Actor Vaibhav Anand on restoring Ketnav Theatre, where he once played cricket with Jeetendra and had chai with Akshay Kumar
Kunal Guha (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 6, 2019)

One of Vaibhav Anand’s fondest childhood memories of Ketnav Theatre, which once served as his residence, has little to do with films. The son of legendary actor-filmmaker Vijay Anand remembers the day he was playing cricket on the theatre’s porch with his father’s manager and office assistants, when he was distracted by a sudden commotion. Turning around, he spotted actor Jeetendra leaving the preview theatre, which was also a venue for post-production work. The film star, whose inimitable dance moves had earned him the moniker of ‘Jumping Jack’ took over the bowling and delivered a deceptive in-swinger, quickly getting the young Anand out. But stubborn that he was, Anand refused to budge. “Jeetendra asked, ‘Yeh gora bachcha kaun hain?’ and someone told him ‘Goldie Saab ka ladka hain’ and then he continued to bowl to me for another five minutes or so before leaving,” says Anand, who recently made his debut in The Verdict: State v/s Nanavati, a series based on the controversial Nanavati murder trial of 1959.

It’s no coincidence that he was cast to play his uncle Dev Anand on the show. “I wasn’t even asked to audition,” says the actor, sharing a photograph of a look test in which he’s seen replicating his uncle’s iconic pose from the poster of Guide, complete with a shawl draped around his shoulders.

Anand, 35, now plans to restore his family’s iconic preview theatre to its former glory. Once a favoured haunt of the film industry’s bigwigs who would gather there for select screenings, Ketnav shut operations almost four years ago. Anand has, since, been consulting architects to zero-in on restoration options. “I want to restore the modernist architecture of the ’70s. For most, Ketnav wasn’t a place of work, it was home. They would say, ‘Ketnav mein milte hain, wahin baat karenge’,” he says. That is why, apart from a preview theatre and an editing studio, Anand also plans to open a coffee shop — to also revive that tradition of banter and brainstorming.

A student of the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in the US, Anand was tasked with running the theatre rather unexpectedly in 2004, when his father passed away during one of his visits to India. On a break from his acting course, Anand had a return ticket but decided not to go back. “My mother was alone and the studio was without a manager. And, there were vultures circling, so I thought it best to stick around.”

We’re seated on the second floor of Ketnav. This, Anand tells us, is where he lived with his family until his father developed a cardiac disease. The family moved to an apartment in Pali Hill because “doctors warned him against climbing stairs”. Anand points to an elevated corner of the immense living room and says, “That’s R D Burman’s harmonium — there would be music sittings here.” It is just one of the many priceless pieces of film memorabilia scattered around. “There’s also a lot of stuff from films such as Guide, Tere Mere Sapne and Chhupa Rustam but I haven’t decided what I want to do with it.”

In its new avatar, Anand promises the theatre will pay a pictorial homage to films made under the Navketan banner, and particularly those directed by his father such as Jewel Thief, Teesri Manzil and Guide. Luckily, the theatre is a treasure trove of rare photographs and Anand has meticulously digitised them. “Given the moisture in the air, one can’t risk it. Now, it’s only a matter of getting them framed.” His favourite photograph from the collection happens to be one taken on the sets of Tere Mere Sapne. It features his father sharing the frame with actors Mumtaz and Hema Malini with his uncle Dev Anand seated on a carpeted floor. I want them [the photos] to be the first things people lay eyes on as soon as they enter this space,” he says.

Interestingly, the traffic that flowed through Ketnav also included political figures. Most notably, the Shiv Sena supremo, the late Bal Thackeray, who, says Anand, “felt quite at home at the theatre,” and would come by often for private screenings. “We knew each time he was coming because his security detail would arrive 30 minutes before he did. They’d scan the theatre electronically and his entry and exit points were marked,” Anand says.

A chance encounter with Aamir Khan makes it to his list of most memorable moments. Khan had come by to visit Anand’s father following the release of Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, a film whose initial reception had been lukewarm. Anand, who was four then, exclaimed, “Yeh toh zinda hain”, and Aamir burst out laughing. “He said, ‘If this is the reaction then the film has made an impact’.”

It was also at here that Anand got to have chai with his idol Akshay Kumar who his father was to launch in a movie called Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas but the project never took off. “He had the hair of a rockstar and wore these long shirts with sleeves rolled.”

Anand also plans to relaunch his family banner Vaibhav Vijay Anand Pictures next year and has been working with filmmakers to develop web content. While he is grateful for his lineage, he shares that it didn’t win him any big breaks. “My father always told me ‘Don’t emulate my films. Watch them as an observer. You can’t be me and shouldn’t aspire to be either. You have my genes, but you have to work to prove your potential’.”

Yet, Anand is acutely conscious of the cinematic sensibilities he has inherited. “I was introduced to the intelligent side of cinema from Chetan uncle to the commercial aspect of it by my father, and the production side by my uncle Dev because he was not a director, but a producer,” he says, in appreciation of his rich legacy.