Anand - 1971

 

 

 

Star Cast :

•   Super Star Rajesh Khanna as Anand Sehgal
•   Amitabh Bachchan as Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee a.k.a. Babu Moshai
•   Sumita Sanyal as Renu
•   Ramesh Deo as Dr. Prakash Kulkarni a.k.a. Dost
•   Seema Deo as Suman Kulkarni
•   Lalita Pawar as Matron
•   Durga Khote as Renu’s mother
•   Johnny Walker as Isa Bhai
•   Asit Sen as Bhaskar’s patient
•   Dara Singh as Pahalwan

 

 

Other Film Crew’s :

• Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
• Produced by Hrishikesh Mukherjee & N.C. Sippy
• Written by Bimal Dutta, Gulzar,  D.N. Mukherjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee & Biren Tripathy
• Music by Salil Choudhury
• Cinematography by Jaywant Pathare
• Edited by Hrishikesh Mukherjee
• Distributed by Digital Entertainment &  Shemaroo Video Pvt. Ltd.
• Release date : 5 March 1971
• Language : Hindi
• Country : India

Introduction :

Anand (English: Bliss) is a 1971 Indian drama film written and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. It stars Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles, with Khanna playing the title role. The dialogues were written by Gulzar. The film won several awards including the filmfare award for best film in 1972.

Summary :

The film begins with a felicitation ceremony arranged for Dr. Bhaskar (Amitabh Bachchan) who has just written a book titled Anand. Bhaskar is a cancer specialist and after the congratulatory speeches, he reveals that the book is not a work of fiction but taken from his own diary and pertains to his experiences with a real person named Anand.

In flashback, Bhaskar is shown as an honest and committed physician who is happier dealing with genuine suffering than with the rich and their imagined ailments. He is blunt to a fault and does not conceal a patient’s true predicament from him or her, regardless of the seriousness of the condition. Dr. Kulkarni, his friend, introduces him to Anand (Rajesh Khanna) who is dying from intestinal cancer. Bhaskar is struck by Anand’s good cheer and is shocked to learn that Anand is aware of his true condition.

Anand and Bhaskar become fast friends and Anand decides to bring happiness into Bhaskar’s life. Bhaskar had once cured Renu (Sumita Sanyal) of pneumonia. He fell in love with her but was unable to propose to her. Anand decides to bring Renu and Bhaskar together, and the two are together when Anand finally dies.

Production :

Anand was originally supposed to star famous Bollywood actors Kishore Kumar and Mehmood in lead roles. 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. Mukherjee was asked to meet Kishore Kumar to discuss the project. However, when he went to Kishore Kumar’s residence, 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 was involved in a dispute with this man over financial matters. He had instructed his gatekeeper to drive away this “Bengali”, if he ever visited the house. The gatekeeper misunderstood Mukherjee to be this “Bengali”, and refused him entry. The incident hurt Mukherjee and he decided not to work with Kumar. Consequently, Mehmood had to leave the film as well, and new actors Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, were signed up.

Film expert and musicologist Rajesh Subramanian says that Hrishikesh Mukherjee shot the film in 28 days.

The character of Anand was inspired by Raj Kapoor, who used to call Hrishikesh Mukherjee “Babu Moshay”. It is believed that Mukherjee wrote the film when once Raj Kapoor was seriously ill and Mukherjee thought that he may die. The film is dedicated to “Raj Kapoor and the people of Bombay”.

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

Music Sound Track :

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

Before confirming Chaudhary as the film’s music director, Mukherjee approached Lata Mangeshkar for the job as she had already worked as a music director in Marathi films under the pseudonym of “Anandghan”. She, however, politely refused the offer and decided to sing the songs in the film rather than composing them.

S.No.  Song Title    Playback  Singer(s)      Lyricist

1. Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli - by Manna Dey & Lyrics by Yogesh
2. Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye - by Mukesh & Lyrics by Yogesh
3. Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne - by Mukesh & Lyrics by Gulzar
4. Na Jiya Lage Na - by Lata Mangeshkar & Lyrics by Gulzar

Although Kishore Kumar had become the voice of Rajesh Khanna since the success of Aradhana, in this film, music director Salil Choudhury insisted that Mukesh’s voice would give the required pathos to Anand’s character. Rajesh Khanna readily agreed to the suggestion. Once when asked which song was his favorite, Rajesh Khanna said it was Mukesh’s song `Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye’ from Anand.

Awards :

National Film Awards

 1971 : Best Feature Film in Hindi : Hrishikesh Mukherjee & N.C. Sippy

Filmfare Awards :

•   1972: Best Film : Hrishikesh Mukherjee & N.C. Sippy
•   1972: Best Actor : Rajesh Khanna
•   1972: Best Supporting Actor : Amitabh Bachchan
•   1972: Best Dialogue : Gulzar
•   1972: Best Editing : Hrishikesh Mukherjee
•   1972: Best Story : Hrishikesh Mukherjee