Chaitanya and Hini Kaushik in Love in Times Square
By Raj S. Rangarajan
NEW YORK: The leaves are turning to gold, as is their wont in the northeast in the Fall, and there's a slight nip in the Manhattan air. "Cut!" Suddenly the call rents the air. It is veteran thespian, Dev Anand who, at 78, is still the picture of positive exuberance. Standing erect on a bright sunny day, he directs Hini Kaushik and Chaitanya in his new film Love in Times Square.
"We shot for three days in picturesque Catskills and the orange glow every evening was a sight to behold," Anand says, taking a few minutes off.
At this age, when others of his generation have retired, evergreen Anand remains ebullient and trim.
With typical flair, he says: "Tamasha, my friend. The more you work in a business like this, the sharper your mind becomes. You feel younger, and the more you feel young, the more you progress in the creative and thinking process. I want to give back something exciting to the world. I sometimes feel pleasure like a child."
Anand is giving. Once again he is performing--this time, for the first time, as the father of the heroine. Love in Times Square, with a Rs 14-crore budget, is an Indian love story shot in the U.S. The story is of two boys and a girl: one boy works in the Silicon Valley and the other comes from India to meet the girl. The question is, who will get the girl? Kaushik, who plays the main female lead, debuted in Censor, which released in April. The two men wooing her are Chaitanya and Shoaib.
In Times Square the indefatigable thespian is still at work--Dev Anand is in and around New York, shooting his latest love story
The sets drew a lot of attention. Says Anand, "Thousands of people came on December 31, 1999 to Times Square as boxing legend Mohammed Ali presided over the ceremonious dropping of the ball. We stood in the cold for seven to eight hours as our clapper sounded the first shot for our film."
Anand has produced, directed and written the screenplay while Lucky Ali has done the music. The film crew is America-based with David Tumulty as cameraman and chief organiser. Prashant Shah, from Edison, New Jersey, coordinates with the Navketan group.
With much of the movie canned, Anand hopes for a June 2002 release.
Debuting with Hum Ek Hain in 1946, Anand has come a long way, having started his own film company in 1949. "I am flattered that many of my former assistants have succeeded in films and mastered the art of movie-making," he says, as he walks away into the sunset. The halo glows golden around him.
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