Monday 3 December was the much-missed Dev Anand’s first death anniversary. To honour him UTV Stars decided to unveil a sculpture of the iconic star as part of its Walk Of The Stars series. The unveiling ceremony was to be done by Dev Saab’s son Suniel and one of his favourite heroines Waheeda Rehman at the Marriot hotel on Tuesday morning. Weirdly, the ceremony was scheduled for 4 December, a day after Dev Saab’s death anniversary. Didn’t make sense. When one tried to inquire with UTV Stars, one got no answer. But a source that wanted to be remain unnamed said, “They couldn’t get the venue, the Marriott on 3 December. So they decided to shift it by a day.” The explanation didn’t cut much ice with Dev Saab’s son Suniel Anand who seemed pretty upset with the way his father’s memory was being served. Says Suniel, “I was getting calls and messages from admirers and friends of my dad the whole day on Monday. It would’ve made sense to have his sculpture unveiled on the day he passed away. Why a day after? I’m clueless.” Suniel says he attempted to find out, but was stonewalled by UTV Stars. “I should’ve been kept in the loop, and I tried very hard. But I was not told anything. There’s a gentleman named Shiv Menon at UTV Stars whom I was supposed to co-ordinate with. When I asked him why the memorial sculpture was being unveiled a day late he told me it was part of their marketing strategy. I’m sorry I don’t get it. How can my father’s death anniversary fall in line with a marketing strategy?” Shiv Menon of UTV Stars said, “The only reason we decided to honour Dev Saab a day late is because we wanted to give his family space and private time to remember the great man on his death anniversary. Also, we wanted to invite some of his colleagues and close associates.”