Today is Chetan Anand’s birthday. He was a producer-director and screenwriter of Bollywood films. The credit for making Bollywood what it is today goes to Chetan Anand. Chetan Anand was the elder brother of famous actor Dev Anand. It is said that it was only because of Chetan Anand that Dev Anand was able to enter films. Chetan Anand was born on 3 January 1915 in Gurdaspur, Punjab. He was rich in versatile talent. In fact, Chetan Anand entered politics after completing his bachelor’s degree from Lahore and joined the Congress in the 1930s.
He also worked as a teacher in Doon School, but it was not his destiny to become a teacher. Something else was written in his destiny. He came into films. Priya Rajvansh was Chetan Anand’s companion in all his joys and sorrows. Both lived together all their lives but never felt the need to get married. Both of them never married. But in the outside world people saw both of them as husband and wife.
‘Navketan Films’ established
In 1949, he founded ‘Navketan Films’ along with his brother Dev Anand. This was a film production company. Chetan Anand’s younger sister Shanta Kapoor is the mother of famous film director Shekhar Kapoor. Chetan Anand had three brothers, of whom Vijay Anand was the thirtieth brother. He started his career in 1940. He wrote the script of his first film ‘Ashoka’, which he went to Mumbai to show to director Phani Majumdar. Chanton Anand had failed in the Indian Civil Service examination in London. But it was his luck that director Phani Majumdar cast him in the lead role for his Hindi film ‘Rajkumar’. This film was released in the year 1944. He was associated with the Indian People’s Theater Association (IPTA).
He soon decided that he would direct films and directed ‘Neecha Nagar’, which won the Palme d’Or Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival in 1946. He produced ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Aandhiyan’ under ‘Navketan Films’. Chetan Anand directed 17 films. Apart from this, he produced the famous television serial ‘Paramveer Chakra’ which was aired on Doordarshan in 1988.
Chetan Anand married Uma Anand in 1943
Chetan Anand married Uma Anand in 1943. They had two children, Ketan Anand and Vivek Anand. However, after a few years both of them started living separately. Even in the year 1976, she could not get a divorce and never got a divorce again. In the year 1960, Chetan Anand fell in love with Priya Rajvansh, who became his heroine in the film Haqeeqat. This was the first film of Priya Rajvansh.
