"Hum Dono" was the last black and white film from Dev Anand's banner Navketan and for the first time he played a double role in the movie. "No one can be Dev saab. Dev saab is unique and he is an icon. He is a star. His style and the way he has entertained people for so many years, no one can overshadow him," Aamir, who came with his director wife Kiran Rao, told reporters.
To ring in the old world charm, a live band played composer Jaidev's soulful number "Main zindagi ka saath" in the background while Bollywood's stars walked the red carpet at Cinemax theatre in Versova Thursday.
Of course, the man of the moment, Dev Anand, was present. Since the 87-year-old had personally invited everyone, he was one of the early birds to arrive at the colourful do.
He welcomed Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Shekhar Suman, Ranjit, Divya Dutta, Shatrughan Sinha, Imtiaz Ali, Shabana Azmi and her lyricist husband Javed Akhtar among many others and their presence made it a memorable moment for the octogenarian star.
The live band and movie posters created a perfect setting for the classic.
"Dev saab is a genius. He is a true star in the true sense. 'Hum Dono' was one of the most important films musically, commercially, as well as romantically. Now as this has been done in colour, we feel happier. It's like old wine in new bottle," Shatrughan told reporters here.
Naseeruddin too praised Dev Anand and his undying spirit."I admire not only Dev saab's longevity, his spirit and I also love his attitude. I wish all of us could have that kind of attitude towards life, loving it and making the most of it. He never looked back, but looked forward to utilise the energy for a better tomorrow," he said.
Set in the backdrop of war, the film is about two army men who are lookalikes and how this complicates their personal lives. Directed by Amarjeet, the film had Nanda and Sadhna as the leading ladies and is still remembered for the immortal song "Abhi na jaao chhodkar".
The film was India's official entry at the Berlin film festival. The movie was written by his brother Vijay Anand and directed by Amarjeet.
Dev Anand is touched by the overwhelming response and expressed his feelings on Twitter."I am deeply touched to see the love of my fans. I would like to thank Goldie (Vijay Anand) my brother for making such a brilliant film. I missed Sadhna and Nanda very much, I was very keen to invite them but they couldn't make it," he wrote.
"I thank Aamir, Kiran, Salman, Ranbir, Govinda, Imtiaz, Faisal, Sunny, Dharam, Shatru, Jaaved, Shabana, Ashutosh, Aditya kapoor, Sanjay Khan, Naseer. Also Uddhav Thackeray, his family, Adnan (Sami), Ketan Desai and all my friends and sorry if I missed any names but love you all. Further, thanks to Prem Chopra, Ranjeet, Bappi, Subbi, Vijay Darda, Venugopal Dhoot, my outstation fans all over."
He also missed the presence of singing legend Lata Mangeshkar, who sang "Allah tero naam" in the film.
He wrote: "Lataji, I wish you were there to see the coloured screening of 'Hum Dono', to see your bhajans in colour and hear your voice in Dolby 6.1."
He wrote to Asha Bhosle, who sang the duet "Abhi na jaao chhodkar": "Ashaji I was expecting you and through your voice you have magically put so much romance in 'Abhi na jao chhodkar....' Great versatile voice and the other 'Jahan me aisa kaun hai', another philosophical song."