Legendary actor Dev Anand’s son, Suneil Anand, has died. He was 70. His death was confirmed by his family to news agency PTI on Tuesday, July 28.
Dev Anand’s son dies
Anand’s niece, Gina Narang, shared a statement on behalf of the family.
“With heavy hearts, our family mourns the passing of Suneil Anand. We are comforted by the outpouring of love, prayers, and support, for which we are truly grateful. We kindly request privacy as we navigate this difficult time together,” the statement read.
Suneil has acted in Anand aur Anand (1984), Car Thief (1986), Main Tere Liye (1988), and Master.
His first directorial venture, Master, a martial arts film, was released in 2001.
The family did not disclose the cause of death. He was the son of Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik.
Further details about his death are awaited.
About his life and career
Suneil decided to follow in his father’s footsteps after completing his degree in business administration from American University in Washington DC. He assisted Dev Anand on several of his directorials in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, Suneil was launched by his father in the latter’s 1984 directorial Anand Aur Anand.
Dev played the lead in the film, casting himself opposite Raakhee and Smita Patil, while his son played the supporting role. Unfortunately, the film tanked at the box office. Then, Suneil got another shot with Sameer Malkan’s 1986 film Car Thief, in which he played the lead role opposite Vijayta Pandit. Backed by Dev Anand’s production house Navketan Films, the film also starred Rajendra Kumar and Asha Parekh. However. Alas, even that didn’t did not fare well at the box office.
After facing these debacles, Suneil Anand took a long break from acting. He made a comeback years later in 2001, but this time behind the camera. He made his directorial debut with the martial arts film Master. Suneil even trained extensively in Wing Chun, a traditional South Chinese Kung Fu style, in Hong Kong for Master. The box office result did not favour him even this time. After his father’s death in 2011, Suneil took over the reigns of Navketan Films. He lived a private life away from the movies. He remained unmarried throughout his life.