अनुराधा

Anuradha Roy (Leela Naidu), a lively and successful singer, marries an idealistic country doctor (Balraj Sahni). Her former suitor (Abhi Bhattacharya) has an accident while passing through her village and ignites memories of her past glory. He persuades her to return to her former profession. However, just as she gets ready to leave, a famous and worldly-wise doctor comes to visit and makes an impact on her. A beautiful story of love and sacrifice... Balraj Sahni, Leela Naidu and Abhi Bhattacharya excel in their roles. Popular songs include 'Kaise Din Beete' and 'Hai Re Woh Din Kyon Na Aaye', 'Jaane kaise sapno mein kho gayi akhiyan'.

This is a timeless classic. On one hand is the dilemma of a wife who left behind a flourishing music career and on the other a son/genius doctor who wants to dedicate his life to the oath that he once took. The cinematography, music, costumes are all in synch to highlight the state of mind of 2 protagonists caught in this conflict.

This was made in 1960 and I marvel at the craftsmanship of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, pandit Ravi Shanker, Shailendra, Leela Naidu and Balraj Sahni. This is a story that needs to be told again and again , story of people who stand behind those we celebrate.

When I saw director Hrushikesh Mukherjee's name in the credits of the film Anuradha, I immediately knew I was about to see a good movie. And I was not disappointed. The story is very simple, nice and quite realistic; in a space of two hours and 20 minutes, Mukherjee traverses the relationship of an idealistic, humanitarian doctor and his wife, the titular heroine who aspires to be a singer and escape the rustics of the provincial life. In the last millennium there were not many movies you could genuinely call 'realistic'. By realistic, I mean, you could say, "Yes, this could have easily happened." The wife used to be this famous singer before she enters into a love marriage and gives up music. The world then loses a great singer to a marriage. The story sounds simple, but is it really? The way it is developed, the film shows how a deceptively simple story can become quite complex in real life when human emotions and nature comes into the equation. To Mukherjee's credit, he handles it without any extreme theatrics. If I were thinking hard where the story becomes unrealistic, it really feels like finding a needle in a haystack.

I was in two minds about rating between 7 and 8. I could have rated it at 7 because in spite of a nicely made movie, it is slightly boring. But then I compared it with the film Guide, which was made few years later. It also dealt with emotional complexities around man-woman relationship. Guide had fantastic music, dances and songs. However, ultimately the story writer seemed to have lost control. So I bumped my rating of Anuradha to 8. Lastly in terms of music-- what can you say when the music director is none other than the legendary Maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar. The songs are outstanding. I only wish we had more of these beautiful songs. All in all, Anuradha is a good movie to see with your family on an evening when you just want to sit in front of TV and relax.

Anuradha staring Leela Naidu & Balraj Sahani is an excellent movie. I have seen this movie several times. I would like to thank you for bringing up the best things in past. I'm a great fan of Black & White movies. The skills those guys had at that time was unbelievable. I'm being a animation studio owner and producer, I really miss those simple thing in work. Most of us know that Leela Naidu was the one of the most beautiful women in that era. But I would like to mention that is yet the most beautiful actress that Indian Cenema has got. And about the Sahani Sahab, who can challenge his acting performance. Thanks for this opportunity.

Loosely based on Flaubert's 'Madame Bovary', Hrishikesh Mukherjee's 'Anuradha' is relevant even in today's world. The sacrifices that woman make in order to create a home of their husband and children, giving up their job, their passion and independence, all for their family and to find happiness in them is not uncommon in today's society. Their contribution is often taken for granted and overlooked as happens with the title character Anuradha. With a promising career as a singer, Anuradha gives it all up for her husband and moves to a village where he can treat its poor dwellers. She is happy enough to sing only for him. Years go by and Dr. Nirmal is so occupied with work that he doesn't even have the time to listen to his wife sing one song. She continues to long for his affection and things take a drastic turn when an old flame shows up. Mukherjee has always succeeded in telling the story of the common folks and the viewer can easily relate to the characters and their struggles. Here it's no different. Balraj Sahni is first rate and beautiful Leela Naidu is very good.

There are a few melodramatic moments that break the pace but this is only a very minor flaw. The songs are pleasant and most of them fit in well. The camera does a decent enough job in capturing the simplicity and beauty of the scenes. Almost each frame of the film is photogenic. There's a certain quality and elegance that black and white brings to a film and here it highlights the scenes wonderfully.

'Anuradha' is ahead of its time especially with its feminist subject matter. It was considered a risky subject matter in cinema and cheers to Mukherjee for going ahead and doing what he believed in.