Cinemaazi remembers Chetan Anand on his death anniversary

Remembering Chetan Anand who passed away on 6 July, 1997 in Mumbai. Graduating from Government College Lahore, he worked for the BBC for a while before coming to Bombay with the hopes of selling a script. He was a member of the Bombay chapter of the IPTA which shaped much of his political consciousness. He had shown Phani Majumdar a script he had written on King Ashoka, and it is Phani Majumdar who gave him a break as an actor in Rajkumar (1944). In 1946 he made Neecha Nagar which won the Grand Prix Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the first Indian film to do so. He later formed the iconic Navketan Films banner with his brother Dev Anand. After making the first film under the banner with Afsar (1950), he made a number of influential films in the 50s like Aandhiyan (1952), Taxi Driver (1954) and Funtoosh (1956). He made the war film Haqeeqat (1964) based on the Sino-Indian war. 1966's Aakhri Khat would be the debut of future superstar Rajesh Khanna. Other significant films films were Heer Raanjha (1970), Hanste Zakhm (1973), Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), Jaaneman (1976), Saheb Bahadur (1977), Kudrat (1981) and Haathon Ki Lakeeren (1986). Later he had started his own production banner Himalaya Films, in partnership with Jal Mistry, Madan Mohan, Kaifi Azmi and Priya Rajvansh. He also made the popular serial Paramvir Chakra.