Anhonee: A histrionic high for Sanjeev Kumar

As far as character actors go, Sanjeev Kumar is in a class of his own. As a method actor, the potential that a role offered was more important for him than sharing screen space or wanting a bigger share of the film's running time. It is evident from the very wide range of characters he essayed over two decades on the big screen, flitting across genres effortlessly and winning over the audience's love as assuredly as that of the hero.

Considered to be one of the best crime thrillers of Indian cinema at that time, 'Anhonee' had the 35-year old Sanjeev Kumar pairing for the first time with the conventional beauty , the 22-year-old Leena Chandavarkar, one of the sizzlers of Hindi cinema of the 1970s. The pair went on to act in four more films and there was one more hit film ' Manchali' which was a bubbly, comical kind of a flick released in 1974.

The venture was both produced and directed by Ravi Tandon, the father of the noted actress Raveena Tandon, whose first major hit it turned out to be, when it was released for universal exhibition on April 26, 1973. A very stunning twist was built in into the screenplay by Tandon, whose film added to the whodunit films which were releasing all over India during that era.

The film also had the voluptuous Bindu, the famous vamp of the era dancing wildly to the song 'Hungama Ho Gaya', a major hit which highlighted the rapid spread of the popular disco dance genre of that time. The music director duo, Laxmikant-Pyarelal were then a good competition to the youth sensation, R D Burman and the other songs of this film like – ' Buddhu Pad Gaya Palle' - became extremely well-liked.

As a film actor, Sanjeev Kumar had enjoyed a long stint in Indian cinema, working in over 175+ films for nearly 25 years from 1960-85, before death snatched him away at a very young age of 47.

The last dozen odd films of his which hit the screens till 1993 were all posthumous releases of his. Till date, an actor of his calibre has not been identified as a replacement, even as Hindi cinema has included many from the theatre and method acting formats over the years.