Foreword:
After my earlier postings on ‘Madhumati’ and ‘Guide’, I thought it was time again for re-visiting another classic.
So join me this time for the matinee show of ‘Anand’, the 1971 classic produced by N.C.Sippy and directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, which could possibly be THE BEST Hindi film that many of us would have seen!
‘Anand’ – A classic that won’t die! – Matinee with me.
A book is being inaugurated. Dr. Bhaskar (Amitabh Bachhan), the author of the book is asked to say a few words. He rises up to the mike and hesitantly starts, ‘Maaf kijiye, Mujhe bolna nahin aata. Aap log jise kitaab samajh rahen hain, woh sirf mere diary-ke kuch panne hain’. (‘What you think is a book, is nothing but a few pages from my diary).
As the ‘panne’ unfurl, you are taken back in time and you see the introverted and conscientious Doctor roaming in slums with his medical kit. He is an angry young man. He is angry with Life. He is angry with Death. Also he is angry with his own helplessness to keep both apart! He attends to a man on death-bed and quickly gets up, making no bones about his limitation to the weeping woman -‘Main Sirf Doctor hoon, Bhagwan nahin!’. As he steps out, he is greeted by another old lady from the neighbouring hutment with a ‘pedha’, because she just got a grand-child! The Doctor mutters wryly, ‘ Ek maraa hi nahin aur doosra paida ho gaya marneke liye!!’ (One is about to die and another is born to die!).
A few scenes later, a ‘toofan’ by the name of Anand Sehgal (Rajesh Khanna) gate-crashes into his clinic—and his life, as well! Anand is introduced by a common friend Dr. Prakash (Ramesh Deo) to the Doctor. Actually Anand arrives earlier than he is expected because he is always in a hurry, as his habit – he was also a pre-mature baby, he explains! Also—he is also going to die early! Anand has been referred to Dr. Bhaskar by Dr Prakash for a terminal illness – stomach cancer. Anand is eager to know the medical name of his illness. Dr. Bhaskar is not amused – ‘Bimari-ka naam jaankar kya karenge aap?!’, he snaps, ‘Agar main kahoon ki aapko lympocircoma of the intestine ho gaya, to kya kar lenge aap?!’ Much to the Dr.’s annoyment, Anand is thrilled by the name of his ailment! He feels it sounds like a Viceroy’s name and even fit to be announced in ‘Vividh Bharati’!
Gulzar’s witty one-liners and punny punch-lines keep darting at you throughout the film! Sometimes they tickle your ribs, sometimes they pull your ears ---and sometimes they hit you hard on the chest!
Anand replies that he knows very well what is his problem and then corners the Doctor – ‘Lekin aap itna naraaz kyun ho gaye! O Samjha! Aap mujhse nahin, apne aap-se naraaz hai kyunki iska ilaaj nahin ho sakta! Babumoshai! Itna pyar achha nahin hota!!’ (You are angry with yourself because you can’t cure it! This much love is not good!). ‘Babu-moshai! Zindagi lambi nahin, badi honi chhahiye!’ (‘Life should be big, not long!’). ‘Agar marne-ki darse jeena chod de, to phir zindagi kise kehte hain?!’ (‘If we cease living due to fear of death, then what do you call ‘life’?’). Anand does not fear his end, but makes the audience dread to sit through the inevitable last reel!
I haven’t seen a film that so blatantly plays with your emotions, leaving you mixed-up whether to laugh or to cry! Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s brilliant direction, riveting screen-play and razor-sharp editing puts you under a spell and makes you sit there with a smile on your lips, eyes blurred by tears, as the man chased by death, lives his last reels!
Anand gets busy making the most of every single fleeting moment by spreading cheer around him. That includes non-stop chattering with wisecracks strewn liberally, playing pranks and bantering with people around including absolute strangers! He strikes a rapport with the senior Dr. Prakash and his wife after mongering up a minor tiff between the couple. When she ‘makes’ him as her brother and asks for ‘aashirwad’, Anand says, ‘How can I bless you? I can’t even tell, ‘meri umar tujhe lag jaaye’’! The poignant moment in the film sets off the prelude for one of the most touching Mukesh songs and penned by Yogesh, ‘Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye---‘. But these are only the few moments when Anand gets misty-eyed. Otherwise he is out in the streets going after total strangers and patting them on the back ‘zabardasti’-ly calling them by an imaginary name, ‘Murarilal’! He gets back a resounding response with double vigour from Johnny Walker who exclaims to Anand, ‘Arre! Jaichand! Tum Yahan!!’! When Amitabh intervenes and explains that his name is not Jaichand, but Anand, an unflappable JW says, ‘Main bhi Murarilal nahin hoon. Main hoon Issabhai!’. He be-friends Dara Singh and gets a tip or two on wrestling! Anand collects friends and admirers around him, who get drawn close to him and then are unable to face his inevitable end. The stern matron (Lalita Pawar) succumbs to his charms when called, ‘Mother Mary’! Hrishikesh-da takes a leaf out of his earlier film ‘Anari’ and re-plays the interaction between a ‘tough’ Lalita Pawar, and a golden-hearted hero with better finesse.
