Anuradha

This is a timeless classic. On one hand is the dilemma of a wife who left behind a flourishing music career and on the other a son/genius doctor who wants to dedicate his life to the oath that he once took. The cinematography, music, costumes are all in synch to highlight the state of mind of 2 protagonists caught in this conflict.

This was made in 1960 and I marvel at the craftsmanship of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, pandit Ravi Shanker, Shailendra, Leela Naidu and Balraj Sahni. This is a story that needs to be told again and again , story of people who stand behind those we celebrate.

Anuradha staring Leela Naidu & Balraj Sahani is an excellent movie. I have seen this movie several times. I would like to thank you for bringing up the best things in past. I'm a great fan of Black & White movies. The skills those guys had at that time was unbelievable. I'm being a animation studio owner and producer, I really miss those simple thing in work. Most of us know that Leela Naidu was the one of the most beautiful women in that era. But I would like to mention that is yet the most beautiful actress that Indian Cenema has got. And about the Sahani Sahab, who can challenge his acting performance. Thanks for this opportunity.

Anuradha (1960) : Brief Review -

Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Cult Classic on Woman's Sacrifice and Contribution in Man's Life is truly unbeatable. Year 1960 should be written in golden fonts in the History of Bollywood Cinema for 3 Masterpiece Films like 'Mughal E Azam', 'Jis Desh Me Ganga Behti Hai', and 'Anuradha'. I am feeling blessed for having these 3 films watched. This conventional and emotional story by Hrishikesh Mukherjee's is impossible to match by others. I don't think any film will do better than this or something even close to it on the topic Women's importance. Anuradha is a story of a talented singer Anuradha who gave up her career for her husband's success. Husband, Nirmal is a passionate doctor who is dedicated to his work more than her wife, he's not behind Money he just want to serve the poor people. After 10 years of marriage Anuradha begins to regret about her decision but on the other side the husband too is not wrong at his place as he has already warned her about this. This narrative was so powerful that i was confused which side to choose? Anuradha or Nirmal? Both are so right. Finally the answer came and i had to use couple of tissues to dry my wet eyes. I don't remember watching this kind of face off or confusion where you just can't choose one side and then you get a proper, logical and intelligently emotional answer at the end. Leela Naidu and Balraj Sahni did a fine job in thier roles, none of them looked out of form for a single moment. The film has a musical theme but the music couldn't archive high feat. One or two soulful Chartbusters would have made it better. Lyrics did thier job on high level though. Hrishikesh Mukherjee had a strong script in hand, written by Sachin Bhowmick so he just had to care about presentation. And indeed he did it upto the classic level of writing. 130 Minutes of storytelling with zero loo breaks and zero mistakes, what else can i ask? Superlative. Anuradha deserved the national award despite mighty opponents and i guess it tells a lot about it's strength. This will always remain that one Memorable Film which showcased the sacrifices, contribution, importance and credit of Women in Successful Men's lives. 'Behind every successful man there is a Great Woman", well Anuradha proved it convincingly and marginally. Don't miss it at any cost.

RATING - 9/10*

By - #samthebestest

Many would argue that the linear and the predictable style of Anuradha's storytelling is boring and has been dated. But, there is much more in this movie that is still of much worth as it was 50 years ago. Leela Naidu's knock-out beauty, Balraj Sahni's underplayed powerhouse performance and Nasir Hussain's hard-hitting speech at the climax are as timeless as the music of this movie would be. The eventual condition, sacrifice and the would-be future of the wives, mothers and daughters of the successful men are quite relevant even after 50 years. Three cheers for Hrishikesh Mukerjee who had the guts to make such movie in 1960 when talking about women's rights was considered as against box- office success.

When I saw director Hrushikesh Mukherjee's name in the credits of the film Anuradha, I immediately knew I was about to see a good movie. And I was not disappointed. The story is very simple, nice and quite realistic; in a space of two hours and 20 minutes, Mukherjee traverses the relationship of an idealistic, humanitarian doctor and his wife, the titular heroine who aspires to be a singer and escape the rustics of the provincial life. In the last millennium there were not many movies you could genuinely call 'realistic'. By realistic, I mean, you could say, "Yes, this could have easily happened." The wife used to be this famous singer before she enters into a love marriage and gives up music. The world then loses a great singer to a marriage. The story sounds simple, but is it really? The way it is developed, the film shows how a deceptively simple story can become quite complex in real life when human emotions and nature comes into the equation. To Mukherjee's credit, he handles it without any extreme theatrics. If I were thinking hard where the story becomes unrealistic, it really feels like finding a needle in a haystack.

I was in two minds about rating between 7 and 8. I could have rated it at 7 because in spite of a nicely made movie, it is slightly boring. But then I compared it with the film Guide, which was made few years later. It also dealt with emotional complexities around man-woman relationship. Guide had fantastic music, dances and songs. However, ultimately the story writer seemed to have lost control. So I bumped my rating of Anuradha to 8. Lastly in terms of music-- what can you say when the music director is none other than the legendary Maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar. The songs are outstanding. I only wish we had more of these beautiful songs. All in all, Anuradha is a good movie to see with your family on an evening when you just want to sit in front of TV and relax.