Every day is a new chapter in my life: Dev Anand

Panaji, Dec 2 (UNI) He came, he spoke and he conquered. Evergreen Dev Anand held the audience here in thrall as he spoke his heart out, in his inimitable style, on things ranging from his romance with Suraiyya, his philosophy of life, his growth as an actor, his idea of beauty and youth, his work, style and of course his ''brilliant brothers Vijay and Chetan Anand''.

The octogenarian actor had come here for presentation of his latest film 'Mr Prime Minister' at the International Film Festival of India(IFFI).

He ruminated on so many subjects close to his heart.

''Suraiyya's death was a great shock to me. I wept. I did not go to her funeral as I did not want to be reminded of things. She made me cry when I could not get her,'' he said about his sweetheart and heroine of so many of his films.

''Anyway, I have now grown out of that moment,'' he added.

He said he was writing a book, his autobiography, to be published early next year.''Each day is new chapter in my life and I have tried to put it in the form of this book,'' he said.

Referring to the hit song 'Har Fikr ko dhuyen mein udata chala gaya'(I refused to be beaten down by worries) in his film "Hum Dono", he said it was true of his own life itself.

''I have enjoyed life and grown, from inside, with every passing moment, as the moment you stopped growing you are dead,'' he added.

''You also cease being alive when you stop being romantic,'' he said replying to a question on the portrayal of romance in today's films.

''Romance is universal. It is always the same. It is the same as it was thousands of years ago.'' Asked who among the present actresses turns him on, he said with a laugh, ''You are asking this question to a man who knows his business. Youth itself is beautiful, but if it is combined with intelligence, then sky is the limit.'' Talking about filmmaking, he said he made films because it was his passion and profession, and he was not bothered about the box-office success of his work, as he was not a businessman.

''Every minute is a new experience, then why not record it if you can afford to,'' he said.

About his latest film 'Mr Prime Minister' screened at IFFI here, he said it was a political film, though it could not be a success.

''But I don't think that I have lost. With every film my experience has grown,'' he added.

He said after the success of 'Guide', he was a super star, but that was not to be the end, and he started making film to give a new dimension to life and work.

Answering about the inimitable 'Dev Anand style', he said he had, in fact, no style of his own at all.

''I was just young as I am today. If I had anything to do with the Gregory Peck style it was only because he was the favourite hero of Suraiyya,'' he said with a smile.

Replying to a question, he said, ''the doors of my Navketan production House are still open for good directors. You need good script and that needs good directors. But today if you have good script and a top star that will do. But it is very difficult to sell a film with a new cast.'' Dev Anand became nostalgic talking about his elder brother Chetan Anand who had set up the production house.

He said he was very sorry for Chetan when his film 'Neecha Nagar' could not see the light of day in his own country though it went to the Cannes film festival.

''I brought some money for Chetan to launch his next film 'Afsar' starring Suraiyya, and it was here that I had the beginning of my relationship with her,'' he said.

Later, he said he also brought in his younger brother Vijay Anand.

''Today, both of my brothers are no more. They were really brilliant,'' he said.

Besides them, Guru Dutt and Raj Khosla with their films have given so much to Navketan, he added.

Dev Anand said he was now working on his new film being shot in Croatia.

Replying to a question, he said one day he would make a musical that would beat all of his musicals made so far.

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