Master of sophisticated cinema
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The youngest of the Anand brothers, Vijay Anand, who passed away recently, began his career in 1957 with "Nau Do Gyarah'' and excelled in directing slick crime thrillers. A tribute.
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Jaya Bhaduri and Vijay Anand in the film "Kora Kagaz".
FOR ONCE in public, Dev Anand was emotional and looked dishevelled. Unable to hide his grief at the death of his younger brother, well known director-actor Vijay (Goldie) Anand at a Mumbai hospital last week Dev saab, choking back the tears, muttered, "He was my true guide. There is nothing left for us." The reference to "Guide" was deliberate. It was the most famous Navketan production, based on the R. K. Narayan novel, starring Dev Anand and directed by Goldie.
``Guide'' was a new challenge to the Anand brothers. Goldie had the reputation of being at home with urbane, sophisticated themes ("Nau Do Gyarah'', "Tere Mere Sapne'', "Tere Ghar Ke Saamne'') and Dev Anand was uneasy when not playing the city slicker roles. "Guide'' changed all that and revealed new dimensions of both the director and the hero. It was also embellished by S. D. Burman's unforgettable music score and the beauty of heroine Waheeda Rehman.
The youngest of the talented Anand brothers, Vijay Anand, who began his career in 1957 with "Nau Do Gyarah'' excelled in another genre of films, the slick crime thriller. Considering the lack of technical facilities of the 1960s, we are amazed watching films like "Teesri Manzil'', "Johnny Mera Naam'', "Jewel Thief'' and "Blackmail''. "Violence is not needed for a successful thriller. It also does not need larger-than-life villains," Vijay Anand once told me. The technical effects and the theme of "Blackmail'' (a different kind of love triangle) were unique but the film did not click because it was ahead of its time.
Mumbai's top ranking expert in the Hindi film music of the golden era (1940s to 1960s), Manohar Iyer found Vijay Anand matchless in handling song sequences. "I think music runs in the Anand family," he said.
Madhur Bhandarkar, another Goldie fan who had seen "Guide'' 30 times agrees. "Have you seen better song picturisation than the famous, `O Haseena' (`Teesri Manzil'), `Kaaton Se Keech' (`Guide') and `Honthon Mein Aisi Baat' numbers (`Jewel Thief')? He relished the freedom while directing the Nav Ketan films. "The director should be the most important member of the unit," he told me once.
Trimurti films' chief and producer Gulshan Rai provided this freedom to director Goldie. Result? Their film, "Johnny Mera Naam'' became one of the biggest blockbusters in Hindi cinema. He also edited the film with great flair.
About his acting roles he shrugged and explained, "It was part of the game. I could not say no to the producers. But I did get some good roles, "Kora Kaagaz'' and "Mein Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki". And don't forget `Haqueeqat' which was directed by Chetan saab, I had a good role in that film."
He accepted the post of the Censor Board chief to serve the film industry. And he had strong views.
Vijay Anand was not for films which showed how evil acts were planned and carried out. During his college days he saw cinema tickets being sold in the black market outside all the theatres. Well, he directed a film on the subject. "Kala Bazaar'' turned out to be a hit.
Vijay Anand refuted the much-discussed theory of the `corrupting influence' of cinema. But he felt strongly about keeping children away from bad films and lamented that except in cities like Mumbai, theatres in the rest of the country seldom bothered about admitting children to watch films with an `Adult' certificate. He found nothing wrong if films dealt with topics like homosexuality, incest and so on, provided the treatment was `adult' and sensitive.
Vijay Anand was a man of conviction and he quit the Censor Board over the controversy about his proposal to have special, strictly-supervised theatres to screen adult films. Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj was not amused.
There were rumours that the proposal was scuttled by the cash-rich blue film video exhibitor lobby. The industry regretted his departure — he was a gentleman to the core who could have offered a fair deal to the film industry as the Censor Board Chief.
V. GANGADHAR
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