This 1970 classic by Hrishikesh Mukherjee is in my humble opinion the best movie ever made in India. Lots of filmmakers claim their movies entertain and have a message but "Anand" is an example of how a movie can be funny, emotional, uplifting, message-oriented and tragic at the same time.
It is a simple tale of a young man from Delhi, Anand (Rajesh Khanna) who is suffering from a fatal disease called "lymphocercoma of the intestine" and how his jovial, optimistic, talkative and do-good nature affects the people he interacts with the last few weeks of his life in Bombay where he comes to, for his treatment. The most important thread of the movie is the deep friendship Anand forms with his doctor, Dr Banarjee (Amitabh Bachchan), whom Anand addresses as Babu Moshai.. Dr Banarjee is a cynical young doctor is deeply affected by the poverty and sufferings around him and he turns bitter and pessimistic because of the apathy all around him and doesnt believe there is any hope of things improving in the society. The transformation in him once he starts interacting with Anand is brought out beautifully in the movie. So much so that at the end of the movie when Anand is close to dying he is the only one that doesnt give up hope and is desperately trying to save him. The movie does well to just concentrate on the going ons and not delve into Anand's dark past (his broken relationship which is never explained fully)
Rajesh Khanna shines and delivers a performance of a lifetime. It is so easily his best movie and performance. Amitabh Bachchan as usual is great and this was his first big hit film and he graduated to starring roles after this although it took him 3 more years to get his next hit with Zanjeer. Ramesh Deo is excellent as a common friend. Three brilliant cameos stand out - Lalita Pawar who plays the nurse, Johny Walker who plays the theatre personality and Durga Khote who plays Babu Moshai's prospective mom-in-law. Salil Choudhary's music is excellent with great songs. The dialogues are legendary.
This is definetly a must-see and still very relevant in today's times. What stands out in the movie is the simplicity in every department - the clothes, the sets, the music. But that is typical of every Hrishikesh Mukherjee film. He is in my opinion one of the top 3 directors India has produced. This film was based on the friendship he shared with Raj Kapoor. Anand's character was based on Raj Kapoor's and Babu Moshai's character was based on his own. I would urge anyone who hasnt watched this movie to watch it atleast once. As for me, I will probably watch it for the 450th time tonight.
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