Amar Akbar Anthony

In Mumbai, on 15 August 1955, a chauffeur named Kishanlal is released from prison after taking the blame for a fatal hit-and-run accident committed by his employer, the notorious widowered crime boss, Robert. Despite Robert's assurance that his family's welfare will be looked after, Kishanlal learned that Robert did not lift even a finger for the man's family. Kishanlal comes home to three starving sons and his starving wife Bharati, who is now also suffering from tuberculosis (TB). Kishanlal seeks help from Robert, who instead humiliates him and orders his henchmen to kill him. However, Kishanlal escapes in one of Robert's cars loaded with smuggled gold bullion.

Kishanlal returns home to find his sons abandoned by Bharati, who had left a suicide note. Kishanlal then takes his sons and leaves them at the foot of Mahatma Gandhi statue in Borivali Park and tells them to wait and that he would return, while he drives off to draw away Robert's henchmen. In an inflamed car crash, Kishanlal is presumed dead by the mobsters and the police, but actually survives. Before his return with the smuggled gold, Kishanlal is distraught to learn that his sons are gone. However, each of the sons are found and adopted by a Hindu policeman named Superintendent Khanna; a Muslim tailor named Mr. Ilahabadi; and a Christian priest named Father Gonsalves. In the meantime, Bharati is struck by a falling branch following her failed suicide attempt and loses her eye sight. Bharati is distraught to hear from the police that Kishanlal and the boys died from the car crash. Having seemingly lost his dear family, Kishanlal angrily swears vengeance on Robert.

22 years later, in 1977, the sons have grown up. The eldest son is now become a Hindu policeman named Inspector Amar Khanna; the youngest son is now become a Muslim qawwali singer named Akbar Ilahabadi; and the middle-born son is now become a Christian licensed liquor seller named Anthony Gonsalves. The three meet each other while donating blood for a hit-and-run victim, unaware that the blind recipient is their mother Bharati, who is now selling flowers. In the meantime, Kishanlal is now a wealthy crime lord, as he used the smuggled gold to form his own crime syndicate and relied on his connections to destroy Robert's business before forcing a penniless Robert to work for him. It is also revealed that Kishanlal also took in Robert's daughter, Jenny as his niece and that she's returning from foreign after graduating from college.

As the story unfolds, each of the three sons finds themselves falling in love. Anthony falls in love with Jenny at a church sermon during Easter Sunday; Amar takes in a one-time crook named Lakshmi and her grandmother after arresting Lakshmi's abusive stepmother; and Akbar falls in love with a young doctor named Dr. Salma Ali, whose father, Taiyyab, disapproves of their relationship. During a police raid on one of Kishanlal's loading docks, Kishanlal and his men are forced to flee, allowing Robert to escape with another shipment of smuggled gold bullion after shooting and wounding Superintendent Khanna. Regaining his former position as crime lord and rounding up new mobsters to his cause, Robert intends to retrieve Jenny for himself and make Kishanlal pay for destroying his business.

Bharati miraculously regains her eyesight at a festival honoring Sai Baba of Shirdi, which Akbar hosts. Bharati recognizes Akbar as her youngest son, Raju, when she sees a photograph of him as a child and Mr. Ilahabadi recognizes Bharati as the woman he rescued from the falling branch and also dropped her home, years ago. Akbar reunites with his mother, Bharati, after many years.

Kishanlal is double-crossed by one of his bodyguards, Zebisco, who betrays Jenny to Robert in exchange for her hand in marriage. While Jenny is getting kidnapped by Zebisco and Robert, Father Gonsalves tries to save her, but Robert kills him. Lakshmi is kidnapped by her abusive stepbrother, Ranjeet, who also works for Robert. Salma and Taiyyab find themselves in a house fire arranged by some prostitutes who worked under Taiyyab . After Akbar saves them, a grateful Taiyyab gives his blessings to Akbar and Salma's relationship. In their pursuit of justice against Robert, the three brothers finally discover their mutual heritage with each other along with Kishanlal and Bharati, reuniting the family once again.

Determined to make Robert pay for his crimes, the three brothers pose as an elderly tailor, a one-man band, and a Catholic priest and infiltrate Robert's mansion along with Salma, who helps Jenny and Lakshmi escape. The three brothers then reveal themselves before beating up Robert, Zebisco, Ranjeet and their henchmen, arresting them and sending them to prison for their crimes. However, Kishanlal is also sent back to prison for his past crimes; Bharati is distraught, but Kishanlal comforts her by saying that the only thing that matters to him is that their family is reunited once again. Thus, Kishanlal is allowed to share a brief heartfelt hug with his sons, who then ride happily into the sunset with their loved ones.

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.[9][10]

Prayag Raj wrote the film's screenplay, while Kader Khan wrote the dialogue.[11]

The character of Anthony Gonsalves was named after the famous composer and teacher of the same name, whose pupils included Pyarelal (of Laxmikant–Pyarelal, the composer duo of the film) and R. D. Burman.[12][13] Director Manmohan Desai had planned for the 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.”[12][14] 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.[12]

Amar Akbar Anthony incorporates a strong element of secularism[16] 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.[17][18] Philip Lutgendorf hints that the separation of the three children on Indian Independence Day is akin to the Partition of India.[19] Similarly, Vijay Mishra (2013) aruges that the film reaffirmed India's "liberal ethos." [20] 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 (symbolized by their common villain).[21] The characters' reunion with their parents completes the nationalistic allegory,[17][18] suggesting that what was lost at independence can be regained.[22]

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.[23] Dickson (2016) commented that the film featured a plot which would "give even Shakespeare migraines."[24] Some authors also highlight the archetypal character of the suffering and self-sacrificing mother (Roy).[25] 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."[26]

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 colored 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, Mohammed Rafi, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar, and Lata Mangeshkar, sang together for the first and only occasion in their careers on "Humko Tumse Ho Gaya Hai Pyar."[12] In this song, Rafi sang for Rishi Kapoor, Mukesh for Vinod Khanna, and Kumar for Amitabh Bachchan, 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.[27] Other musical legends who worked on the film include Mahendra Kapoor and Shailendra Singh.

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.[30][31] Incidentally, all of these would be amongst the top-grossing films of the year.[1]

The film grossed ₹155 million (equivalent to ₹3.5 billion or US$49 million in 2019) at the Indian box office and was the highest-grossing Bollywood film at the Indian Box Office for the year 1977.[1] It has since been regarded as one of the most iconic films of Indian cinema.[33]

• Booth, Gregory D. (2008). Behind the curtain: Making music in Mumbai's film studios. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-971665-4.
• Elison, William; Novetzke, Christian Lee; Rotman, Andy (2016). Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, brotherhood, and the nation. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674504486.
• Haham, Connie (2006). Enchantment of the mind: Manmohan Desai's films. Roli Books. ISBN 978-81-7436-431-9.

• Bhatia, Sidharth (2013). Amar Akbar Anthony: Masala, madness, and Manmohan Desai. HarperCollins Publishers India. ISBN 978-8172239350.

• Amar Akbar Anthony at IMDb