Definitely Pune For Dev

His tryst with cinedom was sparked off in Pune with Prabhat's 'Hum Ek Hai'. And ever since, Dev Anand, the vibrant veteran of Hindi cinema has remained in love with the city, never losing an opportunity to visit and shoot films in his favourite city. He was honoured by the Pune Municipal Corporation and when he completed 50 years of cinema, he chose Pune to celebrate the occasion. He travelled by Deccan Queen, the same train which took him to the Marathi metropolis sixty three years ago, when he showed up for an audition. He has also graced Pune as the Chief Guest for numerous events and functions, zooming into the city for both, professional and personal reasons.

In an earlier instance, the Mayor of Pune had invited the actor to a function, but the polite thespian had to turn it down, since he was busy completing one of his films. The Mayor asserted that he would grant Dev six acres of land if he agreed to attend the event. Dev lost his temper and asked his entourage and him to immediately leave the premises! The Mayor threatened to get him into trouble, which merely served to stoke Dev's temper some more. He yelled back that the Mayor could do what he wanted and that he was not frightened of anyone. Incidentally, that was the last that he has heard of that Mayor! Though Dev was in Pune on January 8, as the Chief Guest t inaugurate the 8th Pune International Film Festival, where he honoured Rajesh Khanna and Dr Shriram Lagoo with Life Time Achievement Awards.

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