Anand (1971 film)
| Anand | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
| Produced by | Hrishikesh Mukherjee N.C. Sippy |
| Written by | Bimal Dutta Gulzar D.N. Mukherjee Hrishikesh Mukherjee Biren Tripathy |
| Starring | Rajesh Khanna Amitabh Bachchan |
| Music by | Salil Choudhury |
| Cinematography | Jaywant Pathare |
| Edited by | Hrishikesh Mukherjee |
| Distributed by | Digital Entertainment Shemaroo Video Pvt. Ltd. |
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Release dates
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5 March 1971 |
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Running time
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123 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
Anand (English: Bliss) is a 1971 Indian drama film co-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. In 2013, it was listed in Anupama Chopra's book "100 Films To See before You Die".[1]
Contents
Plot
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.
Cast
- 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
Production
Anand was originally supposed to star actors Kishore Kumar and Mehmood in 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. 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.[2] Consequently, Mehmood had to leave the film as well. Both Raj Kapoor and Shashi Kapoor were offered the lead before Rajesh Khanna.[3]
Film expert and musicologist Rajesh Subramanian says that Mukherjee shot the film in 28 days.[4] The screenplay of Anand was written by Gulzar (who also wrote dialogues and lyrics of a few songs), Bimal Dutt, D.N. Mukherjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.[5] The character of Anand was inspired by Raj Kapoor, who used to call Mukherjee "Babu Moshay".[6] It is believed that Mukherjee wrote the film when once Kapoor was seriously ill and Mukherjee thought that he may die. The film was dedicated to Kapoor and the people of Bombay.[4] Later, Anand was remade in Malayalam, with the name Chitrashalabham, starring Jayaram and Biju Menon.[7]
Music
| Anand | ||||
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| Soundtrack album to Anand by Salil Chaudhary | ||||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Language | Hindi | |||
| Label | Saregama | |||
| Salil Chaudhary chronology | ||||
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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.[7] One song, "Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye" was composed by LB Lachman.[6]
| Song | Singer | Lyricist |
|---|---|---|
| Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli[8] | Manna Dey | Yogesh |
| Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye | Mukesh | Yogesh |
| Maine Tere Liye Hi Saat Rang Ke Sapne | Mukesh | Gulzar |
| Na Jiya Lage Na | Lata Mangeshkar | 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
- 1971: Best Feature Film in Hindi: Hrishikesh Mukherjee, N.C. Sippy
- 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
Home media release
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DVD release
Numerous DVD editions entered the market by companies like "Digital Entertainment inc.", Shemaroo Entertainment and "Eagle Home Video". These were released as non-restored, non re-mastered editions and bare bones, void of supplementary features.
Blu-ray release
Eagle Home Video came out with a restored edition of this movie, preserving the original aspect ratio in 4:3 pillar box and a DTS Master Audio (HD) in 2.0. The restoration took place in Shemaroo studios.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Zaveri 2005, p. 133.
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- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Saran 29 January 2014, p. 117.
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Further reading
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