One of my all time favorite movies has been Amar Akbar Anthony. I must have watched it for like a 100 times and whenever it is on air and I happen to bump into it, I make sure I watch it for as long as I can. Today, I could watch it from start to end. While watching it, very many thoughts have crossed my mind.
This is a very ideal film! Yes, it is as we see in so many of the scenes. Like, when Kishan Lal (Pran) returns home after serving a tenure in jail he realizes that his family has not been taken care of as promised by his boss Robert (Jeevan). He asks his wife played by Nirupa Roy, if she received any money to which she replies that even if she had she would not have accepted it as it would be unethical! Like, when a person offering prayers in a garden realizes a small child has been abandoned and he takes the child (Akbar - Rishi Kapoor) home and decides to take care of it as well. Like, when Anthony (Amitabh Bachchan) returns home after having a fight with Zibisko and talks to himself in the mirror saying, "I have always told you to avoid liquor because it's bad, but you never listen. If you had not been drunk today, you would have beaten the crap out of him!" Like, Anthony saying that he will never fight back with a Police officer out of respect. Like, Anthony asking Robert if he has not harmed any police officer as in that case he would have made sure Robert is caught by the Police. Like, the fact that Kishan Lal kidnaps Robert's daughter but takes care of her as his own child. Like, Akbar gets a candid snap of his would be father in law Tayyab Ali with his girlfriend out of fun but does not misuse it. Like, Akbar wants to make sure that his girlfriends' father approves of their marriage otherwise he would not marry her. As mentioned earlier, there are many such ideal scenes.
Apart from this aspect, there are a few details which have been caught in the film which truly suggests the work of a genius. Like, in the opening scenes when Kishan Lal approaches Robert to ask for money and Robert makes him polish his shoes and gives away just 1 dime. In anguish Kishan Lal gets hold of a revolver and shoots at Robert in the chest. He is saved by the bullet proof vest, however. Later, a similar situation arises when Robert is at the receiving end. The same scene takes place again only this time Robert shoots Kishan Lal in the back. He is saved by a similar bullet proof vest. Kishan Lal mocks at Robert saying he knew that Robert was a back stabber and would always attack from behind and was so prepared. Like, in one of the scenes when we see kids running behind cars. Do we see the same thing today? Back then, there were few cars and people were in awe of cars, more so the children and always loved following cars and jumping on them, something which has been captured smartly.
Let's talk about the exceptional music of the film composed by the great Laxmikant-Pyarelal. Those were the days when composing was much tougher. All the artists rehearsed and recorded together. Technology had not evolved back then, so a lot depended on human effort. Where you have human effort you have chances of human error. As my friend Pushkar always keeps saying, that it is because of this human error that the music was never perfect but that exactly made it melodious. Perhaps, that is the reason why many of our old songs still seem wonderful to hear. Today, with technology most of the music directors have been able to achieve perfection but the melody is surely missing more often than not.
I also feel that the underlying feature of this film is secularism and harmony. The title itself highlights this. The famous song Shirdi wale Sai Baba sung by the great Rafi sahab, which we hear in local trains of Mumbai has been a part of this film. It has been shot showing a muslim community offering a prayer in the form of Qawwali for a diety which has a majority of hindu devotees. The title song of this movie says goes like Anhoni ko honi kar de, honi ko anhoni. Ek jagah jab jama ho teeno, Amar..Akbar..Anthony which throws up a high level of thought that if all religions come together there could be nothing impossible to achieve. Just think over it!
Back then, we were not as corrupt as we are today. Back then, we had much more ideals and values than we have today. Back then, we were much better than we are today. Things had started changing back then and we have reached upto this point. Probably, Manmohan Desai made this movie the way it is to make sure he instills good values in people something which might have never crossed anyone's mind. A movie, for all of us, is pure entertainment. This movie is not at all short of entertainment but do try and relate my views the next time you watch this film. Final words - great work by a superb star cast, hat's off Salim-Javed for a great story and dialogues, grand salute Laxmikant-Pyarelal and take a bow Manmohan Desai!
PS: It's OK if you just don't think about my views on this film. Enjoy the film :)
