NEW DELHI, Dec 4: Iconic Indian actor Dev Anand died of a heart attack in London on Saturday leaving behind at least three generations of distraught fans across the world. He was 88.

The Press Trust of India said in a report from London that Anand, who with Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar formed the legendary troika in the golden age of Bollywood, was unwell for the last few days.

Often called India’s Gregory Peck for his debonair looks, Anand’s signature scarf and stylised acting brought him closer in demeanour to John Wayne. His films tackled contemporary urban issues often with stencil characters from the Bombay underworld. Off-screen, he was also politically active.

In the mid-1970s, he headed a group of celebrities who opposed then prime minister Indira Gandhi’s emergency rule, and briefly launched his own political party.

In two of his movies separated by more than a decade between them — Hum Dono and Prem Pujari — he played a pacifist soldier who grudged the idea of war. He used Sahir Ludhianvi’s powerful anti-war song in Hum Dono — Maangon ka sindoor naa chhoote/ Maan bahanon ki aas naa toote/ Deh binaa bhatake naa praan — as a soldier’s appeal for sanity.

It was probably this facet of his personality that brought him back to Lahore when he accompanied Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to the landmark visit in 1999.

On return from Lahore, Kargil happened. Anand is quoted as recalling his Lahore bus trip: “I went back to Pakistan after 55 years. I had left Lahore in 1943 at the age of 19, taken the Frontier Mail and come to Mumbai. In Lahore, on a Sunday morning I visited my old college, Government College.

“I saw the same room of my principal, Mr Dickinson.

“There were young 19-year-old boys who came up to me and said that there should not be an Indo-Pak conflict. Our culture, faith, language are all the same.

“I had belonged there as a collegian…I want to make a movie before I quit where both countries can participate.

“The situation has deteriorated now, but anything is possible. When Pakistan was formed, we laughed at that time — Lahore and Bombay are one, how can this be — but it happened.

“So who knows, as long as there are humans in this world, miracles are possible.”

Anand came to India’s film and entertainment capital — then Bombay — to forge an acting career and soon found roles at the famous Bombay Talkies and Filmistan studios.

His fame reached its height through films like ‘Munimji’ (Accountant, 1955), ‘C.I.D.’ (1956), ‘Kalapani’ (Black Water, 1958), ‘Love Marriage’ (1959), ‘Kala Bazaar’ (Black Market, 1960), ‘Hum Dono’ (Both of Us, 1961) and ‘Guide’ (1966).

‘Hum Dono’ was re-released in colour earlier this year.

Anand helped launch the careers of young actresses like Zeenat Aman, who starred in ‘Hare Raama Hare Krishna’ — his critique of the hippie movement — and Mumtaz, who appeared in ‘Tere Mere Sapne’ (Our Dreams), both in 1971.

Another was Tina Munim, who starred in Anand’s last recognised hit ‘Des Pardes’ (Home and Away) in 1978 and later married the industrialist Anil Ambani.

Anand, who received India’s third-highest civilian honour in 2001 and earned a string of film industry awards, married the actress Kalpana Kartik (nee Mona Singha) in 1954. They had two children, a son and a daughter. His brothers, Chetan and Vijay, were both film actors and directors.