"That's what keeps me going. I never feel bogged down or depressed, simply because there's so much do. When I'm working on a film, I still put in 16 hours a day," he says. Even as studied English literature at Government College, Lahore, Anand had already trained his sights on the movies. So when his father refused to fund his post-graduate education, he packed his bags and came to Bombay in 1943 with a few rupees in his pocket and little else.

"The first couple of years were bad, because I had no contacts or letters of recommendation. Since I wasn't getting a break in themovies, I took up a job at the Military Censor Office. World War II was on and I had to screen all the letters Indian soldiers sent from the border," he says.

Soon he realised that he couldn't afford to get tied down to a routine job and decided to give his acting career another serious shot. "There was a producer with Prabhat Films, Pune, called Mr Pai. One rainy day I gate-crashed into his office. The man at the door asked me to wait outside and I just sat there determined to stay put till he saw me," he says.

Luckily the producer passed by, noticed the lanky young man and called him to his room. "He asked me who I was. I told him that I'd heard from someone that he was looking for a new hero. `Here I am', I said with great confidence. I wasn't scared of anyone and I guess I just charmed him," he says.

The rest literally is, history. Anand met P L Santoshi, the director of Hum Ek Hain the next day, was selected to play the lead, and immediately signed a three-year contract with the company ata royal sum of Rs 400 per month "which was a lot of money then".

"I remember my first day at work. Durga Khote was playing my mother and when it was my turn to face the camera, suddenly, I got nervous. Gradually I got used to it, and that problem took care of itself," he laughs. But he wasn't happy being a studio employee for too long either. In 1949 he started his own company, Navketan, and launched his first independent project, Ziddi. Next year, Navketan celebrates its golden jubilee and Anand plans to celebrate it the only way he knows -- writing, producing, directing and acting in yet another film.