latset news:celebs remember DEVEN VERMA,A VERSATILE ACTOR AND DIRECTOR PASSED AWAY ON TUESDAY..

Veteran actor and filmmaker Deven Verma passed away in Pune on Tuesday at 2 am, following a cardiac arrest. He was married to Rupa Ganguli, younger daughter of late actor Ashok Kumar. The 78-year-old actor won three Filmfare Awards for 'Chori Mera Kaam' (1975), 'Chor Ke Ghar Chor' (1978) and Gulzar's 'Angoor' (1983). Professional assignments aside, few people got to taste Deven's off-the-set humour. He once joked, "I'm married to a Bengali and Sharmila, who is a Bengali, is a close friend of mine.  The Bongs often get their genders mixed up because in Bangla you ask — 'Cha khabo?' that means 'will you eat tea?'" He laughed and added once Rinku (Sharmila) got her gender mixed up and instead of saying chhata (umbrella) she said chhati (chest). Yet another time the late actor described why a superstar had got a nerve disorder, saying, "He uses his nerves much too long, that's why he's got a serious nerve condition." Of course, all of this was said in good humour and not to be taken seriously Sharmila Tagore: Deven was one of the few friends I had in the industry                                               Deven Verma was a very good friend, in fact, one of the few friends I had in the industry. We worked together in 'Anupama' (1966), 'Devar' (1966) and 'Yakeen' (1969) which he also produced. He was very good friends with Yash Chopra and Thakur Lulla, who produced 'Anupama'. He also got along very well with my husband (Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi). I worked with him in his directorial venture, 'Besharam' (1978) that had Amitabh Bachchan. It didn't do well but that didn't dampen his enthusiasm. We lost touch when I left Mumbai and he moved to Pune. Once upon a time, we'd spend a lot of time together and shared many happy moments. On Sundays, we'd all get together at Romesh Sharma's or Danny's house and play cricket around there. We had a lot of fun times in those days. Deven was an amusing and gregarious person, very friendly and got along with people of different ages. It's hard to believe he was 78. I shall miss him. May God rest his soul in peace.