MEMORIES | Mukul Anand

 Master of foresight

Ashish Mitra
From Kanoon Kya Karega (1984) to his last film Dus, an unfinished film,Mukul Anand's brother and filmmaker Raahul Anand takes Screen through the producer and director’s success and failures

eath is a timely reminder of our ephemeral existence, but it comes always shockingly untimely. Life fortunately moves on, myths and legends are milestones - the signposts for times ahead. Mukul was a visionary and a dynamo of energy who in his own domain channelised contemporary India’s dominant leitmotifs, namely diversity and multiplicity.

As a child Mukul was doted on by our father Sudheshwar Anand - the reigning C.A and income tax consultant to all the main artistes of yesteryears and leading technicians of the ‘Fifties and the ‘Sixties - and our mother Sheela. His childhood birthday parties were attended by people of his age like Randhir Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor Kapoor. Among the guests there were also the likes of H.S. Rawail, the B.R. Chopra clan, the Kapoors, Dilip Kumar, and Mehboob Khan to name but a few.

While in Sainik School, Satara and at Mithibai College, Mumbai, it was quite apparent to him that he was attracted by filmmaking. This was not surprising since we grew up with cinema- Indian and otherwise. My own personal memories of Mukul’s debut in filmmaking were his all-consuming passion for cinema and its intricacies. Initially like all debutants in the film world one has to deal with all kinds of jobs. He also underwent such practices quickly. He trained seriously under stalwarts like Chetan Anand, Ravi Tandon and writer Dhruv Chatterjee. But once one of the main actors in his debut directorial movie wanted to take on the show, Mukul put his foot down to exemplify his style of filmmaking. This confidence in his own treatment and command of the cinematic idiom was a hallmark that never left him. His work smacked of novelty and commitment.

Mukul’s career as a film maker demonstrates his amazing versatility. His alluring and well-composed visuals in his earlier thrillers like Kanoon Kya Karega Aitbaar and the desert fantasia Sultanat carved a niche for him very soon among directors who were labelled as Bollywood Brats in the ‘Eighties. He never looked back but leaped towards greater projects. Although he was in tune with the digital turn in the field of cinema that was taking India under its captivity, he would never refrain from venturing to tracks few directors would embark on in films. His later films which starred Amitabh Bachchan - Hum, Agneepath and Khuda Gawah - were noteworthy for the picturisation of novel action shots in locations that Mukul strove to explore earlier like faraway Mauritus, Nepal and Afghanistan. I still regret that the official reception of the Khuda Gawah team by the ruling party of Afghanistan then is not freely available for public viewing at large. As has been largely publicised, the war between the ruling party and the Mujahedeen stopped because of this film’s shoot. As such, the circumstances in which Khuda Gawah was shot are truly historical.

Mukul respected director Manmohan Desai a lot and thus as a mark of his appreciation towards the noted director Khuda Gawah was dedicated to Manmohan Desai. In a crucial scene wherein the protagonist of Agneepath accompanied by his wife contemplates his native village from afar and utters his innermost sentiments, frustrations and wishes regarding Mandwa, Mukul made it quite clear to the actor that his portrayal at this juncture of the narrative was tantamount since his native home was uppermost in the character’s mind and not the lady accompanying him. The scene was finally shot as the director had envisioned the scene.

Mukul had the rare distinction to re-introduce Vinod Khanna in Insaaf when the actor returned to after a gap of almost eight years, and the film turned out to be a great hit. Very often Govinda would say that it was Mukul who got him in to the ‘A’ bracket , first with his Mahasangram opposite Vinod Khanna and then with Hum opposite Amitabh Bachchan.

Mukul was a Bombay Meri Jaan man. He had a near-native command of the lingo of the city where he was born. Thus the Amjad Khan and Aditya Pancholi roles and the climax of Mahasangram shot at the Haji Ali Dargah during the high-tide speaks volumes of his vision and creativity as a director.

When Mukul formed his company MAD Films, people laughed at him for his decision but, undeterred, he had a great vision and had predicted that a time would come when ad films’ budgets would be like small feature films. Today it is a reality. Mukul’s company MAD Films is flourishing under the flagship of his friend and partner Sunil Manchanda. Mukul had the rare distinction of making Ad films for both the world’s biggest arch-rivals Coke and Pepsi.

For the family the early morning of September 7 1997, was a black day-it seems like yesterday. He was there with me and I remember the last jhappi (hug) I received from Mukul. That was at the MAD office just before he left for Pune. On his way to Pune, he spoke to Raveena Tandon who at that time was down with a bout of fever. He told her on his return from Pune he would send her the VHS of the rushes-of Dus, but alas! he never returned. This was a great loss to the family-to his children - to the film industry, as he was in the process of introducing new talent.