My first break

It's been a long and eventful journey,quot; says the 75-year-young Dev Anand of his glorious romance with the silver screen. Fifty-odd year...

It8217;s been a long and eventful journey,quot; says the 75-year-young Dev Anand of his glorious romance with the silver screen. Fifty-odd years after he first flashed his charming smile for the camera, the ageless superstar8217;s eyes still sparkle as he proudly displays his latest script 8212; neatly handwritten in a bunch of notebooks. Dev Anand is already thinking of his next big film and animatedly talks about several other films in the offing.

quot;That8217;s what keeps me going. I never feel bogged down or depressed, simply because there8217;s so much do. When I8217;m working on a film, I still put in 16 hours a day,quot; he says. Even as studied English literature at Government College, Lahore, Anand had already trained his sights on the movies. So when his father refused to fund his post-graduate education, he packed his bags and came to Bombay in 1943 with a few rupees in his pocket and little else.

quot;The first couple of years were bad, because I had no contacts or letters of recommendation. Since I wasn8217;t getting a break in themovies, I took up a job at the Military Censor Office. World War II was on and I had to screen all the letters Indian soldiers sent from the border,quot; he says.

Soon he realised that he couldn8217;t afford to get tied down to a routine job and decided to give his acting career another serious shot. quot;There was a producer with Prabhat Films, Pune, called Mr Pai. One rainy day I gate-crashed into his office. The man at the door asked me to wait outside and I just sat there determined to stay put till he saw me,quot; he says.

Luckily the producer passed by, noticed the lanky young man and called him to his room. quot;He asked me who I was. I told him that I8217;d heard from someone that he was looking for a new hero. Here I am8217;, I said with great confidence. I wasn8217;t scared of anyone and I guess I just charmed him,quot; he says.

The rest literally is, history. Anand met P L Santoshi, the director of Hum Ek Hain the next day, was selected to play the lead, and immediately signed a three-year contract with the company ata royal sum of Rs 400 per month quot;which was a lot of money thenquot;.

quot;I remember my first day at work. Durga Khote was playing my mother and when it was my turn to face the camera, suddenly, I got nervous. Gradually I got used to it, and that problem took care of itself,quot; he laughs. But he wasn8217;t happy being a studio employee for too long either. In 1949 he started his own company, Navketan, and launched his first independent project, Ziddi. Next year, Navketan celebrates its golden jubilee and Anand plans to celebrate it the only way he knows 8212; writing, producing, directing and acting in yet another film.