Anand (Hindi: आनंद, Urdu: آنند) is a Hindi film written and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and released in 1971. It starred Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles; Khanna played the title role. The dialogues were written by Gulzar. They have a lyrical and poetic touch as the characters of Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee (played by Bachchan) and the dialogue writer of film, Gulzar, are poets in the film and in reality.

Indiatimes Movies ranks the movie amongst the "Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films". It is listed in "Hrishikesh Mukherjee's best films" compiled by rediff.com.^[1]

Plot outline[link]

The story is about Anand Sehgal (Rajesh Khanna), a cancer (lymphosarcoma of the intestine) patient who believes in living his life to the fullest. He comes to Mumbai to live his last days there and to meet his friend Kulkarni (Ramesh Dev). Contrasting Anand is Bhaskar Banerjee (Amitabh Bachchan), a sober doctor, upset with life and the dark reality of his nation. Bhaskar's tête-à-tête with Anand makes him notice the colours behind all the despair and complexity in one's life and teaches him a lesson. After spreading happiness everywhere around himself and changing the lives of many, Anand, as destined, leaves them all, which inspires Bhaskar to write a book on his life.

The film is a narrative, as Bhaskar writes in his diary about his life before Anand, his first meeting, how his relationship with him changes from a doctor-patient to a friend and then to a friend for whom he can do anything, and how a dying man changes his way of thinking to a great extent.

Cast[link]

• Rajesh Khanna as Anand Sehgal
• Amitabh Bachchan as Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee
• Sumita Sanyal as Renu
• Durga Khote as Renu's mother
• Johnny Walker as Isa Bhai (also called Murarilal)
• Asit Sen as Amitabh's patient
• Ramesh Deo as Dr Kulkarni
• Seema Deo as Mrs.Kulkarni
• Lalita Pawar as Matron
• Dara Singh as Pahalwan

Awards[link]

• 1972: Filmfare Best Movie Award: Hrishikesh Mukherjee, N.C. Sippy
• 1972: Filmfare Best Actor Award: Rajesh Khanna
• 1972: Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award: Amitabh Bachchan
• 1972: Filmfare Best Dialogue Award: Gulzar
• 1972: Filmfare Best Editing Award: Hrishikesh Mukherjee
• 1972: Filmfare Best Story Award: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Music[link]

The musical score for the film was composed by Salil Chaudhary. The lyrics were written by Gulzar and Yogesh. Gulzar wrote the poem "Maut To Ek Kawita Hai" which is narrated by Amitabh Bachchan.

Earlier Hrishi da had approached Lata Mangeshkar to work as a music director for this movie as she had already worked as a successful music director in Marathi movies under the pseudonym of "Anandghan". But she gracefully declined the offer and decided to sing for the film than composing it.

Making[link]

Anand was originally supposed to star famous Bollywood actors Kishore Kumar and Mehmood in the lead roles.^[2] One of the producers, N.C. Sippy, had earlier served as Mehmood's production manager. The character Babu Moshai was to be played by Mehmood. Hrishikesh was asked to meet Kishore Kumar to discuss the project. However, when Hrishikesh Mukherjee went to Kishore Kumar's house, he was driven away by the gatekeeper due to a misunderstanding. Kishore Kumar (himself a Bengali) had done a stage show organized by another Bengali man, and he was involved in a fight with this man over money matters. He had instructed his gatekeeper to drive away this "Bengali", if he ever visited the house. When Hrishikesh Mukherjee (also a Bengali) went to Kumar's house, the gatekeeper mistook him for the "Bengali" that Kishore Kumar had asked him to drive away. The incident hurt Mukherjee so much that he decided not to work with Kumar.^[2] Consequently, Mehmood had to leave the film as well, and new actors (Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan) were signed up.

The character of Anand was inspired by Raj Kapoor, who used to call Hrishikesh Mukherjee as "Babu Moshay". It is believed that Mukherjee wrote the film when once Raj Kapoor was seriously ill and he thought that he may die. The film is dedicated to "Raj Kapoor and the people of Bombay."^{[citation needed]}

Later, Anand was remade in Malayalam, with the name Chitrashalabham (Butterfly) starring Jayaram and Biju Menon.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Anand at the Internet Movie Database

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