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Amar Akbar Anthony
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Wikipedia article
'Amar Akbar Anthony' is a 1977 Indian Hindi-language masala film directed and produced by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan. The film stars Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan opposite their female leads of Shabana Azmi, Neetu Singh and Parveen Babi with Nirupa Roy, Pran Sikand and Jeevan Dhar in supporting roles. The plot focuses on three brothers separated in childhood who are adopted by families of different faiths: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. They grow up to become respectively a police officer, a qawwali singer, and an owner of a country bar.
The soundtrack album was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. The film was released on 27 May 1977 and earned at the Indian box office, becoming the highest-grossing Indian film of that year, alongside 'Dharam Veer' and 'Hum Kisise Kum Naheen'.
Religious tolerance became a landmark theme in Bollywood masala films, building on the masala formula pioneered a few years earlier by Nasir Hussain's 'Yaadon Ki Baaraat' (1973). 'Amar Akbar Anthony' also had a lasting impact on pop culture with its catchy songs, quotable one-liners, and the character of Anthony Gonsalves (played by Bachchan). It won several awards at the 25th Filmfare Awards, including Best Actor, Best Music Director and Best Editing. It was later remade in Tamil as 'Shankar Salim Simon' (1978), in Telugu as 'Ram Robert Rahim' (1980), and in Malayalam as 'John Jaffer Janardhanan' (1982). In Pakistan, the film was unofficially remade in Punjabi as 'Akbar Amar Anthony' (1978).
Plot
1955
On 15 August 1955, a poor chauffeur named Kishanlal Tripathi (Pran Sikand) is released from prison after he was arrested for a fatal hit-and-run accident. The crime was actually committed by the wealthy crime lord Robert Singh (Jeevan Dhar), who is Kishanlal's employer. Despite Robert's assurances that his family's welfare will be looked after, Kishanlal is shocked to find his wife Bharati (Nirupa Roy) suffering from tuberculosis and three infant sons starving from hunger.He confronts Robert over ignoring his family and seeks help from him. However, Robert humiliates him instead and orders his henchmen to kill him. Kishanlal manages to escape from one of Robert's cars loaded with smuggled gold bullion and is chased by his henchmen. He returns home to find his sons abandoned by Bharati, who has left a suicide note, saying that she does not wish to live with the money that his employer pays him for his wrongdoings. Kishanlal leaves his sons near the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Borivali Park for safety and drives off to draw away Robert's henchmen. He and his sons are presumed dead in an exploding car accident by both the police and the mobsters.
In the park, the eldest son runs behind Kishanlal and is hit by the car of Robert's henchmen. The local Hindu police superintendent Ranjit Khanna (Kamal Kapoor) finds him injured and adopts him. The middle-born son leaves in search of food for his crying brother. A Muslim tailor called Salman Ilahabadi (Shivraj) finds the youngest son "abandoned" in the park and adopts him. Finding himself alone, the middle-born son falls asleep on the steps of a Catholic church and is adopted by a Christian priest called Father William Gonsalves (Nazir Hussain).
Meanwhile, Bharati is struck blind by a falling branch as a punishment from God for abandoning her sons. She is dropped home by Salman and is unable to recognize her youngest son due to her lack of sight. Bharati is distraught to learn from the police that Kishanlal and the sons died in the car accident. Kishanlal, having survived the car accident, returns to the park with Robert's gold bullion but finds his sons gone. Believing that he has lost his entire family, he angrily swears vengeance on Robert for their separation.
