Aakhri Khat

Aakhri Khat
Directed byChetan Anand
Written byChetan Anand
Produced byHimalaya Films
StarringRajesh Khanna
Indrani Mukherjee
CinematographyJal Mistry
Edited byJadav Rao
Music byKhayyam
Distributed byPrabha Pictures
Release date
  • 30 December 1966 (1966-12-30)
Running time
114 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Aakhri Khat (transl. The Last Letter) is a 1966 Bollywood film written and directed by Chetan Anand. This film marked the debut of Rajesh Khanna.[1] The music of the film is by Khayyam and lyrics by Kaifi Azmi; it includes the song "Baharon Mera Jeevan Bhi Sanwaro", sung by Lata Mangeshkar.

Chetan Anand, started the film with a bare outline of a script and a 15-month-old infant who he let loose in the city, following him with his camera, mostly a hand-held camera, taking in all the city sounds, under the cinematic direction of Jal Mistry[2][3] The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 40th Academy Awards in 1967, but was not nominated.[4]

The film was remade in Tamil as Poonthalir starring Sivakumar and Sujatha in 1979, in Telugu as Chinnari Chitti Babu in 1981[5] and in Turkish as Garip Kuş in 1974

  1. ^ "'Few paid attention to Rajesh Khanna's debut film'". Rediff.
  2. ^ Biswas, Premankur (16 November 2007). "Chetan Anand, My Father". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 30 September 2012.
  3. ^ Chintamani, Gautam. "Films that are 50: 'Aakhri Khat' features a baby on its day out and future icon Rajesh Khanna". Scroll.in.
  4. ^ "List of Indian Submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film". Film Federation of India. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  5. ^ ""Yevo Gusagusalu Paade – Chinnari Chitti Babu" (1981) – Telugu Feature Film". The Southern Nightingale. 19 January 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.