But Anand’s strong dose is reserved for his new-found Doctor-Friend Bhaskar , alias ‘Babu-moshai’ (as christened by him) and teaches the ‘mentally sick’ doctor a lesson or two about the ‘Art of living’! Anand declares ‘Bas kar!’ to Bhaskar’s negativity! Whenever Bhaskar slips into his melancholic brooding and reluctance to open up his feelings, Anand pulls him up.He even embarrasses the doctor by announcing to public during a tonga-ride that his ‘buddhu’-friend has fallen in love! When the lady in question arrives one day at the door-step and asks Anand, ‘Zara Doctor Saab-ko bhulayenge?’, Anand says, ‘Zara kyun, poora hi bhulata hoon’! The love-birds start for the beach and out of courtesy asks anand if he would care to join them. Anand gets ready instantly much to the dismay of the Doctor. The doc mutters to his girl-friend, ‘formality-ke liye bhulaya to idiot fauran taiyyar ho gaya!’.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee beautifully brings out the ironical interplay between two contrasting characters, one an able Doctor, but hypocritical and frustrated and pessimistic who is obsessed with death (‘Maut! Tu ek kavita hai’, he romanticizes death) and the other a dying patient, but open-minded and radiant who is still fascinated by Life (‘Zindagi! Kaisi yeh paheli—haai!, he sings about Life). Gulzar’s pithy dialogues ensure that there is not a single dull moment in a plot that could have easily turned into typical ‘rona-dhona’ with a wrong tilt! Rajesh Khanna is superlative in a role of his life-time and Amitabh Bachhan astounds with his intensity in an initial supporting role of his career. Gulzar and Yogesh write some memorable lyrics and Salil Chowdhry gives four fine numbers two with Mukesh, one with Manna Dey and one with Lata Mangeshkar, not to forget an extra-ordinary back-ground score that take turns from being liltingly chirpy and broodingly dark to match the flow of the film's narration.
The song-sequences are wonderfully picturised. Let me recount one of them, (extracting from one of my earlier posts):
The three-some are at the beach. Anand sits like ‘kabab-me-haddi’ close to his reticent doctor-friend and the friend’s newly found lady-love. The friend feels awkward in professing his love for the lady, so he starts talking about the sun and sea. Anand gets up and blasts his friend ,’ Buddhu! You can’t even tell her that you love her! You hypocrite! I hate you!’. Then he walks away from them leaving them to their privacy. Amitabh, the friend turns to his lady and discloses that Anand is a dying man and living his last few days. As the song’s prelude begins, Anand (Rajesh Khanna) buys himself and some kids a bunch of balloons. He then walks on the beach with chappals on hand and hair blown by the air. He releases his balloons in the air, watches them and wonders ‘ek din sapnonka rahi---chala jaaye sapnonse aage kahan---zindagi kaisi yeh paheli haai—kabhi yeh hansaaye—kabhi yeh rulaaye’. Manna Dey’s booming ‘bulund’ voice reflects the ‘never-say-die’ strength of Anand’s character. The sky, the sea and the distant horizon are lovingly captured by Jaywant Pathhare’s camera .Yogesh’s lyrics and Salil-Chowdhry’s fusion music are exemplary for the situation. Hrishikesh Mukherjee is at his simple, symbolic and philosophical best in this song-sequence that is soul-stirring.
Finally the dreaded last few minutes of the film and Anand’s life arrive. Anand is on death-bed and the doctor who had been so for an atheist rushes out to fetch a magical herb from somewhere to make a last bid to save Anand. But he returns a bit too late to find Anand at last silenced. In a spine-chilling scene, the doctor shakes his friend trying to wake him up –‘ Aise kaise jaa sakte ho? Tumhari bak-bak sunte aaya hoon main! Baaten karo mujh-se! Baaten karo mujhse!’, and suddenly Anand’s voice sounds (from the tape-recorder) ; ‘"Zindagi aur maut uparwale ke haath mein hai, Jahanpanah. Hum sab rangmanch ki kathputliyan hain jinki dor uparwale ki ungliyon se bandhi hui hai. Kab kaun uthega koi nahin bata sakta. Ha ha ha." (We are all puppets in the hands of the supreme being who holds the strings of our lives. We will never know which string he will pull next). As the Doctor breaks down over his friend’s body and his weeping sound merges with Anand’s pre-recorded eerie laughter, we make an exit with a lump on throat from this incredibly emotional catharsis of an experience called 'Anand'!
As we leave, Bachhan’s baritone declares in the back-ground ,’‘Anand’ Maraa nahin! ‘Anand’ Marta Nahin!’
True! Such classics never die!
Regards,
S.V.Nathan.
P.S: I wanted to add an exclusive piece on ‘the men who gave us ‘Anand’’, but to curtail the length of the post, I intend to post it soon as a supplement. So watch out for it, and also some more matinee shows with me!
