Interesting Facts About The Classic Rajesh Khanna Film ‘Anand’

Late legendary actor Rajesh Khanna was at the peak of his career when he did this movie.

‘Anand’, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee with Rajesh Khanna in the titular role and Amitabh Bachchan, in a supporting role is considered one of the greatest and most iconic movies ever made in Bollywood. The movie teaches us that ‘life should be bigger and not longer’. Rajesh Khanna was at the peak of his career when he did this movie. Here are some interesting facts about the movie Anand.

Rajesh Khanna Was Not The First Choice Of The Movie

Though we can’t imagine anyone else from Rajesh Khanna in the character of Anand, you will be surprised to know that he was not the first choice for the role. 

As the legend goes by, Hrishikesh Mukherjee got inspired for the movie as his friend Raj Kapoor was very sick and Hrishikesh Mukherjee started fearing his death, and from there the idea of the movie originated. Though Raj Kapoor got well soon, Hrishikesh Mukherjee wanted to make a movie on this subject. He approached Shashi Kapoor and Kishore Kumar to play the role of Anand but they could not do the movie. Finally, Rajesh Khanna Got to play the character of Anand and the rest as they say is history.

Kishore Kumar Did Not Sing Any Song In The Film

Kishore Kumar, who was the voice of Rajesh Khanna in many movies, didn’t sing even a single song in the movie. 

Kishore Kumar played a major role in making Rajesh Khanna a star, but the music director didn’t want Kishore Kumar to sing for the movie as it had no romantic track. He believed that Kishore Kumar's jolly voice would not match the theme of the movie. Instead, Mukesh and Manna Dey sang songs for the movie and all songs were big hits making them instant chartbusters.

Amitabh Bachchan Played Second Fiddle to Rajesh Khanna

The movie was released when Rajesh Khanna was a superstar and Amitabh Bachchan was a newcomer with no big hits till then. 

Amitabh Bachchan made his debut with the movie ‘Saat Hindustani’ directed by Khwaja Ahmed Abbas and though the movie was critically acclaimed, it was a flop at the box office. After that, he did a few movies but most of them tanked at the box office. Hrishikesh Mukherjee recognised his talent and cast him in the role of doctor Bhaskar Banerjee aka Babu Mosai. He won Filmfare best supporting role (Male) for his performance in the movie while Rajesh Khanna received the Best Actor Filmfare Award for the movie.

Rajesh Khanna And Amitabh Worked Together Again In ‘Namak Haraam’

Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan worked again in ‘Namak Haraam’ which was also directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

‘Namak Haraam’ was the second and final movie where Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan worked together after ‘Anand’. Hrishikesh Mukherjee was the director of the movie and Rajesh Khanna was the main lead. However, it was Amitabh Bachchan’s performance that got more acclaim than that of Khanna and marked the entry of a new superstar. Slowly Rajesh Khanna’s stardom started diminishing and movies like ‘Zanjeer’, ‘Deewar’ and ‘Sholay’ made Amitabh Bachchan the new superstar.