1977
22 years later, the three sons are shown grown up with different names and religions; the eldest son is shown as a Hindu police officer with the name of Amar Khanna (Vinod Khanna), the youngest son is shown as a Muslim qawwali singer with the name of Akbar Ilahabadi (Rishi Kapoor) and the middle-born son is shown as a Christian owner of a country bar with the name of Anthony Gonsalves (Amitabh Bachchan). The three meet each other and become friends while donating blood to a blind flower seller, unaware that she is their mother Bharati. Meanwhile, Kishanlal is a wealthy crime lord as he used the smuggled gold bullion to form his own syndicate, driving Robert out of business and forcing him to work for Kishanlal. It is also revealed that Kishanlal had kidnapped Robert's daughter Jenny Singh (Parveen Babi) in order to avenge his family's separation and sent her off abroad for her studies. During a police raid on one of his loading docks, Kishanlal and his henchmen are forced to flee, allowing Robert to escape with a shipment of smuggled gold bullion after shooting Superintendent Khanna non-fatally. Using the gold bullion, Robert regains his position as a wealthy crime lord and rounds up new mobsters, planning to retrieve Jenny and kill Kishanlal.As the story unfolds, each of the brothers find themselves falling in love; Amar falls in love with a forced crook named Lakshmi Anand (Shabana Azmi) after arresting her abusive stepmother (Nadira), Akbar falls in love with a young physician named Dr. Salma Ali (Neetu Singh) whose grumpy father Taiyyab Ali (Mukri) disapproves of their relationship, and Anthony falls in love with Jenny during a church sermon on Easter Sunday. Soon, Robert and his henchmen bump into Bharati and try to kidnap her. However, she manages to flee from them and miraculously regains her eyesight at a festival honoring the Sai Baba of Shirdi, which was hosted by Akbar. Seeing Akbar's childhood photograph, Bharati recognises him as her youngest son Raju and has an emotional reunion with him. Taiyyab gratefully gives blessings to Akbar and Salma's relationship after Akbar rescues them from a house fire. This event leads both Akbar and Amar to discover that Kishanlal and Bharati are their parents and that they are brothers.
However, things take a drastic turn when Jenny is betrayed by her bodyguard Zebisco Singh (Yusuf Khan) who sells her out to Robert with the exchange of her hand in marriage. Father Gonsalves sees Robert and Zebisco kidnapping Jenny and attempts to rescue her, but is stabbed fatally by Robert. Lakshmi is also kidnapped by her stepbrother Ranjeet Anand (Ranjeet Bedi) who works for Robert as well. After learning what happened to Father Gonsalves, Anthony ends up learning that Kishanlal and Bharati are his parents and that Amar and Akbar are his brothers.
With the knowledge that they are related and after learning the whole chain of incidents, the three brothers are determined to make Robert pay for his crimes. They disguise themselves as a musician, an elderly tailor and a Catholic priest to enter Robert's house along with Salma, who helps Lakshmi and Jenny escape. After their performance, the three brothers reveal themselves and beat Robert and his henchmen up before having them all arrested by the police. However, Bharati is distraught to learn that Kishanlal is also arrested by the police for his past crimes. Kishanlal comforts her by saying that the only thing matters to him is that their family is reunited. He is briefly released from prison by Superintendent Khanna, but only to embrace his three sons. The films ends with the three brothers driving in the sunset with their respective love interests.
Cast
* Vinod Khanna as Amar Khanna
* Rishi Kapoor as Akbar Ilahabadi
* Amitabh Bachchan as Anthony Gonsalves
* Shabana Azmi as Lakshmi Anand
* Neetu Singh as Salma Taiyyab Ali
* Parveen Babi as Jenny
* Nirupa Roy as Bharati
* Pran as Kishanlal
* Jeevan as Robert (Jenny's father) and his brother Albert
* Kamal Kapoor as Ranjit Khanna (Amar's adoptive father)
* Shivraj as Salman Ilahabadi (Akbar's adoptive father)
* Nazir Hussain as Father William Gonsalves (Anthony's adoptive father)
* Mukri as Taiyyab Ali (Salma's father)
* Yusuf Khan as Zebisco Singh (Jenny's bodyguard)
* Ranjeet Bedi as Ranjeet Anand (Lakshmi's stepbrother)
* Nadira as Mrs. Anand (Lakshmi's stepmother)
* Prathima Devi as Lakshmi's grandmother
* Moolchand as Pedro (Robert's friend)
Production
'Amar Akbar Anthony' has a cinematic antecedent in Yash Chopra's 1965 film 'Waqt', in which a father's three sons are separated from each other. 'Amar Akbar Anthony' was also inspired by the 1976 super-hit diamond jubilee Pakistani film 'Talash', starring Shabnam and Nadeem. However, 'Amar Akbar Anthony' was slated to release in 1975, prior to 'Talash's release.
Prayag Raj wrote the film's screenplay, while Kader Khan wrote the dialogue.
