Tinu Anand (born Virender Raj Anand) is an Indian actor, director, writer and producer in Hindi cinema and a few Telugu and Tamil films.
He is the son of veteran screenwriter Inder Raj Anand, brother of producer Bittu Anand, cousin of director Mukul Anand and uncle of director Siddharth Anand. He did his schooling from Mayo College in India. He is married to Shahnaz, daughter of veteran actor Agha.
His father, Inder Raj Anand, was a well-known writer in the Hindi film industry but did not want Tinnu Anand or his younger brother, Bittu Anand, to enter the profession. Recalling this period, Anand said that when he expressed his desire to direct films, his father was initially upset. However, he later accepted AnandâÂÂs determination and arranged for him to study under Satyajit Ray. Ray and Inder Raj Anand were friends, and Anand was subsequently taken under RayâÂÂs mentorship.
Tinnu Anand was initially offered a role in K. Abbas' film Saat Hindustani. Recalling the incident, Anand said:<blockquote>âÂÂIn the evening, I was given the dirty job of offering Amitabh â¹5,000 for the entire film, whether it took a year or five. Amitabh reluctantly agreed, as he was desperate to act. He was given the role of the poetâÂÂs friend in Saat Hindustani. When my father received a letter from Satyajit Ray saying that I could work with him, I had to give up Saat Hindustani. I left for Calcutta, and Amitabh eventually got the role of the poet that I was supposed to play.â </blockquote>
Reflecting on working with actors who arrived late and worked limited hours, Anand said that he learned practical filmmaking techniques from action director Veeru Devgan. He recalled:
<blockquote> âÂÂI give all the credit to Veeru Devgan, who taught me how to unlearn what I had learnt. He told me that if you want to survive in this industry with actors like these, you should learn how to shoot a film when the actor is not there. I felt very proud when I once showed Amitabh a scene between him and Amjad Khan in a dubbing studio. He was shocked and said, âÂÂBut I never shot with Amjad.âÂÂâ </blockquote>Anand worked as an assistant director to Satyajit Ray for nearly five years on several Bengali films, including Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne (1969), Aranyer Din Ratri (1970), Pratidwandi (1970), Seemabaddha (1971), and Ashani Sanket (1973).
In 2008, Anand portrayed a significant role in the Hindi film Ghajini.
In a later interview, Anand spoke about his early career and praised Amitabh Bachchan for his generosity and support during his formative years in the film industry.