Dec 03, 2003 04:46 PM
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(Updated Dec 03, 2003 04:48 PM)
Where are you Hrisihidaa? Looks like there is no one of your calibre to bring us evergreen classics anymore...
It often requires a product of inferior quality to show one how good another product. And in my opinion, that is exactly the case with ''Kal ho na ho'' and ''Anand''. Kal Ho Na Ho(KHNH) is not really bad, and as Karan Johar says, there is really no similarity between Anand and KHNH. But, comparisons are inevitable...
Anand, meaning happiness, is the story of a terminally ill man. Portrayed brilliantly by Rajesh Khanna, and true to the name of the character, Anand is happiness personified. It is the story of Dr.Bhaskar, portrayed brilliantly again by Amitabh Bachchan, who is as Anand's doctor and friend. Bhaskar, being a doctor, is frustrated by seeing death around him. This meeting of an introvert and an extrovert brings us this classic, ''ANAND''.
Anand storms into Bhaskar's life, and teaches Bhaskar to laugh and smile in the face of his death. Both the characters have one thing in similarity, they do not like death winning over life. But while Bhaskar expresses this through his frustrations due to his inability to save Anand, Anand expresses this through his smiles. He refuses to acknowledge death as the reason to stop living. His philosophy is simple - live life when you have it... He did not count his time remaining as the time left to die, but as the time left to live...
The music in the movie adds icing to the cake. If you had a happy tune like ''Maine tere liye hi saat rang ke sapne chune'', you had a philosophical ''Zindagi kaisi hai paheli'' and a soulful ''Kahin door jab din dhal jaaye''. Music was not meant to be a distraction, it was meant to express that which need be expressed using words. One could see Anand's wish to live in the song ''Kahin door jab'', one could see the wonders of the life in ''Zindagi kaisi hai paheli''.
And the piece de resistance is the climax. Unexpectedly, the climax is dominated by Bhaskar and not by Anand. Anand dies a quiet and peaceful death, when Bhaskar was trying to save him. When Bhaskar realizes Anand is dead, he breaks down.
''Chupp kyon ho, baat karo mujshe, kai din se teri bak bak sun raha hoon, ab baat kyon nahi karte''.
Bhaskar's eyes say it all. Once again he has lost his fight against death. Then, Anand speaks.
''Babu Moshai... Zindagi aur Maut Upar wale ke haath hai ... Hum Sab rang Manch ki Katputliyan hai... Jinke Dor Upar wale ke haath main hai... Kaun Kab Kaise Uthega... Yeh Koi nahin Baata sakta.''
Followed by his laugh. Anand laughed his way to death. He had won his fight against death. Death did not stop him living his life. Anand never died. Anand never dies.