The character of Anthony Gonsalves was named after the famous composer and teacher of the same name, whose pupils included Pyarelal (of LaxmikantPyarelal, the composer duo of the film) and R. D. Burman.Booth, p. 3 Director Manmohan Desai had planned for Amitabh's character to be named Anthony Fernandes, with Bakshi's song entitled My Name is Anthony Fernandes. However, the song didn't go well with Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Composer Pyarelal then recalled his famous violin teacher and suggested that the character's last name be changed to Gonsalves.Booth, p. 5 The nonsensical monologue preceding the "My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves" sequence was taken in part from a 1878 speech by British politician Benjamin Disraeli in reference to W. E. Gladstone.
Filming
'Amar Akbar Anthony' was Manmohan Desai's first film as an independent film producer. The film was shot over a month at Ranjit Studios in Mumbai. Some exterior and interior shots were filmed at the Mount Mary Church in Bandra, Mumbai and at the Don Bosco School, Wadala, Mumbai respectively. Shooting was scheduled so that the entire cast didn't have to appear together except for the climactic sequence and the title song ("Anhoni Ko Honi"), where they all perform as a group. However, the shooting went over schedule, which required Rishi Kapoor and Shabana Azmi to shoot their scenes separately so they could leave towards the end of production to work on other films.Analysis
'Amar Akbar Anthony' incorporates a strong element of secularism within a Bollywood masala film. Analysts such as Virdi (2003) and Kavoori & Punathambekar (2008) opine that the themes of Desai's "magnum opus" include religious pluralism and secular nationalism. Philip Lutgendorf hints that the separation of the three children on Indian Independence Day is akin to the Partition of India. Similarly, Vijay Mishra (2013) argues that the film reaffirmed India's "liberal ethos."
The three religions represented by the titular characters are the "pillars of the nation:" when they work together, they can restore life to their mother (represented when they donate blood during the opening title sequence) and beat any evil (symbolised by their common villain). The characters' reunion with their parents completes the nationalistic allegory, suggesting that what was lost at independence can be regained.
The film's masala style is evident in its plot and characters. According to Varia (2013), 'Amar Akbar Anthony' was conceived as a tragedy but later incorporated many other genres. Dickson (2016) commented that the film featured a plot which would "give even Shakespeare migraines." Some authors also highlight the archetypal character of the suffering and self-sacrificing mother (Roy). However, Dinesh Raheja concludes that "ultimately, the show belongs to Amitabh Bachchan. In a tailor-made role, he has the audience in stitches. Despite his playing an implausible character, one quickly surrenders one's reservations in favour of a rollicking romp."
Music
'Amar Akbar Anthony's soundtrack was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal, with lyrics penned by Anand Bakshi. It proved as popular and successful as the film itself. The vinyl record, released on Polydor, was the first LP that was coloured pink.
Some of the biggest names in the Indian music industry of the time provided vocals for the film's songs. Four leading playback singers Kishore Kumar, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar, sang together for the first and only occasion in their careers on "Humko Tumse Ho Gaya Hai Pyar." In this song Kishore sang for Amitabh Bachchan, Rafi sang for Rishi Kapoor, Mukesh for Vinod Khanna while Mangeshkar sang for Shabana Azmi, Neetu Singh, and Parveen Babi. The film also features a comical 'filmi qawwali' entitled "Parda Hai Parda" ("There Is a Veil"), sung by Rafi. Other musical legends who worked on the film include Mahendra Kapoor and Shailendra Singh.
Release
The Emergency Period delayed the release of several of Manmohan Desai's films. As a result, four of Desai's films, 'Dharam Veer', 'Chacha Bhatija', 'Parvarish,' and 'Amar Akbar Anthony', were released in 1977. Incidentally, all of these would be amongst the top-grossing films of the year.
Marketing
For the film's marketing, erasers with the images of Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, and Amitabh Bachchan were sold to students. Posters, postcards, and song booklets of the film were sold in shops. Colorful vests and metal crosses that were similar to the ones worn by Bachchan in the film achieved popularity.Reception
The film grossed at the Indian box office and was the highest-grossing Bollywood film at the Indian Box Office for the year 1977. It has since been regarded as one of the most iconic films of Indian cinema.
Accolades
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References
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