Doon library and Research Centre organised a programme to commemorate the centenary of the celebrated filmmaker Chetan Anand, who has the credit of putting Indian Cinema on the world map. Neecha Nagar made in 1946 fetched the Golden Palme Award at the inaugural Cannes Film Festival. During the programme, a DVD released by Javed Akhtar, paying tribute to yesteryear filmmaker was also screened.
Excerpts from articles written by Chetan Anand were read by Manoj Panjani, research staff member, Doon library and Research Centre. Messages from cameraman Adeep Tandon and Editor Keshav Naidu were also read. The programme could not have been possible without the help of two people from Mumbai-sound recordist BK Chaturvedi and producer Ravichand Nalappa. Chetan Anand started his education at Gurukul Kangri in Haridwar. From 1942-44, he taught at The Doon School along with painter Sudhir Khastgir.
In 1944, he went to Bombay and two years later, he made his directorial debut with Neecha Nagar. In a career spanning around 40 years, he made 15 films. Andhiyan made in 1952 was on the theme of domestic violence. Sarod mastero Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan had composed music for the film. Taxi Driver had the city of Mumbai as the protagonist. Anjali was set in the Buddhist era. Haqeeqat was the first war film made in India. Hindustan Ki Kasam was the first film which focused on the role of Indian Air Force. Then Afsar, Funtoosh, Aakhri Khat, Hanste Zakhm, Janeman and Kudrat followed.
He introduced several stars in the realm of Hindi cinema like Kamini Kaushal, super star Rajesh Khanna and Sanjay Khan. Vijay Anand, his youngest brother and a director, was his assistant for 10 years. He doubled as an art director and won the Filmfare Award for the best art director in Haqeeqat. Music director Jaidev got his break with Chetan Anand’s Joru Ka Bhai and also did Anjali and Kinare Kinare with him. Mukul Anand, who made films like Agneepath, Hum and Khuda Gawah with Amitabh Bachchan and Sujit Sen, who wrote the scripts of Arth and Saaransh along with Mahesh Bhatt, got breaks with Chetan Anand’s Sahib Bahadur and Jaaneman.
Baba Azmi, the cameraman with films like Mr India, Tezab, Dil, Beta and Prem, was also his assistant. He had worked with a lot of people with an Uttarakhand connection. Zohra Sehgal hailed from Almora and she with her family stayed in the same house where Chetan Anand used to stay. She had also acted in Neecha Nagar. V Ratra, his cameraman in four films, settled down in Dehradun where he breathed his last. Actor KN Singh, who gave impressive performances in Aandhiyan and Funtoosh, was also from Dehradun. He used to stay in New Road.
Adeep Tandon, a graduate from the first batch of DBS College, Dehradun, was one of the five cameramen used in Hindustan Ki Kasam. In no other Indian film had scenes of aerial combat been shot. Tandon has been an assistant to Subrata Mitra, Satyajit Ray’s cameraman in Pather Panchali and also to RD Mathur, the cameraman of Mughal-e-Azam. He also worked with James Ivory in Bombay Talkies. He was the cameraman in Mahesh Bhatt’s Saaransh and Basu Bhattacharya’s Grihpravesh.