How did Sunil Anand’s 4 flop films on Dev Anand’s legacy break his career? Know.
Dev Anand: A different identity and new dreams
In the 1970s, Bollywood was just taking his name—Dev Anand‘s style, unique acting and authority made him a legend.
Not just an actor, Dev Anand also chose new subjects in script writing, direction and production.
He had shown a glimpse of today’s society and politics in his films, which were many steps ahead of their time.
The beginning of the star son
When every star made a Shada Babu entry for their children—like Sunil Dutt launched Sanjay Dutt with Rocky or Dharmendra launched Sunny Deol with Betaab—Dev Anand also gave a chance to his son Suneil Anand.
Sunil played a small role in Anand Aur Anand in 1984, but his identity was lost behind Rakhee and Smita Patil, as the film did not survive at the box office.
Four consecutive flops
Every father wants his child to shine, yet Sunil Anand suffered the first setback in Car Thief (1986).
His chemistry with Vijayta Pandit proved to be weak.
Then, cousin Vijay Anand cast him opposite Meenakshi Sheshadri in Main Tere Liye (1988), but the audience did not like the boy in the second lead.
Dev Anand’s next production—which also starred Asha Parekh and Rajendra Kumar—did not change Suneil’s fashion of becoming a star.
Did not give up, still did not achieve success
For years, his father gave Suneil every platform to shine in cinema, but four disappointing films cannot keep any hope alive in a willful manner.
In 2001, with a Master’s, Suneil tinkered with martial arts, tried his hand at being a director himself, but a handful of show hosts could not gather a crowd in the hall.
The world behind the scenes
Finally, Suneil realised that on-screen shine was perhaps not in his destiny.
He stepped into the office of Navketan Films, where Dev Anand had made memorable films for decades.
Here, Suneil took up the responsibility of assistant director as well as producer.
But the responsibility of bringing back Navketan’s old glory was not as easy as playing the wonderful characters of his father.
Legacy and new hope
Dev Anand’s legacy is the golden songs of cinema, stories ahead of time and fearless experiments.
Suneil Anand’s journey tells that sometimes becoming a star does not depend only on the basis of name, but on the demand of time and the art of reaching the hearts of the audience.
If today Sunil is standing in the back row in Navketan Films, then tomorrow he may find a way to shine in a new frame with the learnings from the old characters.
There too there can also be creative things and memorable stories, which can be the right start of Dev Anand’s innovations in the industry.
