Anand

The most loved Hindi film is now 50 years old. But the freshness remains & our love for it is un- diminished. Besides Anand ,Babu moshay, the role played by Amitabh Bachchan is one of the iconic ones in the film industry.

If ‘lympho sarcoma of the intestines’ is a disease it remains the same today. So many cancers, cancer patients around us but few have the ability to laugh it off. The doctors, nurses & the friends around never pity him. He needs people around to support & now to cry for him.

“Anand marte nahi, mar nahi sakte” he remains the epitome of a good laugh. His presence a forever festival of sorts. I wonder who was the girl he fell for, who couldn’t reciprocate his feelings. The dried rose flower in his poetry book remains an enigma. He is the catalyst for the love life of Babu moshay but his love remains buried in his poetry.

‘Zindagi kaisi hai paheli hai…’ the beach & the ballons are the only backdrop it needs. Kishorda & his voice weaving their magic with Anand in his kurta dhoti. Where are the directors like Hrishikesh Mukerji & thie sensitivity?

Each song carried the story further, it was never a filler or time pass. Calling any person on the street just to strike a conversation was a fabulous idea. It gives him Johnny Walker, a drama artist who fills his life with the magic of stage. ‘Hum sab is rangmanch ki Kathputlia hai. Ek din saab ko ise chodkar jana hai’

If the broken tape was the ultimate scene here, Amitabh shouting himself hoarse & unable to accept his loss was just perfect. Without sugar coating or glamorising death, it was there.

For a good film we don’t need to see it again & again, it’s there with you. The inconsolable pair of friends, Ramesh & Seema Deo, Lalita Pawar as matron D’sa, were the people you meet in your life. It was not watching the film but living with Anand & experiencing his agony.