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This was a delightful and nostalgia invoking review for me.......................the movie is an all-time fave of mine though i later on went on to avoid R Khanna when, to me, he started appearing to be too full of himself. This is probably my best movie of AB, long before he became the angry young/old man parodying himself over and over again while laughing all the way to the bank.
bachchan's last monologue over RK's dead body stirs me even today thoug I thought the tape recorded voice chipping in was a bit corny................anyway, it went with the general emotional overdrive of the situation in very filmy eshtyle!!
lakshmi
(and now this had better go through
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Dear Archana,
That was 'Namak Haraam', also directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee, which was a terrific movie as well, but not in the same league as 'Anand'.
Regards,
Nathan.
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Dear Sir,
I agree here; there was one more with Rajesh Khanna, (I forget the name) of the same era, which was good...after that, well, "Angry Man" ruled!!
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Dear Nathan-ji, and Babu Moshai ji
Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli
Kabhi Wo Hasaaye, Kabhi Wo Rulaaye
Kahin Duur Jab Aapka Blog Miss Ho Jaaye
Friday Sham Ko Computer Mujhe Ghar Bhagaaye
Phir Monday Morning Wo Mujhe Yaad Dilaaye
Tere Itne Acche Anand Blog Ke
Mein Gun Gaaye Ke Mer Dil Se
Ye Saare Madhur Comment Nikal jaaye.
Nathan-ji. Love your blog like anything. You have very brilliantly covered about Anand dialogues, story, songs, characters that it seems while reading I am once again watching this classic movies. Anand is my one of the most favorite movies which is inspiring and challenging film for those who don’t dare to survive in this world. Love the most RK awesome actions and lovely role which is immortal and sounding still in my soul his each and every dialogue piece. AB was a quite cool and volatile in his dialogue who occasionally deliver his concerned feelings for his patient and at last it’s very touching. Even a stone-hearted fellow will broke out.Love AB
Hats off to u for your excellent write-up and do excuse me for being late in my response. I don’t have these days my own PC. And I am always on off-line on weekends. I hope you will not mind about the same. I love and appreciate most your brilliant composition of Anand blog. Good collections of picture too. Enjoyed your blog. Do keep on writing such blogs.
Regards,
Mukesh
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My Dear Nathan Moshai,
You are making me more and more nostalgic with your comments. You also have a very good memory of "beeti huwi zindagi" just like me. You are right "HINDMATA" was not a good theatre for decent family people to watch movies and hence "Ananad" was shifted to from "HINDMATA" to "CHITRA" Talkies. Who knows maybe I and you were together in CHITRA TALKIES in 1971 at the same time watching same move "Anand". And although I could not see you then destiny arranged for our meeting 37 years later through the medium of this Sulekha platform.
Are Vo Nathan Saab, when you were watching "Anand" while I was also watching "Aap Cinema Hall Me Ek Ishra Kar Dete, Ke Aap Talkies Me Baithe Huwe Hai Aur Phir Interval Me Main aapse Mil Leta". Just blabbering abour something impossible like when one talks about his past life, reincarnation etc.
Anyways, that Karaoke for "Mana Janaabne ", I got it from one of my own Karaoke Tape which was lying around in my house.
Anyways, nice talking to you one more time.
Warm Regards,
Dr. Kamath
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My dear Dr.Kamath-Moshai,
Thank you so much for your 2 comments and 105 marks! Aapne prove kar diya ki aap 'kanjoos' nahin hain! But I don't deserve such excessive marks! My idea was just to share my experience of watching some good yesteryears' movies with like-minded film-buffs like you! I think I re-kindled your nostalgic memories as usual! I can understand that the film and the song 'Kahin door jab--' would have made your heart heavier when you were starting alone for U.S alone leaving your wife and child!
As guessed, you also saw the film at 'Chitra' like I did! I am sure, like me, you would have avoided seeing the film at 'Hindmata' where it was released first considering the quality of the theatre and waited till it was shifted to 'Chitra'! Am I right? It is strange that when you remember a good movie you had seen long back, you not only remember which theatre, but also remember exactly which spot in the theatre you sat and with whom you saw the movie etc.! Like a song in the movie says, 'Chhoti chhoti baaton-ki hain yaadein badi'! It was as if only yesterday I saw the film. I think I was in SSC. I remember the film had a tremendous impact on my mind and haunted my thoughts for a week at least!
Reciprocating my best wishes to You and your family,
S.V.Nathan.
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Dear Archana,
Thanks for the visit and the appreciation!
I am sure your grand-dad, uncles and cousins would have enjoyed 'Anand' as much as you did!
That was the beauty and universal appeal of this movie!
Regards,
Nathan.
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Dear mindwarp,
Lovely lines that you have quoted!
Thanks for joining my matinee!
Your response shows that the film is time-less and has admirers without age-barriers!
Regards,
Nathan.
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Dear Naval-ji,
'Anand' and MNJ were released around the same time. MNJ's weak point was its undue length. Probably 'Anand' would have advised the 'Joker' - 'Film lambi nahin badi honi chhahiye!'
'Anand' was short on reels but it was 'big' in quality!
Regards,
Nathan.
P.S: I enjoyed your 'poetic' comment on Gopal-ji suleka-recipes blog! Good one!
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