Film
Anand
A oncologist worn down by suffering meets a dying man determined to live fully. Anand is a meditation on mortality that refuses to be grim—joyful, sometimes funny, anchored by two superb performances and a faith that meaning can exist in brevity. Essential Hindi cinema, and genuinely moving without being manipulative.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you want a gentle, big-hearted Hindi melodrama that trusts earnest sincerity and a sweet, talky friendship between two men, the kind of old-fashioned film that wears its heart openly.
Skip it if you need brisk pacing or restraint, since its sentiment is laid on thick, its tears come readily, and its rhythm is leisurely across two hours.
What it asks of you: Settle in for just over two hours of unhurried scenes, where the mood shifts from hospital gloom to bright, chatty company and back again.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Bucket List2007
Two men with terminal diagnoses make a list of things to do before death. It shares Anand's core question—how to live when time is running out—with genuine warmth beneath the Hollywood gloss.
But The setup feels engineered for sentiment, and it leans harder into the wish-fulfillment fantasy than Anand's grounded reality.
Life Is Beautiful1997
A father in a concentration camp shields his son from horror through imagination and play. Like Anand, it finds lightness and meaning in the darkest circumstances, and trusts the audience to feel without being told how.
But The tonal balance—comedy in atrocity—is deliberately risky. If it doesn't work for you, it can feel obscene rather than transcendent.
My Life Without Me2003
A young mother with terminal cancer chooses not to tell her family, instead secretly recording messages and planning their futures. It's unflinching about death while staying focused on the life that remains.
But The mood is quieter and more fractured than Anand. Less affirmation, more damage sitting alongside grace.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Anand
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Norwegian Wood2010
Both are literary meditations on mortality that prioritize atmosphere and philosophical depth over plot mechanics. Both suggest that how we live matters more than how long.
Tran Anh Hung's adaptation of Murakami follows a grieving student haunted by loss and searching for connection. It has Anand's visual lyricism and meditative pace, but approaches death through psychological fragmentation rather than acceptance.
But It's elliptical and dreamlike. Narrative clarity dissolves in favor of mood, which can feel evasive if you want a story arc.
More like this (8)
Ikiru1952
A Japanese bureaucrat discovers he is dying and scrambles to find meaning in a wasted life. Kurosawa's masterpiece shares Anand's central obsession and its refusal of easy answers, though the tone is far more austere.
But It's slower, more philosophical, and the protagonist's journey is darker. No friendship softens the blow.
About Schmidt2002
A recently retired man confronts emptiness and mortality on a road trip. It has Anand's interest in how we live in the face of impermanence, though filtered through American suburban malaise rather than Indian warmth.
But It's cynical where Anand is generous. Nicholson's character is difficult in ways that earn no redemption.
The Fault in Our Stars2014
Two teenagers with terminal illnesses fall in love and chase meaning through literature and travel. It captures the same urgency to extract beauty and purpose from brevity that animates Anand.
But It's teen romance first, mortality second. The inevitable grief is almost incidental to the love story scaffolding.
Steel Magnolias1989
Southern women gather around one of their own as she faces death from diabetes. Warm ensemble drama about how we support each other through loss, with real humor threaded through the sadness.
But The sentimentality is deliberate and front-loaded. Some viewers find it manipulative; it never questions its own emotional choices.
A Serious Man2009
A man's life collapses and he seeks meaning in confusion and suffering. It's a darker, more absurdist take on the search for purpose in a universe that doesn't provide easy answers.
But There is no catharsis or resolution. The Coens offer diagnosis without cure, which some find brilliant and others find frustrating.
Terms of Endearment1983
A decades-long relationship between mother and daughter is tested by cancer and mortality. Multigenerational, funny, and genuinely about how we fail and forgive each other as we face impermanence.
But It's sprawling and somewhat dated. The film takes a long runway to reach the emotional core, testing patience along the way.
Barefoot in the Park1967
While Anand asks how to live facing death, Barefoot asks how to live alongside another human. Both find the answer in presence, not escape. Both trust that ordinary moments matter.
A newlywed couple navigates the gap between romantic idealism and real life, filled with joy and argument and the work of loving someone. It's almost the opposite register—lighthearted and urban—but shares Anand's belief that life's meaning is in the everyday moments with another person.
But It's a romantic comedy from 1967, so gender dynamics feel dated. The stakes are deliberately slight, which some mistake for shallow.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich2024
Both are foundational texts about mortality, but from opposite poles. Tolstoy's Ivan realizes too late that he lived wrongly; Anand realizes in time that he can live fully. Watching them together shows the stakes of Anand's choice.
Masha Ardit's adaptation of Tolstoy's novella: a man dies and reviews his wasted life. A Russian chamber piece—spare, devastating, philosophical—about the failure to truly live until it's too late.
But It's grim, airless, and offers no consolation. Anand's warmth and companionship are entirely absent. If you want beauty in mortality, this offers truth instead.
People
Cast
Rajesh KhannaAnand Saigal
Amitabh BachchanDr. Bhaskar K. Bannerjee
Sumita SanyalRenu
Ramesh DeoDr. Prakash Kulkarni
Seema DeoSuman Kulkarni
Lalita PawarMrs. D'Sa
Johnny WalkerIsa bhai Suratwala- Dev KishanRaghu Kaka
Durga KhoteRenu's mother
Asit SenChandranath
Lalita KumariMrs. Sanyal
Dara SinghPapaji
Directing
- Saroj BanerjeeAssistant Director
- Hrishikesh MukherjeeDirector
Writing
- GulzarDialogue
- GulzarLyricist
- YogeshLyricist
- Bimal DuttaScreenplay
- D.N. MukherjeeScreenplay
- GulzarScreenplay
- Hrishikesh MukherjeeScreenplay
- Hrishikesh MukherjeeStory
Production
- Romu N. SippyExecutive Producer
- Hrishikesh MukherjeeProducer
- N.C. SippyProducer
Recommended by
Mohabbatein, Bandhan, Gaman, Bawarchi, Aashirwad, Dil Daulat Duniya, Izzat, Dost, Alaap, Uski Kahani, Manzil, Mili