Remembering Vijay Anand, the critically acclaimed filmmaker, writer, editor, and actor in Hindi cinema, on his 85th birth anniversary today.

Remembering Vijay Anand, the critically acclaimed filmmaker, writer, editor, and actor in Hindi cinema, on his 85th birth anniversary today.

Vijay Anand is a legendary name in Hindi cinema. So much so, that his films are still considered classics and masterpieces. Much ahead of his times, Vijay Anand never restricted his work to one genre. Most of his films had his elder brother Dev Anand as the male lead. While not much has been written about the ace filmmaker, he remains to be an inspiration for every director in any given era of Indian cinema.

Also known as Goldie Anand, Vijay Anand justified his name by being instrumental in giving Indian cinema one of its best films. He was the visionary director behind memorable films like Guide, Johny Mera Naam, Jewel Thief, Teesri Manzil, Kala Bazar and Tere Mere Sapne. He learned the craft while working with his older brother Chetan, and the three brothers collaborated under the auspices of the film company Navketan. Anand’s work on the script of the 1954 Bollywood film Taxi Driver led to his first directing job, on Nau do gyarah (1957). Of the dozens of successful Hindi films with which he was involved, the most acclaimed was Guide (1965), which won several Filmfare Awards.