Dev Anand Takes Croatia to Hundred Million Indian Hearts

Croatia may become the new love of more than hundred million Indians as Dev Anand was all praise for the charming country of Croatia. He shared the experiences of his six day visit to Croatia with more than one hundred media representatives at a press conference in New Delhi. Dev Anand enticed Indians by saying, “Visit Croatia and you will also love it.”

Dev Anand is ready to start shooting for his new English film in Croatia. A Croatian Beauty will be the new international sensation, he said. while revealing his plans to choose a Croatian leading lady for his film, which is tentatively, titled “Where Heartbeats are the Same.” Calling it a story of universal love, emotions and feelings, Dev Anand spoke passionately about his enchantment with Croatia.

Dino Debeljuh, the Croatian ambassador to India, said that Dev Anand has finished the script in just 24 days after coming back from Croatia. Calling it a historic day in Indo-Croatian relations, Dino Debeljuh said that this will give a great boost to the number of tourists from India to Croatia.

The press conference was scheduled to end in one hour, but it went on for three hours as the dynamic duo of Dev Anand and Dino Debeljuh kept the media engrossed in their magnificent description of Croatian beauty.

Dev Anand plans to finish shooting the film in a non-stop shooting schedule of seven weeks in next four months. He will go to Croatia soon to finalize the cast and locations. He said that he has been approached by many leading Indian actors for the role of the leading male character in this film. Dev himself may play the role of the father of the lead male character.

Fully charged up, Dev Anand held the hand of Dino Debeljuh, and said that Dino Debeljuh is the only person who has made this possible. Calling Dino Debeljuh the 24×7 Ambassador, Dev told the media that Dino Debeljuh used to call him to enquire about his comfort in Croatia even at midnight Indian time. He is an Apostle of the Croatian cause, Dev said. There are so many beautiful countries, and so many helpful ambassadors, but Croatia and Dino Debeljuh are so different and warm, Dev exclaimed.

“I have fallen in love again at 83,” Dev Anand said while describing his relationship with Croatia. He has decided to make Croatia the center for his future forays into the European film world. His son and executive producer of his films, Suniel Anand has left for America to explore the possibility of having some stars from Hollywood also for this new film.

Naveen Sharma, the third person sharing the stage with Dev Anand and Dino Debeljuh, revealed that the story of the film revolves around the love affair of a rich Indian hero with a beautiful Croatian girl, with a strained father-son relationship as the backdrop. Eighty percent of the film will be shot in Croatia, Naveen said. “Naveen is my Indian heart which I have given to Croatia,” Dev Anand said. “Naveen Sharma will coordinate all my work in Croatia,” Dev added. Naveen Sharma is also the author of a very famous e-book on Croatia.

Dev Anand was watched by more than one hundred millions of Indians, who now know Croatia as the new Bollywood dream destination. More than seventy thousand Indian tourists visit Switzerland every year largely due to the picturisation of Swiss locations in Bollywood films. Croatia will also start getting Indian tourists in huge numbers once this first Bollywood film shot in Croatia is released.