Dev Anand

Biography

After having played the Lead Actor for more than five decades in over 110 motion pictures, Dev Anand continues to bestride Indian Cinema today. He has given a new dimension to that magical state known as Stardom. And for his exemplary work he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 by the President of India. From the time he embarked on his career as a Film Actor in the mid-forties till now, his movies has been a journey filled with enriching experiences for the ‘Evergreen Living Legend’ of Indian Cinema. And he has always remained eternally youthful by his remarkable ability to live always in the present and the future; never in the past. Also, as head of his film production company Navketan International Films, which was founded in 1949, Anand has introduced a multitude of talent to the Indian Film Industry by way of actors, directors, music composers and cinematographers. Today, he continues to introduce new talent to cinema and experiment with new ideas for movies. And today, he also heads one of the finest Film Sound Post-Production facilities in India – Anand Recording Studios – which has to its credit more than 3,000 Indian feature films that have been mixed/ surround mixed for worldwide release. Anand has won two Filmfare Awards – India’s equivalent of the Oscars – in 1958 for his performance in the film “Kala Paani” (Black Water) and in 1966 for his performance in Navketan International Films’ “Guide”. “Guide” went on to win Filmfare Awards in five other categories including ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’ and was sent as India’s entry for the Oscars in the foreign film category that year. He co-produced the English Version of “Guide” with the Nobel Laureate Pearl S. Buck (“The Good Earth”). Eventually, his creative sensibilities got the better of him and he started writing and directing his own movies. In 1993, he received a Filmfare ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ and in 1996 he received a Screen Videocon ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. Then in 1997 he was given the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images Award for his Outstanding Services to the Indian Film Industry. In 1998, he was given a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the Ujala Anandlok Film Awards Committee in Calcutta. In 1999, he received the Sansui ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his ‘Immense Contribution to Indian Cinema’ in New Delhi. In the year 2000, he was awarded the Film Goers’ ‘Mega Movie Maestro of the Millenium’ Award in Mumbai. And then in July 2000, in New York City, he was honored by an Award at the hands of the then First Lady of the United States of America – Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton – for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema’. And again Anand was awarded the Indo-American Association ‘Star of the Millennium’ Award in the Silicon Valley, California. The President of India honored Anand with the prestigious Padma Bhushan Award on India’s Republic Day – August 15, 2001. And yet again, Donna Ferrar, Member New York State Assembly, honored him with a New York State Assembly Citation for his ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Cinematic Arts Worthy of the Esteem and Gratitude of the Great State of New York’ on May 1, 2001. Most recently, in April 2003, Anand was given a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by the F.I.F.A. Committee in Johannesburg, South Africa. For an Indian Movie Icon who has hobnobbed with royalty, heads of State and celebrities, he has done it all. Anand continues to forge ahead with his new All American Film Project “Song Of Life” – a musical love story which will be entirely shot in the United States. He will play the central character in this film which will have a predominantly American star cast and for which the Music will be composed by American composers and sung by American singers. “Song Of Life” will be made in English and will be directed by Dev Anand.