Anand

In 1970, Rajesh Khanna was the biggest star and was shooting for multiple movies along with Anand. But it seems he would take some time out from his other schedules would come to Hrishi da and ask him if he could shoot the next scene from Anand. That's how eager and dedicated he was to Anand. Probably he knew that this was the movie that he would be remembered for.

The movie narrates like the pages of a diary of one Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee and his relationship with Anand Sehgal who he treated for cancer. Despite of such a heavy theme the movie is high spirited just like Anand Sehgal who likes to laugh in the face of death. Special mention should be made for attention given to each character in the movie. All the characters are well etched and everyone has given a truly inspired performance.

The last sequence must be the most dramatic sequence that I have seen in any movie. Music by Salil Chaudhary and lyrics by Yogesh and Gulzar are apt and wonderful. Definitely one of the best movies made in India.

I enjoyed this movie because I thought the main character was extremely likable and consistently brought a smile to my face. This movie essentially tells you how it will end as soon as it starts, but it still wraps up with an emotional punch.

"Babu Moshai, Zindagi Aur Maut ke Khel Mein Hum Sab Katputhli Hain" An immortal piece of dialog from an immortal movie Anand. Many a Hindi movie starts of well,but falters pretty badly in the climax. Anand was one of the few movies which grips you from start to end. Its one of the few movies which has an unforgettable climax.

Consider this the eponymous character Anand(Rajesh Khanna) lies on the bed dying. Babu Moshai(Amitabh Bachan) enters the room. He cannot bear to see his friend lying still on death bed. He holds him and shakes him up weeping uncomfortably

"Tum Mujhe Aisa Chod Ke Nahin Ja Saakte"

"20 mahine se mein tera bak bak sun raha hoon"

"Baate Karo Mujhshe" And then as if on cue, the tape recorder plays "Babu Moshai, Babu Moshai, Zindagi aur Maut Ki Khel Mein Hum Sab Katputhli Hain, Yahan kya hote hai, na tum jaane na main Sab Upar Wale ki Haath Meiin" The ghostly way in which the voice appears and the equally eerie laughter, creates such a haunting impact, that a shiver runs down my spine every time i watch this scene. It's as if Anand is speaking through his spirit, and even after death he still continues to live.

Anand is a masterpiece of the first order by Hrishida and one of my all time fav movies. Now an interesting thing regarding the dedication of Anand. It wad dedicated to Raj Kapoor and the city of Mumbai.

The Raj Kapoor connection was easy to make out, as he was Hrishida's best buddy in real life. Hrishida got his first commercial success with Raj Kapoor's Anari and Raj Kapoor got the best actor award for the movie. They were as different as chalk and cheese. While Raj Kapoor was the typical loud Punjabi extrovert,,Hrishida was the very epitome of the Bengali Babu with his sober intellectual demeanour. Also Hrishida's movies were aimed at the common man, and pretty sober and minimalist in nature, while RK was a showman par excellence with his penchant for larger than life canvas and huge settings. Hrishida himself admitted that Anand's character was based on RK's and he didn't cast RK as he couldn't bear to see his friend die on screen also. For his part Anand was a movie always close to RK's heart.

Regarding the Mumbai connection, i feel the story of Anand is somewhat linked to that of Mumbai. One could be that Hrishida made his career in Mumbai and i guess this was his way of saying thank you to the city which made him. Most of Hrishida's best movies have been Mumbai centric "Anand", "Mili","Abhimaan","Gol Maal" to name a few. Also like Anand, Mumbai is a city which though beset with innumerable problems like slums, crime, pollution, overcrowding still manages to survive and live every day. Life is not easy for an average Mumbaikar, what with all those overcrowded trains, high prices, crime rate but he/she still has a zeal for life, which is rarely found anywhere else. Its a city which gets back to normal life even after a couple of bomb blasts have destroyed large chunks. Its a city where dreams are made and realized. Its a city where people face a daily struggle and yet have an inexhaustible zest for life,much like Anand, who knows he will die but takes death head on as he says "Babu Moshai, zindag Badi Hone chahiye, Lambi nahin". Mumbai is a city that dies a thousand deaths daily, but never loses its love for life. Anand is a man who knows he is to die, but makes the best of his limited life.

Anand is the most impressive movie by the director "Hrishikesh Mukherjee". his other movies like "Abhimaan" and "Milli" that also shows his directional sensitivity. Anand is a movie which speaks more than it scripts. It tells us more than its characters narrates the story. The impressive character no doubt is of Rajesh Khannna, but Amitabh is too much impressive. The "Anand" tells us how a man decided and then spent rest of his short life. A Man who had short time, but he wanted to live too much. for him, not the quantity but quality of life does matter. I recommend to see this movies more than once. And every time u see this movie, u'll end up with more brighter definition of film and life. The movie is too simple to narrate here, and tooo deep to express what i actually think about it.

Sure enough, there is no vacant person under the prestigious name. Anan is full of passion and joy in life, life and death, and the attitude of life is full of enthusiasm and joy. Such Anan will not die, because happiness will never die. "Leave sorrow to yourself, give happiness to others" is a very simple sentence, but it has the power to change people's hearts, and even change the attitude towards people and things around them. It is a chicken soup, but I am willing to drink it.