Chetan Anand was an acclaimed Bollywood film director who won the Best Film Award at Cannes Film Festival in his very first directional venture, Neecha Nagar. He had also contributed to the Hindi film industry as a producer and screenwriter. He was the co-founder of Navketan Films along with his younger brother Dev Anand in the year 1949. He presented the film industry with several applauded movies and had been honoured with prestigious accolades for the same. He had also discovered film star Rajesh Khanna, helping him in his first step of acting career.

Early Life of Chetan Anand
Chetan Anand was born on 3rd January 1921 in Lahore, British India. His father Pishori Lal Anand was an advocate by profession. Chetan Anand was the eldest siblings of the Anand family. His younger brothers Dev Anand and Vijay Anand also worked for the Hindi film industry. Shekhar Kapur, the acclaimed Indian film director is the son of his younger sister Sheel Kanta Kapur. Chetan Anand did his graduation from Government College Lahore and afterwards, in 1930, joined Indian National Congress. He also used to work for the BBC and for a brief period taught at the Doon School, Dehradun. Later he moved to Mumbai for selling a film script authored by him.

Career of Chetan Anand
While Chetan Anand was teaching History in the early 1940s he penned a film script about king Ashoka and then went to Mumbai to show his script to director Phani Majumdar. The director however offered him the lead role in 1944 Hindi film Rajkumar. Chetan Anand also joined Indian People`s Theatre Association (IPTA) in Mumbai. Soon he ventured into the arena of film direction and made his debut with critically acclaimed movie Neecha Nagar which bagged a prestigious award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film was marked as the first Indian film to have gained international recognition. He founded Navketan Productions in Mumbai along with Dev Anand by early 1950s and the first film under the production house was Afsar featuring Dev Anand and Suraiya. The film performed moderately at the box office and was followed by the films Taxi Driver and Andhiyan.

Chetan Anand afterwards launched his own production company with the name Himalaya films in which he worked along with music director Madan Mohan, photographer Jal Mistry, actress Priya Rajvansh and lyrics writer Kaifi Azmi. The team gave the industry some of the finest films like Hindustan Ki Kasam, Hanste Zakhm, Heer Raanjha and Haqeeqat. Chetan Anand was also credited for discovering Rajesh Khanna and the latter got his first break in the film Aakhri Khat alongside Babita under the direction of Anand. He also directed Rajesh Khanna in the movie Kudrat, which revolved around the concept of reincarnation. The film became a hit and garnered the actor huge popularity. Apart from films, Chetan Anand is also recognized for his renowned television serial titled Param Vir Chakra which was aired in 1988 on Doordarshan.

Achievements of Chetan Anand
Chetan Anand won Palme d`Or (Best Film), Cannes Film Festival in 1946 for the film Neecha Nagar. In 1965 he won National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film for his film Haqeeqat. He was also awarded the Filmfare Best Story Award in 1982 for the movie Kudrat.

Death of Chetan Anand
Chetan Anand died at the age of 76, on 6th July 1997, in Mumbai.

Filmography of Chetan Anand