Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 12, 2014)

Suneil Anand is determined to revive Dev Anand’s banner Navketan Films and has been busy shooting a 100-minute English film sans any song and dance, Vagator Mixer, in Goa with a cast and crew from Hollywood.

While he is busy with the film, which also stars him in the lead, Anand studio is also getting ready for a second innings.

There have been rumours about the studio being sold off but Suneil insists that there is no truth in them.

 “I have a legacy to take forward. The show will go on. The studio is presently being upgraded and renovated and we should be able to reopen it in four months,” he says.

After completing Vagator Mixer, Suneil plans to commit to celluloid some of the scripts his father has left behind.

“Before he passed away, dad and I felt the time was right to make a Hollywood film. He has left behind six scripts and I’d like to turn each into a movie. But the concept of Vagator Mixer is mine and I’ve worked with two American writers on the screenplay. We have about 20 per cent left to shoot which we will complete in Los Angeles,” says Suneil, who plans to wrap the film up by the year end.He intends to release it worldwide. In India he plans to dub it in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Asked if there are any plans to re-release any of the Navketan classics in colour, he says,“None as of now but if I had to pick up one, it would be Tere Ghar Ke Samne. A story I would like to take forward is the slickly made, interestingly written Jewel Thief.”

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; February 5, 2014)

It appears that apart from Dev Anand’s son Suneil, Reliance Entertainment is also keen to carry forward the legacy of the late actor-filmmaker, who passed away in December 2011.

Buzz doing the rounds has it that the production house wants to take over his banner Navketan, the Anand recording studio and the negative rights of 32 of his films.

Says a source, “Things are under wraps and no one wants to talk about it yet.” Interestingly, in 2009, the evergreen hero’s landmark — Anand Studio at Pali Hill, Bandra — went in for redevelopment. When asked about it back then, Dev Anand had just mentioned that the concerned person was a dear friend. Sources at that time had claimed that Reliance was involved in the redevelopment.

This time, Suneil didn’t say much either. “I don’t know who is spreading these rumours. I am currently busy with my film, Vagator Mixer. It has a Hollywood crew and is being shot abroad,” he said, adding that work on the redevelopment of Anand Studio is still on.

One may recall here that Dev Anand discovered Tina Munim after she won a beauty pageant and cast her in his 1978 film Des Pardes.

She later acted with him in two other films — Lootmaar (1980) and Man Pasand (1980). Reliance Entertainment is part of her husband Anil Ambani’s group of companies.