Anand

The term "Babu Moshai" means "great gentleman." Raj Kapoor often used the term to address Hrishikesh Mukherjee affectionately, just as Anand addresses Banerjee in the film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee initially envisioned Raj Kapoor's brother Shashi Kapoor for the role of Anand. He wanted Raj Kapoor himself, but Kapoor had just recovered from an illness, and Mukherjee could not bear to see him die on screen when he had nearly died in real life. In any case, Shashi Kapoor was not very keen on the role, so Rajesh Khanna took it; it remains his most memorable role alongside Aradhana (1969) and Amar Prem (1972).

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee revived the careers of Salil Choudhury, whose career had stalled in Bombay due to a lack of commercial acceptance, and Yogesh, a then-forgotten lyricist. After the film, their careers revived significantly.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Because Anand was a low-budget film, Rajesh Khanna waived his fee and accepted only 7 lakh INR for it.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

The song "Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli" was initially proposed as the background song for the title sequence. After hearing it, Rajesh Khanna felt it would be a waste to use such a beautiful song as a background track over the titles. He suggested to director Hrishikesh Mukherjee that he create a setting for the song. In those days, songs played in the background over titles were played less often on the radio.

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

In an interview, Raju Hirani said that during a meeting with Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Mukherjee told him that Anand was completed in only 28 days.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Director Hrishikesh Mukerji dedicated the film to the city of Mumbai (then Bombay). In an interview, he stated that the vitality of the city of Mumbai closely resembled the vitality of the main character, Anand.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Although Kishore Kumar had become Rajesh Khanna's voice since the success of Aradhana, music director Salil Choudhury insisted on this film that Mukesh's voice would give Anand's character the emotion it needed. Rajesh Khanna immediately accepted the suggestion. When Rajesh Khanna was once asked which was his favorite song, he said it was Mukesh's song "Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye" from Anand.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The climax of the film, in which Rajesh Khanna dies, was frequently played on news channels when Rajesh Khanna died.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

After discussing the project with him, Hrishikesh Mukherjee went to sign Kishore Kumar for the film. However, Kishore Kumar's guard did not let him into the bungalow. Kishore Kumar had instructed him not to let a Bengali man who had come to meet him into the bungalow. Kishore Kumar had performed a music concert for a Bengali organizer who did not pay him, and the two had quarreled. The guard mistook Hrishikesh Mukherjee for that Bengali man. When filming began, Kishore Kumar learned of this and went to meet Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and when Hrishikesh Mukherjee told him the reason, he asked why he had not come to sign a contract with him. Kishore Kumar went and blasted his guard.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Amitabh Bachchan revealed on "Kaun Banega Crorepati" that he actually laughed during the scene in which Anand dies and his character hugs him and cries.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The film counts among Rajesh Khanna's 17 consecutive hit films between 1969 and 1971, adding the two-hero films "Marayada" and "Andaz" to his 15 consecutive solo hits from 1969 to 1971.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The film was generally inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru (1952).

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It was Amitabh Bachchan's first hit.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It is dedicated to Raj Kapoor, with whom Hrishikesh Mukherjee began his film career as an editor.

CAREER & AWARDS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee's first choices for the roles of Anand and Dr Bhaskar Banerjee were the Bengali matinee idols Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

Rajesh Khanna had no appointment to shoot for the song Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli. Director Hrishikesh Mukherjee therefore decided to have the song play in the background, while Rajesh Khanna would walk the streets of Juhu beach.

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

The screenplay of Anand was written by Gulzar, who also wrote the dialogues and lyrics for several songs.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The background music used for the film's sad scenes was later reused in Gulzar's directorial film "Mere Apne", released in September 1971 the same year, in the famous song "Koi Hota Jisko Apna".

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee came up with the idea of making the film while his close friend Raj Kapoor was suffering from illness and believed he would die, even though Raj Kapoor recovered.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Eagle Home Video released a restored version of the film that preserves the original aspect ratio in 4:3 letterbox and DTS Master Audio (HD) at 2.0. The restoration was carried out at Shemaroo studios.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The real-life couple Ramesh Deo and Seema Deo play the husband and wife.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee had also considered singer-actor Kishore Kumar for the role of Anand.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

The film was later remade in Malayalam as "Chitrashalabham" (1998).

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee told Dharmendra the story of Anand one day during the shooting of Satyakam. Dharmendra was completely happy and excited about the film and was told the role would be his. However, Dharmendra was shocked to learn that Rajesh Khanna had already begun shooting for the film. Angry and drunk, Dharmendra called Hrishikesh Mukherjee all night asking why the role had been given to Rajesh Khanna.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

Ramesh Deo and Seema Deo, who play a couple (Mr. and Mrs. Kulkarni) in the film, are also married in real life.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The film was approved by the censors on 31 December 1970.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Because Mukherjee had worked as a music director in Marathi films under the pseudonym "Anandghan", he approached Lata Mangeshkar to compose the songs. However, she politely declined and decided to sing the film's songs rather than compose them.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The background music used in the sad scenes is the melody of the song "Koi Hota Jisko Apna" from the film 'Mere Apne'. Both films premiered in the same year, and the music for both was provided by Salil Chowdhury.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Naa Jiya Laage Naa. There was a great deal of confusion over the lyrics of this song before Gulzar's final version was chosen. Salil Chowdhury asked Yogesh to write the lyrics for the song, while director Hrishikesh Mukherjee also asked Gulzar to do the same. In the end, Yogesh's "Naa Ro Ankhiyaan" was not used because Hrishikesh Mukherjee planned to shoot the song with Gulzar's lyrics.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli. This classic Salil Chowdhury song almost did not happen. Another song in the film was mistakenly assigned to both Yogesh and Gulzar. In the end, Yogesh's lyrics - "Naa Ro Ankhiyaan" - went unused because Hrishikesh Mukherjee planned to shoot the song with Gulzar's lyrics. To compensate Yogesh, the producers decided to find a situation for a new song. It was under these circumstances that Yogesh wrote the lyrics of the film's most memorable song.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Naa Jiya Laage Naa. For this song, Salil Chowdhury reused his Bengali composition "Na Mono Laage Na", sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Naa Jiya Laage Naa. The melody of this iconic Salil Chowdhury song was originally planned for the unreleased film "Anand Mahal".

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye. For this song, Salil Chowdhury reused his Bengali composition "Amay Proshno Kore", sung by Hemant Kumar.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee was offered Sanjeev Kumar for the role of Babu Moshai. However, it was Rajesh Khanna who dissuaded him, saying that working with him would not be comfortable.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

The film was first titled "Anand Sanwad" in 1970.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In 1998, Anand was remade in Malayalam as Chitrashalabham (1998), with director Hrishikesh Mukherjee credited in the titles as "story."

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The melody of the song "Koi Hota Jisko Apna" from Mere Apne had previously been used at the climax of Anand.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Hrishikesh Mukherjee brought back Salil Choudhury, whose career had been going nowhere due to a lack of commercial acceptance in Bombay at the time, and Yogesh, then a forgotten lyricist. Both of their careers revived significantly after the film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The roles of Anand and Dr. Bhaskar were initially to be played by Kishore Kumar and Mahamood, but the parts later went to Amitabh and Rajesh Khanna.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED