Ahead of legendary actor Dev Anand's 100th birth anniversary, which falls on September 26, the Film Heritage Foundation has announced a two day film festival titled 'Dev Anand@100 - Forever Young'. The festival will be held on September 23 and 24 and is being organised by the Film Heritage Foundation, in association with NFDC-NFAI (National Film Development Corporation Of India- National Film Archive Of India) and PVR Inox. Memorable films of the actor; C.I.D. (1956), Guide (1965), Jewel Thief (1967) and Johny Mera Naam (1970), will be screened in 55 cinema halls across 30 cities all over India.
The Film Heritage Foundation is a not-for-profit organization founded by filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur. It has meticulously curated a collection of Anand's films so that audiences can spend the weekend with Anand in his different memorable avatars- the romantic hero, the dashing spy and the fun-loving rogue. Audiences in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Trivandrum, Chennai, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kolkata, Guwahati, Indore, Jaipur and many other cities, will get the wonderful opportunity to watch Anand's films.
Dungarpur, Director of the Film Heritage Foundation said in a statement, "After a successful run with ‘Bachchan Back To The Beginning’ and ‘Dilip Kumar – Hero Of Heroes’ to commemorate Amitabh Bachchan’s 80th birthday and Dilip Kumar’s birth centenary respectively, we knew that there was no way that we could allow the birth centenary of Dev Anand to go uncelebrated. We wanted to honour his legacy by screening four of his milestone films. The festival also marks an important collaboration between the Film Heritage Foundation and NFDC-NFAI who have restored the four films and partnered with us to enable us to showcase these films."
Prithul Kumar, Joint Secretary (Films) and Managing Director, NFDC added, "Showcasing the restoration of Dev Anand’s films on the occasion of his centenary, as a joint endeavour between both film archives, NFDC-National Film Archive of India and Film Heritage Foundation, along with our esteemed partners, INOX and PVR, is a testament to our shared commitment to preserving India's cinematic heritage. We aspire to sustain these collaborative efforts, to provide broader public access to the gems of Indian Cinema, in the quality they are meant to be seen."
Anand was born on September 26, 1923. In a career spanning over six decades he worked in more than 100 films. Anand was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2002 to honour his contribution to Indian cinema.