1971 · Film
Anand
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Hindi drama about Anand, a cheerful man with terminal cancer, and the serious young doctor in Bombay who becomes his close friend.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 18 October 2026, Anand is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
With subscription
Checked Sun, 18 Oct, 2026Open ↗
The story
Dr Bhaskar Banerjee is an oncologist in Bombay who treats poor patients for free but grows gloomy about all the suffering he cannot cure. His friend Dr Prakash Kulkarni introduces him to Anand, a patient with a rare cancer of the intestine who has been told he has about six months to live. Anand refuses to let the diagnosis darken his days. He chats with strangers, makes friends everywhere and sets out to make everyone around him laugh. His bright nature slowly starts to change the serious Bhaskar, and the two become close friends.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
A gentle, two-hour drama about friendship and living fully, with well-known songs and plenty of humour. Its subject is terminal cancer and it is likely to bring tears, but there is no violence, so it works for families with older children.
Genres:Drama
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
Hrishikesh Mukherjee loosely based Anand on Akira Kurosawa's Ikiru, and the title character was inspired by Raj Kapoor, who used to call Mukherjee "Babu Moshay". The film is dedicated to Kapoor and the people of Bombay. Gulzar wrote the dialogue and co-wrote the screenplay, and Salil Chowdhury composed the music, including "Kahin Door Jab Din Dhal Jaye". Mukherjee shot the film in 28 days. Amitabh Bachchan was cast as Bhaskar after Sanjeev Kumar was dropped at Rajesh Khanna's request.
The film opened on 12 March 1971 and was a modest box-office success. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and six Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Actor for Khanna and Best Supporting Actor for Bachchan. It is one of only two films starring both Khanna and Bachchan, the other being Namak Haraam (1973). It was later remade in Malayalam as Chitrashalabham.
The facts
- Language
- Hindi
- Hindi
- Hindi original
- Genre
- Drama
- Runtime
- 122 min
- Director
- Hrishikesh Mukherjee
- Cast
- Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Sumita Sanyal, Ramesh Deo, Seema Deo
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch Anand in India?
- As of 18 October 2026, Anand is streaming in India on Prime Video with a subscription.
- Is Anand in Hindi?
- Yes. Anand is a Hindi-language film.
- How long is Anand?
- Anand runs for 2 hours 2 minutes (122 minutes).