Suneil Anand never followed in his father’s footsteps
If at any time, a book was written on the centenary of Hindi cinema today, Dev Anand will inarguably have an entire chapter dedicated to him. The legendary actor and filmmaker worked in th entertainment industry for 65 years – from his debut as an actor in Hum Ek Hain (1946) which released pre-Independence to his 2011 swan song and final directorial Chargesheet. Dev Anand departed to the immortal world at 88 in 2011.
However, his son Suneil Anand’s career was not even a patch on Dev Anand’s historic career. Born to Dev and wife Kalpana Kartik in 1956, Suneil was very close to the movies. Born in Zurich, Switzerland, when his parents were on their way to attend the Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Czech Republic, he emerged as the youngest delegate to attend that edition of the film festival.
After graduating in business administration from American University in Washington DC, Suneil decided to follow in his father’s footsteps.
He assisted father on several of his directorials in the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Notably,
Suneil was launched by his father in the latter’s 1984 directorial “Anand Aur Anand”.
While Dev Anand cast himself opposite Raakhee and Smita Patil, son played the supporting role. This was unlike the star kid launchpads of that time Sunil Dutt directed son Sanjay Dutt in Rocky released in 1976, while Dharmendra’s elder son Sunny Deol debuted with the 1983 romantic drama Betaab, which didn’t have any involvement from his father.
Following “Anand Aur Anand” having tanked at the box office, Suneil got another shot with Sameer Malkan’s 1986 film “Car Thief” in which he shared screen space with Vijayata Pandit. After “Car Thief” also proved a debacle, Suneil got an opportunity to feature in his uncle and legendary filmmaker Vijay Anand’s 1989 directorial “Main Tere Liye”, in which he was paired opposite Meenakshi Sesdhari.
The Dev Anand’s production house Navketan Films backed film also featured Rajendra Kumar and Asha Parekh. Ironically, even that couldn’t prove a success at the box office. Asha later admitted the purpose of the film was only for Dev to relaunch his son, who hadn’t tasted success in the movies by then.
Suneil Anand then took a long break from acting. He resurfaced his 2001 directorial debut and martial arts film Master. Suneil even trained extensively in Wing Chun, a traditional South Chinese Kung Fu style, in Hong Kong for Master. But even that film’s fate was no different, thus putting an end to his directorial career along with his acting career.
After Dev Anand’s passing away, Suneil, who continued to assist his father in his last few directorials, took over the reigns of Navketan Films.
He also announced “Vagator Mixer” an ambitious Hollywood co-production set in Goa and revolving around the drug racket there. He claimed the film was a tribute to his father since the latter always aspired to make a Hollywood movie. However, owing to a legal dispute between the co-producers, Vagator Mixer remains unreleased to date.
However,.Suneil Anand,did take the legacy of Navketan Films to a global level when he facilitated a screening of his father’s 1965 seminal romance Guide at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Suneil, who now lives a quiet life away from the movies, was last spotted in 2023 at the launch of PVR’s film festival to commemorate the birth centenary of Dev Anand in Mumbai
Dev Anand lost all his money after his most ambitious movie with Shabana Azmi, Zeenat Aman failed: ‘In 15 minutes, he knew it was all gone’
For the unversed, Suneil is also the cousin of Shekhar Kapur, who was Dev Anand’s nephew. Unlike Suneil, his cousin has delivered several memorable films as a filmmaker, including Masoom released in 1983),
Mr. India in 1987), and Bandit Queen in 1994 prior to realizing his uncle’s dreams of turning a Hollywood filmmaker, with his directorial film Elizabeth released in 1998, its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age released in 2007 The Four Feathers in 2002 and most recently, “What’s Love Got To Do With It? in 2022.
News Edit KV Raman
