MUMBAI: Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh released veteran actor Dev Anand’s autobiography Romancing with Life.

“It is really an honour for us to have Shri Dev Anandji here with us on his 84th birthday. I join millions of his admirers and well-wishers all over the world in wishing him a long, healthy and even more creative life in years to come. At 84, he is not only young at heart, but also youthful to look at. I am sure that for several generations of his fans, he will always be remembered as a delightfully romantic and endearing artist. He is possibly one of the most enduring romantics in the last half century. It is only fitting, therefore, that Dev Anandji has titled his autobiography Romancing with Life,” said Singh.

Speaking about the Indian film industry and particularly Hindi film industry, Singh said, “The industry has shaped the psyche of post-Independence India in many ways. No other institution has been as successful in achieving the emotional integration of this vast and diverse land of ours as our film industry has been. It is not official Hindi, or Government Hindi, that unites the length and breadth of this country but in fact popular spoken Hindi, as popularized by our Hindi cinema. It is a unique language, a mix of shudh Hindi, of spoken dialects like Bhojpuri and Hyderabadi, and of spoken languages like Urdu and Marathi. This unique mix of conversational Hindi from across the country, popularized by the film industry, has become the thread that weaves us all together as Indians. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Hindi film industry and to its tallest leaders like Dev Anandji.”

He further added, “I am not a regular movie-goer and cannot claim to know much about recent trends in Indian cinema. But, I do know for a fact that wherever I go in the world, the Indian film industry has made its presence felt everywhere. From the islands of the Pacific to those of the Atlantic, from the southernmost tip of Africa to the icy deserts of Siberia, from the towns of West Africa to the cities of East Asia, from the suburbs of North America to villages across Asia – around the world, across the globe, the sun never sets on Indian films. Hollywood may have more money invested in it, it may be a bigger business, but I am sure that more people across the world actually watch Bollywood movies! More people laugh and shed tears, more people sing and cheer watching an Indian film.”

Talking about Dev Anand, he further said, “We must pay a special tribute to artists like Dev Anandji for their contribution to this great saga of creativity and enterprise that Indian film industry represents. I hope his autobiography will inspire newer generations of Indians to aspire for a life of even greater creativity. His is a classic rags to riches life, where those riches have been earned through dint of sheer hard work and dedication.”