Mah CM hails Dev Anand's enthusiastic spirit

Mumbai, Sep 28 (UNI) Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has hailed Bollywood legend Dev Anand's spirit of enthusiasm in his 64 year-long illustrious career on celluloid.

''I was a film buff in my school and college days. When I was studying at Pune Law College, Dev saab was in Pune as the chief guest at FTII. In order to have a glimpse of Dev saab, I managed to sneak into the function and get close to the movie star,'' Mr Deshmukh said at the release of Dev Anand's autobiography 'Romancing with Life' here last night.

The Chief Minister was accompanied by his actor son Riteish Deshmukh. The book was released by megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who was accompanied by SP General secretary Amar Singh, industrialist Anil Ambani and wife Tina Ambani, a Dev Anand discovery.

A host of film personalities including Prem Chopra, Madhur Bhandarkar, Dipti Naval, Shashikala, Zeenat Aman, Kiran Shantaram, Kanwaljit Singh, Ghulam Ali, Anu Malik, Shakti Samantha, Mink, Sanjay and Zarine Khan, Simi Garewal, Om Puri, Adnan Sami, Hema Malini, Sunny and Bobby Deol were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, Dev Anand said the book dwelled on his long span in the film industry and his years from a simple young man from Lahore to a top star in Hindi cinema. ''The story began in the early 40s of the last century and I have been romancing life for the last 64 years. I still want to go a long way. I can write six books like this on my life's experiences,'' he added.

Dev saab, who celebrated his birthday on September 26, obliged his fans and admirers by signing the copies of his book.

UNI