Anand: A Review

Directed: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Written: Bimal Dutta, Gulzar, D.N. Mukherjee, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Biren Tripathy
Starring: Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan
Music:
Salil Choudhury
Release date: 5 March 1971
Running time: 123 minutes
The movie is widely considered as one of the best films of Hindi film industry and the role of Anand is regarded as one of Rajesh Khanna's
best roles. And it indeed lives up to the expectations one has while watching the film. At the time when masala stories!!, dheeshum
dhheeshum!!and tears with maa-behen ki izzat and khushiyan was becoming the formula for the success of bollywood films, Hrishi Das
movies always showed to the viewers the road less travelled by. Anand is one of his masterpieces that does not have anything too
dramatic about it yet it managed pretty well to imprint its marks on the hearts of the viewers, then and today.
In the beginning, movie comments very subtly on the irony of how even the best of all writers and arts, was not getting the due that it
deserved. A situation that has been degraded even more for hindi writers today.
The background of the film is about the philosophy of life or rather how to live life. A movie released in 1971, gives us, the people in 2015, a
chance to get a glimpse of what our world was like in those days!.It was simple and tough, with fewer gadgets and to be honest a bit less
chaotic than ours. Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee (Amitabh Bhachchan) is an oncologist who feels so much for his patients that his frustrations of not
being able to do something for them sometimes burst out as anger or dejection on them. 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. In contrast is shown Dr. Kulkarni ,
another doctor and a very good friend of Bhaskar, who believes that if he is charging money from the rich for the suspicions of ailments and
helping the needy ones with that money, then its not wrong. Here two contrasting approaches are shown and both with good intent, just like
the contrast between idealism and realism and how both the paths have their own pros and cons.We read some things in text books and
see people do something else. That is exactly the difference between Bhaskar and Kulkarni.
For bhaskar life is gloomy and he is losing hope and the goal for which he became a doctor. Enter. Anand. Dr. Kulkarni 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. Anands ideologies are pretty simple yet existential and free willed. He is beyond the
mediocrity of life. Anands complexly simple fundas extraordinarily written by Gulzar and narrated smoothly by Khannas play give a
larger than life colour to the character. He is dying yet exuberant, he body is weak but his mind is always radiant and happy.
Hrishi-Da, best known for his works genuineness and warmth, waves his wand of simplicity and created yet another masterpiece.
The magnificence of his writing and direction is evident in almost all the scenes whether its Anands light hearted comedy,
Bhaskars restlessness to save his only friend or Sister Tisas tears for Anand.
Gulzar and Yogeshs philosophical lyrics , Salils soothing, calm yet deeply piercingly deep compositions and Mukesh and Manna
Deys silvery and singsong voices fills in the rest of the gaps left to complete the story of Anand in the most sublime way.
Evergreen sure is coined for works like Anand!! !!