Actor, film producer, screenwriter, and director Chetan Anand was a luminary of Indian cinema, whose debut film, Neecha Nagar, was awarded the Grand Prix Prize (now Golden Palm) at the first ever Cannes Film Festival in 1946. Some of his notable films include “Haqeeqat,” “Heer Raanjha,” “Hanste Zakhm,” and “Hindustan Ki Kasam,” among others.
Chetan Anand was born on January 3, 1915, in Gurdaspur, Punjab, into the family of advocate Pishori Lal Anand, the eldest of four brothers. His younger brothers were legendary actor Dev Anand and celebrated director Vijay “Goldie” Anand. After completing his early education, he went on to obtain a degree in English literature from Government College, Lahore. He also studied at the Gurukul Kangri Sam Vishwavidyalay, an Arya Samaj Gurukul-style learning centre founded by Swami Shraddhanand Ji.
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Inspired by the ongoing freedom struggle, Chetan went on to join the Indian National Congress in the 1930s. At the same time, he also started working for the BBC and had a stint as a teacher at Doon School in Dehradun.
In 1944, while teaching in Dehradun, he wrote a script on the life of “Samart Ashok,” which he showed to Phani Majumdar in Bombay, which led to his casting in the short film “Rajkumar.” It was also the time when he joined the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) in Bombay, where he came into contact with luminaries like Prithviraj Kapoor, Bijon Bhattacharya, Balraj Sahni, Ritwik Ghatak, Utpal Dutt, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, Salil Chowdhury, Pandit Ravi Shankar, and many others.
Neecha Nagar
In 1946, Chetan Anand made his directorial debut with Neecha Nagar. Written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas on the Urdu story Neecha Nagar, written by Hayatulla Ansari, which in turn was inspired by Russian writer Maxim Gorky’s Lower Depths. It took an expressionist look at the gulf between the rich and poor in society. It was a pioneering effort in social realism in Indian cinema and paved the way for many such ‘parallel cinema’ films by other directors, many of them written by Abbas. It starred Chetan Anand’s wife, Uma Anand, Rafiq Ahmed, Kamini Kaushal (debut), and Zohra Sehgal.
Anand’s directorial debut, “Neecha Nagar,” released in 1946, won the Grand Prix Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, marking the first international recognition for an Indian film. The screenplay of the film was written by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas based on the Urdu story “Neecha Nagar,” written by Hayatulla Ansari, which in turn was inspired by Russian writer Maxim Gorky’s “Lower Depths.” It took an expressionist look at the gulf between the rich and poor in society. It starred Chetan Anand’s wife, Uma Anand, Rafiq Ahmed, Kamini Kaushal (debut), and Zohra Sehgal.
It was a pioneering effort in social realism in Indian cinema and paved the way for many such “parallel cinema” films by other directors. This milestone set the stage for a prolific career in filmmaking.
In 1949, he co-founded Navketan Films with his younger brother, the legendary Dev Anand. The first film under the banner of Navketan was Afsar (1950), starring Dev Anand and Suraiya, followed by Aandhiyan (1952) with Dev Anand, Kalpana Kartik, and Nimmi, and Taxi Driver (1954) with Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik, the future wives of Dev Anand.
In 1956, he directed Funtoosh (1956), starring Dev Anand and Sheila Ramani. It was perhaps his last film with Navketan. He established his own production house in the early 1960s, Himalaya Films.
Chetan made his acting debut in 1953 with the film “Humsafar,” directed by A.N. Bannerjee. The film also stars Dev Anand and Kalpana Kartik. In 1997, Chetan starred in two films, “Anjali” and “Arpan,” both directed by him. These films were not successful. He acted in a few more films, like Kala Bazar (1960), Kinare Kinare (1963), which he also directed, Aman (1967), Kanch Aur Heera “(1972), Hindustan Ki Kasam (1974), and Kudarat (1981).
In 1964, Chetan directed and produced India’s greatest war epic, “Haqeeqat.” The film, starring Dharmendra, Balraj Sahni, Priya Rajvansh, Vijay Anand, Jayant, and Sudhir, was a big critical and commercial success. With the film, he also established his team, which includes notable names such as photographer Jal Mistry, music director Madan Mohan, lyricist Kaifi Azmi, and actress Priya Rajvansh.
The story behind his meeting with Priya Rajvansh is also worth noting. A photograph taken by a London photographer caught the eye of Thakur Ranveer Singh, a film personality working in Indian and British films, which led to her introduction to Chetan Anand, who became her mentor and changed her name from Vera Sundar Singh to “Priya Rajvansh” for her film debut.
Priya Rajvansh
It was the time Chetan Anand, who was separated from her first wife “Uma” and had two grownup sons, began a relationship with young Priya Rajvansh, who was very much awestruck and impressed by the intellect of the much older man. The couple was madly in love with each other; she only acted in films made by Anand, and he always made films with her as the lead. Eventually, they started living together and remained with each other till the death of Chetan on July 6, 1997.
After Haqeeqat, he directed “Akhiri Khat,” starring Rajesh Khanna and Indrani Mukherjee. The film, which was India’s first official Academy Award entry, also introduced Rajesh Khanna.
Chetan’s next was the musical “Heer Raanjha (1970),” based on Punjabi folklore of Heer and Ranajha, told in the poem “Heer” by 18th-century poet Warsh Shah. The film, starring Priya Rajvansh and Raaj Kumar, is known for its poetic dialogue and beautiful music.
Chetan continues to make films like “Hanste Zakhm (1973),” “Hindustan Ki Kasam’ (1974), “Jaaneman (1976),” “Saheb Bahadur (1977),” “Kudrat (1981),” and “Haathon Ki Lakeeren (1986).” Anand also directed the acclaimed television serial “Param Veer Chakra (1988).”
Anand married journalist and actress Uma Anand in 1943, and though they separated a few years later, they remained legally married because it was not possible to get a divorce under Hindu and Christian marriage acts. Together, they had two sons, film directors Ketan Anand and Vivek Anand.
In the mid-1960s, Chetan was in a relationship with Priya Rajvansh and they were living together without being married legally. After the demise of Chetan Anand, Priya was named a beneficiary in the will of Chetan Anand, along with his sons from his first marriage. She inherited some property from Chetan, which included his Ruia Park beachfront bungalow in Juhu, Mumbai, but without the right to sell the property and was supposed to go to Chetan’s sons after Priya.
But in a tragic turn of events, Priya Rajvansh was brutally murdered in the same bungalow on March 27, 2000, in Mumbai. Her tragic end sent shockwaves through the film industry and her fans. Ketan Anand and Vivek Anand, along with their employees Mala Choudhary and Ashok Chinnaswamy, were charged with her murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in July 2002, but got bail in November of the same year.
