Remembering Anand

Motion Picture : Anand
Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Durga Khote, Sumita Sanyal, Dara Singh, Johnny Walker, Lalita Pawar, Ramesh Deo, Seema Deo and Rajesh Khanna as Anand Sehgal
Director : Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Music Director : Salil Chowdhury

“Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye, saanjh ki dulhan badan chupaye, chupke se aaye” -  Song from the movie Anand

Whenever I feel desolate, I always hum these lines in my mind. This song is very close to my heart and so is the movie and it’s memorable characters. I recall the memories of seeing ‘Anand’ on Doordarshan during my school days in 1992.

The movie  “Anand” is about discovering happiness even in the hours of adverisities. The story revolves around Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee (played by Amitabh Bachchan) and his optimistic, happy go lucky patient Anand Sehgal (played by Rajesh Khanna). The story of the movie is presented in flashback where Dr.Bhaskar Bannerjee, now a renowned cancer specialist recalls the memories of his days he spent while treating his patient named Anand.

Even though Anand is suffering from a fatal disease, he believes in living life at the fullest. Since he desires to spend his last days cheerfully, he leaves hospital without informing the staff and decides to stay at Bhaskar’s house so that he can get the opportunity to fill every moment of life with compassion and happiness.

 On one side, Bhaskar is a shy and quiet person while on the other side, Anand is a smart, charming chatterbox. Initially, Bhaskar refrains from Anand, but slowly Bhaskar discovers the true meaning of life in the companionship of Anand. Anand doesn’t leaves any opportunity in befriending people around him and always succeeds in winning their hearts with his innocent charm. As the movie progresses, Anand’s health starts worsening and Dr.Bhaskar puts all his effort to save Anand. Even though Anand passes away in the climax, his short life motivates Dr.Bhaskar to become a successful cancer specialist and a author of the book titled “Anand”.

“ Babu Moshay, Zindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahin” (Life should be big, not long)  – A memorable dialogue from movie Anand

Every dialogue from this movie is memorable. The movie not only brings a smile on your face, but also makes you break in tears during the climax. I was deeply touched with the ending scene and felt like as I had lost one of my close friend. Such was the charm of the lively, happy go lucky and talkative character named Anand.

The role of Anand was earlier offered to Kishore Kumar, but luck was favorable for Rajesh Khanna. As the camera rolled, Rajesh Khanna was ready to step in the shoes of Anand. No other actor could have portrayed the role of Anand with such charm and liveliness as Rajesh Khanna did. This role was really authorbacked!!!. After watching this movie, I became a die hard fan of director Hrishikesh Mukherjee and actor Rajesh Khanna. All the songs in this movie are soulful and were composed by Salil Chaudhari, the legendary music composer.


Both these characters, Anand and Dr.Bhaskar became popular in the history of Indian cinema and were considered as a milestones in the careers of Rajesh Khanna and the struggling Amitabh Bachchan, who later went on to become the next super star. The characters of this movie were believable and the storyline had a slice of reality which really appealed to the audience of all classes.  Even the 2003 movie “Kal ho na ho” was inspired by Anand.
Shahrukh Khan portrayed the role of a weak hearted patient which was equally memorable.

Through this article, I have taken a small effort to revive the era of 70’s cinema and pay a tribute to the legendary actor Rajesh Khanna, also known as “Anand”.

Have you ever met across any such person like Anand in your life? The person may be your teacher, classmate, professor, soulmate, neighbour or your close friend. Just do share your experiences by commenting on this article. Whatever may be the situation in the life, always stay smiling and never shed your tears. Friends, I hate tears L

Celebrate the moments of your life cheerfully and always say “All is well”.