Anand (Movie Review)

Such a beautiful story. A recommendation from a friend. Co-starring a very young Amitabh Bachan.

However, the real star of the show was Rajesh Khanna. I was told he was a famous handsome Hindi superstar from those days. This is evident in the character he portrayed, Anand. He was very committed to it too. Never a dull moment in the movie with Anand around, you will quickly fall in love with the character. He played a cancer patient who had a few months to live and refused to be sad about it and lived his remaining life to the fullest. In a span of a few short months, he made new friends and touched the lives of a few close ones, even sparked a relationship for a couple of them. The movie is really about cherishing your relationships, following your heart and living a joyful life.

I did not understand why there are song interludes in Hindi movies when I was younger, but as I watch more movies over the years (including musicals), I started to understand their purpose. Songs are usually used to convey the current feeling or mood of a scene. These includes: happy, sad, in love, determined, defeated, rising up etc. They make instant video clips too. This movie have some of those which does suggests that Anand was hiding a sad side of him despite his jovial nature, a side that was revealed towards the end of the story.

One great plus to this movie is it made the effort to capture the essence of the 70s, from the scenery of 70's Delhi to the hip clothing to rotating dial phones all the way to the rectangular shaped cars with oval headlights. It’s definitely a trip to the past. 

Anand is a must watch. I am impressed by the fact that they made a movie this good close to 50 years ago and it is still relevant to our society today.