The Dev Anand Story

After reading the title the first thought that came to my mind was it is a story of either a meeting or incident that involves the famous actor Dev Anand. Soon as I read more about the book I found out that is not the case but it is a biography by one of his fans..As it is written by a fan there is high praise of the actor in the beginning and through out the book which is justified through all his achievements that were also mentioned along..Author has given a thorough description and outline of Dev Anand’s life, info of his personal as well as professional life along with detailed sketch of a few of his most famous and popular movies which was fun to read..The writing was very simple and easy to read. Everything was to the point and only important events of his career and personal life were drawn out..Though it is a biography and I usually stick to the fiction genre, this one was a very easy read that I went through in one sitting. A must read for fans of that era of bollywood.

Dev Anand is a name which will bring an instant smile on the face of our grandparents. As he was the most popular and loved actor of that age.I was interested to know more about his life and picked this book. I barely know anything about that era of movies so it was good to have an insight into this.Through this book I got to know about his early life, how he started his journey to acting by receiving an offer in a local train. Further the success, the most popular films, the advent of his own company, popular production companies and actresses of that time. What was his personal life and how did he sustain and excell in his career?Author has given his take and opinions on the plot/story of movies by Dev Anand. Whether or how the decision impacted his life further. The information is collected from the interviews/books/magazines or any material available. Author intends for the readers or anybody seeking inspiration to be inspired by the humble nature of the late actor or the philosophy of his life.I could've liked it if there was more information on his life than movies. The content for movies is 80 % . Whereas the talks about his life are 20% only.In my opinion, this book is for die-hard Bollywood fans who can connect with the movies of old era or people who want to read a documentation of Dev Anand's life. For the general non-involved audience, it might take some time to get the grasp of this book and they may or may not fully like it.

There are few authors whom you see in a certain image as per the kind of books that they write. One such author whose journey as a writer I have experienced myself since his 1st book is Dr. Govind Sharma IAS Retd. I have read only his fiction books before his recent book that is a non-fictional attempt- a biography on the life of Bollywood Superstar, Dev Anand. The title of the book is “The Dev Anand Story” published by Notion Press in around 150 pages and is very different from all the books author has written till date.Author calls himself a big fan of Dev Anand which inspired him to write this biography. The book is divided into 11 chapters where author starts with his early life and initial years in Mumbai. Then author directly jumps to the start of his career and the way he gets successful and how girls started giving their hearts to him and went crazy for him. One of his movies, “Guide” is discussed in a complete chapter dedicated to the movie and I must say, it deserves when the book is about Dev Anand and the 1st movie we remember whenever his name comes out is this.Author talks about both good and bad phase in the film career of Dev Anand and stays unbiased completely. It is definitely not written like a fan where even his failures are talked as successes. This is something that makes this book credible. Author discusses actor’s relationship with different directors and film studios and how he himself started a Production house but still continued working with few other studios. Little about his relationship with his wife is also discussed on how he met her, worked together in a movie and then married each other.Another great point is that author discusses Dev Anand’s two brothers- Chetan Anand and Vijay Anand as much as he talks about Dev Anand which is a good decision as it has made this biography more interesting to understand the career graph of all the 3 brothers. I, personally, didn’t know about Dev Anand’s other two brothers and I only got to know through this book. In fact, a chapter is dedicated to Vijay Anand.I liked the research by the author that he made on the actor without being someone who worked with him very closely or being from a journalism background. As I am just 30 years old hence knowing nothing about the era of Dev Anand which I have only heard here and there in Award functions, this book was a great opportunity to know about him and his movies which did well. I even made the To-Be-Watched list of his movies while reading the book as some movies are very vividly described by the author.Now talking about the drawbacks:- The major problem with this book is that being a biography you get to know very less about Dev Anand as a person, the timelines in his life, the way he approached certain things, how he managed his routine with continuous work etc. Author majorly focuses only on his movies which also makes the book monotonous after a point of time as chapter after chapter, there is no change in gear and book continues talking in the same manner throughout. Secondly, there should have been uncountable quotes mentioned in the book as said by Dev Anand but there are very few of them that also mainly picked up directly from his autobiography. Author should have tried to pick these from newspapers, interviews etc. Last point- The cover page of the book could have been too dynamic considering the charming personality and looks of Dev Anand but it seems from the cover page that the book is more about Sharmila Tagore than Dev Anand.Overall, this is a feel-good book and a great attempt if you want to know about Dev Anand’s movies. I have given following ratings to the last 3 books I read of Dr. Govind Sharma- 3.75*, 3.25* and 2.75* respectively. This book gets 3 stars out of 5 from my side. I wished little more from the biography as per my experience with this genre otherwise the book is a fine read.Thanks.WRITING BUDDHA

Marvellous, to say the least. A great tribute to the most endearing, charming, and the evergreen superstar, the Great Dev Anand. Dr. Govind Sharma's narrative is so captivating that it actually feels like you are visualizing each and every incident of the actor's journey, unfolding before your own eyes and like you are travelling in the times. It's a treat for millions of Dev Anand fans and the successful saga of the actor is well chronicled by the author. Each and every chapter of the book is so interesting that you would not like to put it down until you have read it till the very end. From Dev Anand's days of struggle to his stardom and his inspiring journey of ruling the silver screen for nearly more than six decades, The Dev Anand story is a must-read- not only for Dev Anand fans but also for those who enjoy films in general. It's a heartwarming light read and the language used is simple, I would like to read more from Dr. Govind Sharma.

As the name suggests The Dev Anand Story is the biography of evergreen Dev Anand. This book has covered his ups & downs in the film industry and his personal traits. A very informative book with writing mixed with beautiful quotes and recollections from different personalities & publishing mediums.The book covers the year-wise classification of Dev Anand's movies along with the summary of few of his remarkable movies. That is appreciable work of the author.Though this is "Dev Anand Story" there is less about "Dev Anand" and more about his films. As a reader, I can understand that film and actor can't be separated from each other. Still, a lot can be done & written over the struggle of Dev Anand. Facts about the movie which everyone knows. In a biography, people would like to know other facts about his relationships with others in the film industry, his ups & downs in his film career. These facts can be researched & written. The author could have added the part which talks about his efforts behind getting a movie or struggle in the initial phase.The Dev Anand fan would surely love that mini summary of movie & don't miss this great art of work.