Bollywood pays tribute to Dev Anand

It was at Mehboob Studios where legendary actor Dev Anand spent most of his professional life. So,it was indeed fitting that a memorial service for the actor be held there. On Friday evening at Stage 3 of the studio,a large portrait of the actor stood tall. His family members,son Suneil Anand and nephew Shekhar Kapur,continuously stood at the gate greeting guests who had come to pay their last respects. Besides the film fraternity,the laymen too gathered in large numbers.

Anand passed away on December 3 in London after he suffered a cardiac arrest. With the cremation happening there,the Bollywood fraternity couldn’t quite make it. But they made up for it by attending the memorial service at Mehboob Studios. First to arrive were three of his protegees — Tina Ambani,Tabu and Jackie Shroff. Tina,who was launched by Anand in Des Pardes broke down as she walked out after attending the memorial service. Anand’s favourite and most successful protege Zeenat Aman too came in. She too was misty-eyed as she walked out.

Anand was a favourite with his heroines was evident when his co-stars Asha Parekh,Waheeda Rahman,Hema Malini and Simi Garewal came to pay their respects.

Among the veteran actors,Rishi Kapoor,Vinod Khanna,Randhir Kapoor,Rajiv Kapoor,Prem Chopra,Akbar Khan,Faroque Shaikh,Bindu,comedian Jagdeep accompanied by Jaaved and Naved Jaaferi attended the ceremony. Ramesh Sippy came with wife Kiran Juneja and son Rohan Sippy while Bappi Lahiri was accompanied by his wife and son.

Anand was an inspiration to even the younger stars was proven when the like of Aamir Khan,Abhishek Bachchan,Bobby Deol,Fardeen Khan,Amrita Rao,Divya Dutta and Aftab Shivdasani came to pay their respects.

Filmmakers Yash Chopra,Vidhu Vinod Chopra,Madhur Bhandarkar,Satish Kaushik,Kalpana Lajmi and Ashutosh Gowariker were also present.

Others who attended the event were Raza Murad,Kabir Bedi,Producer Bharat Shah,Shekhar Suman,Honey Irani,Prasoon Joshi,Aditya Raj Kapoor,Dalip Tahil,Mukesh Rishi and music composer Anandji.