Amar Akbar Anthony remains one of the greatest entertainers popular indian cinema has ever produced. Released in 1977, it was a phenomenal hit and is arguably the best film made by Manmohan Desai, the undisputed king of the lost and found formula. A typical Manmohan Desai ’’masala’’ AAA had all the apt ingriedients like action, emotion, drama, comedy and tragedy. The film’s hallmarkapart from its story, screenplay, dialogue and direction was the character of Anthony Gonsalves played by Amitabh Bachchan. The film undoubtedly sees one of Amitabh’s finest performances ever. It made him an icon and catapulted him to towering heights of super stardom. It also gave a whole new dimension to his acting career and the success of the film showed that he was more than just being the Angry Young Man of Indian Cinema.
Anthony Gonsalves :
The character Anthony Gonsalves was of a local Christian of Bombay and it became immensely popular. The language ( ’Apun’, Sala Fod dalega, Dimag Firelai ) and mannerisms became a rage through out the country. In fact it made the Bambaiya Hindi popular all over the country. An interesting fact to know was that Anthony Gonsalves was actually inspired from a man of the same name who used to live in Khetwadi, mumbai where Manmohan Desai resided. This character had always fascinated Manmohan Desai, who decided to incorporate this in his film.
Inspiration :
According to Desai, the film was inspired by a news item about an alcoholic who regularly thrashed his wife. One day, the disraught woman, abandoned her three kids on the street and disappeared. This news bit gave Desai the idea to show each one growing up in three religious households, Hindu, Muslim and Christian. From this germ of an idea, the film grew into an incredibly implausible yet highly absorbing tale. Escapism is part of experience when viewing a Manmohan Desai film, and this film is filled with it. He proudly said ’’ Filmmaking for me is a fantasy trip. I want to take my audience on a fabulous journey where they will forget their day to day problems and issues. ’’ And he truly did that.
The dialogue by kader Khan is the icing on the cake. The language had become an integral part of every home then and continues to be widely spoken and remembered even today. There is many a moment that makes this film so memorable. The scene where Amitabh is drunk and is applying the medicine on the mirror to his reflection is by far is the best potrayal of a scene of this kind and continues to inspire many actors till today. The action sequence between Amitabh and Vinod Khanna with both of them in their vests, resulting in Amitabh getting thrashed are some of the few nostalgic moments. The wearing of vests by the two of them was largely merchandised through press and hoarding form of advertising and was visible all over the country. Apart from this, the scene where Amar Akbar and Anthony are introduced as they simultaneously donate blood to their mother, highlights the vision of the director and his ability to successfully carry off even the most illogical situation convincingly. One also can’t forget the scene where Amar re-unites with his father while digging out his toy, a pistol given to him by his father when he was a kid.
The film went to become a golden jubliee simultenously at seven theatres which is a record of sorts. The serpentine queues at the cinema halls were unbeliveable adn movie buffs clamoured for tickets. The film had several flaws and critics called it illogical but never in the history of indian cinema before or after the audience have experienced such entertainment. The finest screenplay which is so pacy that it leaves no room for you to think or ponder over. Incredible film. A film like Amar Akbar Anthony cant be made....... it happens.