Mukul Sudheshwar Anand (1951-97)

Hindi director associated with 90s Bachchan spectaculars (e.g. Hum). Born in Bombay. Son of a chartered accountant and nephew of Inder Raj Anand. Former assistant of Chetan Anand and Ravi Tandon; later ghost-directed several films in Hindi, Punjabi and Gujarati. Early films are low-budget remakes of foreign hits (Kanoon Kya Karega is based on J. Lee Thompson’s Cape Fear, 1961; Aitbaar on Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder, 1954). Big- budget extravaganzas since Sultanat place him in new generation of Hindi commercial film-makers. Made advertising films in between features for MAD Entertainments Ltd. (Est. 1991). First major hit, Insaaf, relaunched 70s stars Vinod Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. It created a fantasy world of sex, crime and sin despite its occasional references to the actual, widely reported death of a prostitute who ‘fell’ from a multi-storey block of flats belonging to a businessman suspected of criminal dealings. His films with Bachchan are also known for the star’s efforts to adapt his heroic image to his advancing age (Agneepath, Hum, Khuda Gawah). Returned to features with the big- budget commercial failure Trimurti, produced by Subhash Ghai.

FILMOGRAPHY:

1984: Kanoon Kya Karega; 1985: Aitbaar; 1986: Maa Ki Saugandh; Main Balwan; Sultanat; 1987: Insaaf; 1988: Mahasangram; 1990: Agneepath; 1991: Hum; Khoon Ka Karz; 1992: Khuda Gawah; 1995: Trimurti.

Director