoyed our stay in Bombay.All lamp posts , hoardings were displaying posters of 2 new releases ,i.e. Johney Mera Naam & Mera Naam Joker .Arch rivals Dev & RK Amne Samne , don't think so , but believed by many ,I feel they both have different fan following , also are totally in contrast with each other.We came to know that JMN premier was held at Maratha Mandir only .Dev Anand , so close !!.
JNM became super hit , which was produced by Gulshan Rai's Trimuti films , not Navketan & directed by Goldie , the master craftsman , JNM became trend setter for different type of action movies a.k.a.Smuggling rackets & well dressed villain in big dark glasses , JNM also known for famous Padma Khanna bold dance ,Hema Malini's beauty and super hit songs,which topped the Binaca geetmala charts.Movie also beat 4 Rajesh Khanna hits for the same year as told by RK himself.
It is not good to keep on remembering the dead, reminiscences brings some sort of sadness , emptiness n u wish , ah wo thoda auur der saath hote , same for mom n dad , thoda auur...
With time I also followed other actors like BigB, Sanjeev , Vinod Khanna, Vinod Mehra ,Dharmendra , Danny , Firoz Khan..etc but liking and admiration is different ,Evergreen , Debonair Dev is always special , just luv him.
I remember his speech at IIFA Johannesburg , intelligent , full of life . His interviews are always watchable , no negativity , no complaints , no rift with anyone , never used to talked about others , always in search of something ,new theme , new places , he was specially fond of mountains ( Ex. Ishq Ishq Ishq) .He is also referred as style icon by many ,his westernized approach ,his scarves , mufflers, jackets and various caps, berets/fedros hats , cap like Jewel Thief , which he bought from Switzerland ,I still remember he wore Red trouser in AmirGarib song "mein aayaa hun", bold it was , He was well educated & well aware of world politics , art , cinema & always had international approach whether association with Pearls Buck for Guide , or his meetings with many international stars like Italian director Vittorio de Sica" of " Bicycle Thieves" fame ,Gregory Peck ,Charle Chaplin in Russia in 1954,Danny Kaye,Russian director Cherkasov,Ted Danielewski (Guide English), author Irving Stone, Kirk Douglas,Frank Capra and many many more , he had been to many film festivals in almost all parts of the world like Venice, Berlin Prague, Moscow , US,Cannes etc.He was also felicitated with many awards by various governmental organisations and other societies world wide for his outstanding contribution to the world cinema.(Seen long list at wikipedia) I mean to say he was always international in his approach and was not just an Indian actor & was well versed with global art & cinema .I strongly recommend readers to buy n read his autobiography which is one of the most published bio's by any film celebrity , an awesome bio, I finished reading 400 pages in few days , specially 1st half is too good , but his career after Des Pardes or Manpasand is just forgettable , prefer to avoid .
I had requested my son to name my grandson as Dev , at least neck name , short n sweet , Dev in my house , ahaa , hope so .Then I will also call one day Dev aan , as his father used to call him , the best part in his bio , pls read also linked with my previous post.
"Romancing with Life" : One day as I proudly jingled the marbles bulging out of my pocket , some of them spilled out , rolling down a slopy patch of ground .As I started chasing after them , I heard my father calling out " Dev-aaan "and there he was......................."
Disclosure:Information gathered from his autobiography " Romancing with Life" and from other internet resources.
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