Dev Anand who left Lahore in 1943 at the age of 19 with just Rs.30 in his pocket and went on to become an iconic actor-director would have scoffed at all the "end of an era" cliches in his obituaries, said a Pakistani daily.

Dev Anand died in London Sunday. He was 88.

An editorial in the News International said: "Thinking about death, for a man who believed only in living, would probably have been too distasteful.

"'Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya, har fikr ko dhuen mein udata chala gaya'. This was the philosophy he lived by: an infectious zeal for life and for cinema."

The editorial added that Dev Anand was once the Adonis of the Indian silver screen, known for his good looks and the ease with which he played romantic roles.

"He was part of the famed trinity - along with Dilip Kumar and the late Raj Kapoor - that ruled Hindi films in the 1950s and 60s. After those glittering decades were over, he reinvented himself as a producer and director, and also continued to star in films even in his 70s, " it added.

Armed with an English literature degree from Government College Lahore, Dev Anand moved to "the city of celluloid dreams, Bombay", and went on to become an iconic actor-director.

When his celebrated film "Guide" was released in India it opened to unprecedented crowds; India's entire cabinet attended its premiere in Delhi.

He hits like "Paying Guest", "Baazi", "Jewel Thief", "CID", "Johny Mera Naam", "Warrant" and "Hare Rama Hare Krishna".

"Anand left Lahore in 1943 at the age of 19, with just 30 rupees in his pocket. He would return more than 55 years later to a rapturous welcome, as part of then Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's touring 'friendship' bus.

"A new dawn will break over Mumbai; new stars will be born and old ones will fade. But Dev Anand is forever."