Dr. Bhaskar Bannerjee struggles with his patients' suffering and the darkness and poverty he confronts daily. He treats cancer patient Anand who upon learning of his impending death determines to use the time he has left to the absolute fullest.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.3/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.90/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
Production
Rupam Chitra
Cast
Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Sumita Sanyal, Ramesh Deo, Seema Deo, Lalita Pawar, Johnny Walker, Dev Kishan, Durga Khote, Asit Sen, Lalita Kumari, Dara Singh, Brahm Bhardwaj, Atma Prakash
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, deeply moving Hindi drama about mortality, compassion, and choosing joy in the face of death. Its emotional directness and luminous lead performance make it a classic even when the sentiment runs high.
Best for
viewers who like heartfelt tearjerkers with humanist warmth
fans of classic Indian cinema and dialogue-driven dramas
people interested in stories about illness, dignity, and friendship
audiences who don’t mind melodrama when it’s grounded in sincerity
Skip if
you want a brisk, plot-heavy film
you dislike overt sentimentality or emotional speeches
you prefer modern pacing and understated performances
Overview
Anand is one of those films that turns a simple premise into something enduring: a dying man refuses to surrender his appetite for life, and the people around him are changed by his presence. The film’s power comes from its balance of grief and buoyancy, letting humor, tenderness, and philosophical reflection coexist without feeling mechanical.
Worth noting
Hrishikesh Mukherjee keeps the storytelling clean and direct, which helps the emotions land with unusual force. Rajesh Khanna’s performance is the film’s beating heart, all charm and radiance even as the clock is running out.
Bottom line
What lingers is not just sadness, but the film’s insistence that kindness can be a form of resistance. It is sentimental, yes, but in a way that feels earned, humane, and deeply watchable.
Top Letterboxd reviews
sneh · 408 likes
normalize telling a terminally ill man who you met less than six months ago that you want him to die only in your arms
nrh (4.5★) · 324 likes
rajesh khanna sings on the balcony, the tape runs out.
isn't melancholy beautiful too?
Joshua Arispe (4★) · 211 likes
“Death is just a moment.”
This is probably the first Bollywood movie I have ever seen. The story, while overdone, has a sentimentality to it that still holds to this day, no matter how melodramatic it can get. Anand manages to move you even going in knowing how it will conclude. Most of this is contributed to the charms of Rajesh Khanna, who is instantly loveable from his very first appearance. It’s quite something to watch his character brush off impending… more
Preet (5★) · 192 likes
rajesh khanna saying 'babumoshai' is music to my ears.
Brighid (3★) · 180 likes
very cool that this was the first gay bollywood love story