Fans exhaust copies of Dev Anand's book

The demise of legendary Bollywood actor Dev Anand at the Washington Mayfair Hotel in London late Saturday, witnessed a rush among several fans, who scoured city bookstalls, to possess a copy of the actor's autobiography 'Romancing with Life'. Fans have been heading to bookstalls ever since the news of his death broke out and this has exhausted copies of the book in the city.u00a0

Disappointed fans claim that not a single copy of his autobiography is available at the bookstalls in the city. The book 'Romancing with life' that was published by Penguin in 2007 has been reportedly selling like hot cakes ever since. The 88-year-old actor died in his sleep at the hotel. His son Sunil Anand had accompanied him to London for treatment in a hospital. The family has declared that instead of bringing the body to Mumbai, the actor's final rites would be performed in UK.u00a0

Sunil Gadgil a partner of Popular Book House in Deccan Gymkhana said that he had sold 20 copies of the actor's autobiography in the past two months. "There is not a single copy left to even display. We have placed an order for the autobiography, which is expected in the next two days," he said.u00a0

The other English book 'Dev Anand- a dashing debonair' written by Alpana Chaudhari is also reportedly out of stock. "Only a copy of Marathi book 'Sadabahar Dev Anand' by Anuradha Aurangabadkar is available with us. So far a Marathi translation of Dev Anand's autobiography does not exist, Gadgil added.

It was the same situation at International Book Stall, Pathfinder and Akshardhara Book Gallery in the city. Upendra Dixit, owner, International Book Stall, said, "We have sold over a 100 copies of Dev Anand's autobiography and have ordered for more from the Penguin HQ in Delhi. Our shop is completing 81 years, and during a telephonic conversation with Dev Anand, a few months ago, he told me that he knew my shop and had visited the place in the 50s." Dev's fans are disappointed, as there is no stock of the autobiography at any shop in the city, he added.

Kedar Bhosale, employee at Crossword, city head office, said that no copies of the book were available since the past few days. Harish Shenoy, Mumbai sales representative of Penguin, said that the book is out of print, but he would check with the Delhi HQ on Monday. Subhash Jadhav, a noted film critic, said, "I went to three shops in the city to get Dev Saab's autobiography and was totally disappointed. I have been searching for this book since the past two months."

The autobiography is a first-ever full-fledged memories of Dev Anand's life. The book talks about the tales from his youth in the 1930s at Gurdaspur and Lahore, apart from his years of struggle in Bombay in the 40s. The actor has penned his friendship with Guru Dutt and his unsuccessful love story with Suraiya. The autobiography also talks about his wife Kalpana Kartik and his relationship with his brothers Chetan, who brought him to Bombay, and Vijay Anand, who directed his hit films.u00a0