This 1977 film is delirious fun from director Manmohan Desai and features a great performance by the legendary Amitabh Bachchan, arguably the most well-known actor in Bollywood cinema today. The film has many strengths, but it is perhaps most well-known for its pace-shifting antics, wildly chaotic story, bits of side comedy, and its theme of lost and found identities; one which spawned numerous similar Bollywood titles after this film's huge success. Borrowing liberally from action films of the time (most notably, of the Asian variety), the film could be dismissed for its haphazard style and jumbled storyline if it were not also infused with wonderfully rich Bollywood touches. The least of which is an unconventionally developed thematic tie to family and religion, with the credit-sequence rather cleverly establishing that all three male characters, strangers to each other, are in fact brothers tied to their ailing mother in need of a blood transfusion. Furthermore, all the brothers derive from different backgrounds in upbringing and religion: one is a talented Islamic singer and son of a tailor, the other a stoic Hindi police inspector, and the last a playful hoodlum raised by the Catholic church. In the end, the discovery of lost family ties all of this together, and religion and social status is rendered oblique.
All the performers are strong here, but Bachchan steals the show. Here, he's in fine form as a hero, lover, and comic. As Anthony, Bachchan has a number of memorable scenes, one (which looks largely improvised) has him drunk in front of a mirror applying bandages to himself. It's a typically understated and amusing moment found throughout the film. Another delight is seeing two of the best hams in Bollywood cinema spar throughout; the actor Pran as the elder father to the estranged sons, and Jeevan as the evil nemesis "Robert." These two men clocked in hundreds of performances in Bollywood cinema and are legends in their own right. With its spirited cast, gymnastic fight sequences, creepy villains, and pleasing musical interludes; when the credits roll, don't be surprised if you find yourself humming "Amar...Akbar...An-Tho-Neeee...."
Producer: Manmohan Desai
Director: Manmohan Desai
Screenplay: J.M. Desai, Kader Khan, Prayag Raj, K.K. Shukla
Cinematography: Peter Pereira
Film Editing: Kamalakar Karkhanis
Music: Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar, Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma
Cast: Vinod Khanna (Inspector Amar Khanna), Rishi Kapoor (Akbar Ilhabadi), Amitabh Bachchan (Anthony Gonzalves), Neetu Singh (Dr. Salma), Parveen Babi (Jenny), Shabana Azmi (Laxmi).
C-163m.
by Richard Steiner
