I saw this movie at the tender age of 13, the era, when Shammi Kapoor was rollicking on the slopes of Kashmir screaming yahoo! Yes, this word was invented by Shammi Kapoor! who I hear is a computer buff, I wonder if he has Yahoo email..yahoo@yahoo.com! When you can remember when and where you saw a movie it says something about the impact it made on you. A haunting melody, an exuberant performance, or a damsel actress that you had a secret crush on (I should confess that it was Asha Parekh!) So the scene that was struck in my young mind was, Rajesh Khanna, singing "Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaaye"...a haunting melody by any standards. So, when I wanted to watch a movie in solitude, one of my few choices was "Anand". I wanted the nostalgia that only a good movie can bring. Yes, the movie not only brought nostalgia, but also brought tears, melancholy and sadness, at which time, I realized, that a great director has worked me over. No one could have done justice to portraying a cancer stricken patient as Rajesh Khanna did in this classic. Khanna, was an upcoming actor at that time, and somehow the films he starred had some enchanting melodies and hummable tunes. "Anand", is one of the rare movies you enjoy watching because there is this silence afterwords, where words spoken would be a nuisance. The performance is subtle as compared to some of the garish over acting that we see by the imbecile Khans in the latter year movies so much so you hope there is never be a remake of this. This is one of the best performance by an actor, wherever this profession is practiced. Like any good movie, this was an amalgamation of talent, like the direction of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, music of Salil Chaudhry and a fine supporting cast that included Amitab Bachchan, who, incidentally, is subdued. That leaves me wondering if he was watching and learning from a great fellow actor at work. All said and done, this movie is etched in my memory, so much so, this is one of the Top Ten Indian Movies on my short list. Yes, a sheer Poetry in Motion.
