Amar Akbar Anthony (2015 film)
| Amar Akbar Anthony | |
|---|---|
_film_poster.jpg) Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Nadirshah |
| Screenplay by | Bibin George Vishnu Unnikrishnan |
| Produced by | Dr. Zachariah Thomas Alwin Antony |
| Starring | Prithviraj Jayasurya Indrajith Namitha Pramod |
| Cinematography | Sujith Vaassudev |
| Edited by | John Kutty |
| Music by | Songs: Nadirshah Background score: Bijibal |
Production companies | United Global Media Entertainment Ananya Films (in association with) |
| Distributed by | Thameens Release |
Release date |
|
Running time | 144 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Budget | ₹6.70 crore (US$800,000)[1] |
| Box office | est. ₹28.50 crore (US$3.4 million)[2][3] |
Amar Akbar Anthony is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language musical comedy film directed by Nadirshah. It stars Prithviraj, Jayasurya, and Indrajith in lead roles, while Namitha Pramod appears in the female lead. The screenplay was written by Bibin George and Vishnu Unnikrishnan. Sony Music released the film's soundtrack label. The song tracks were composed by Nadirshah himself, while the background score was by Bijibal.
Amar Akbar Anthony marked the directorial debut of Nadirshah. The film was completed in 65 days with a production cost of ₹6.70 crore (US$800,000).[4] Sony Music India released the trailer on 5 October 2015.[5] The film released on 16 October 2015. The film is being remade in Kannada as John Jani Janardhan.
Plot
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (February 2016) |
Faizal (Asif Ali), born and bred Kochi bike-stunt artist, gets injured during one of his bike stunts and gets hospitalised. He is admitted in the general ward, and there he meets other patients and begins to chat to know each other. His ward mates queries how he fell. Faizal explains the reason by narrating a story about his three best friends Amar (Prithviraj), Akbar (Jayasurya) and Anthony (Indrajith). Amar, Akbar and Anthony lives in a slum area in Fort Kochi, three of them are from poor families.
Amar is children's mini-kart driver in a shopping mall and is a lecher with a number of unsuccessful loves. Other than him he has four members in his family. His father Narayanan (Sasi Kalinga) is a security officer of a roadside ATM counter, his mother (K. P. A. C. Lalitha) is an expanding colony marriage broker and Resmiya (Srinda Ashab), an orphan women who lives together in their house with her daughter Fathima/Pathumma (Baby Meenakshi) after her husband flees away with her gold ornaments, for the marriage was arranged by Amar's mother.
Akbar is a handicap due to Poliomyelitis. His father (Abu Salim) is a body builder and a Mr. Cochin winner and is still preparing for competitions, while his mother (Bindu Panicker) is the home-maker.
Anthony works as a pizza delivery staff in a mall. He was adopted by his father (Pradeep Kottayam) when found left alone inside a movie theatre as a new born child.
Three of them have a common enemy Unni (Ramesh Pisharody) whom their parents consider as a standard benchmark to compare them. Apart from their usual work they occasionally work as catering service boys for marriages and other functions under Rejimon (Saju Navodaya). Rejimon loves to talk about the disasters occurred in others life and revels in them. His grandmother (Molly Kannamaly), a septuagenarian who have found freedom through mobile phone and engage in several social networking sites. She even once made Amar fall in love with her through Facebook chatting, through one of her fake profile as a young girl studying in standard twelve.
All the three have a crush towards Jeni (Namitha Pramod), their neighbour and a dance-bar/cinematic performer. The three amigos have an ambition to go for a tour at Pattaya beach in Thailand with the immoral intend to score with women and flirt with modern lively girls. For this they save money from their monthly salary. For the trip they plans to save ₹25,000, to get the visa and ticket through Faizal. But every year when they manage to collect the required money, there will be some unexpected issues forcing to spend that money, each time. This time Amar's father was met with an accident (for which the cash was spend). He was saved timely by Ambulance driver Jadayu Sabu (Kalabhavan Shajon) with whom the trio becomes friendly. Jeni reveals her love interest to Akbar. Later, Gentleman Unni gets arrested for illegally growing and selling marijuana. Meanwhile, Rejimon's grandmother passes away. As colony association annual day nears, the colony members gets ready for carnival programs which includes Jeni orchestrated dance program and Fathima's solo song. The inebriated trio make a fight during the festival because Akbar finds the man who punched him in a car park. During the chaos, Fathima goes missing. The next day, a boy comes to the family to inform that Fathima's body was found in a dump. Police verifies that similar girls under the age ten are missing from surrounding area and several of their abused dead-body is found in various places. Police suspect a habitual pedophile Bengali who was convicted for similar charges in Bengal and might have relocated with the migrant working community to Cochin, after his release. Identity of this man is confirmed by the trio and they find him. However, before invoking their final vengeance they are intervened by the Police and to their shock are informed that it wasn't the Bengali who killed their Fathima but the colony's beloved Sir (V. K. Sreeraman), he was outed by a victim of his pedophilic abuse. Both the Bengali and the Sir are brutally murdered as a social justice and cleansing of the community by the people of the colony. The police knowing the legal protection that these criminals would have turns a blind-eye condoning to the people's justice.
Faizal, ends his story with this and ward mates sympathize with his story and reminds him that he didn't tell how this story is related to his broken leg. It is revealed that Faizal was their travel agent for Pattaya tour and the trip for ₹25,000 was a lie for him to get ₹25,000 and it had resulted in his accident that broke his leg as the proverb says "If the dumb is cheated by the miser, the miser gets cheated by God". Later the trio are shown donating a prime share of their money to Child Save Social Work Projects and the much alluded secret song that Anthony uses to make women fall flat in love with him is disclosed as the anti-popular meme of the song "Puthiya Mugham".
Cast
- Prithviraj as Amar, a mini-kart driver in a shopping mall
- Jayasurya as Akbar, a handicapped lift operator
- Indrajith as Anthony, a pizza delivery boy
- Asif Ali as Faizal, a crazy biker
- Namitha Pramod as Jenny
- Shafique Rahiman as Dhappan, a migrant Bengali worker from Bengal who is a criminal
- V. K. Sreeraman as Mash, an artist
- Sasi Kalinga as Ramanan/Amar's father, an ATM security guard
- Abu Salim as Stalin Mammali (Akbar's father), a former body builder
- Pradeep Kottayam as chakkappan/Anthony's father
- Kalabhavan Shajon as Jadayu Sabu, a social worker engaged in Free Ambulance service
- Saju Navodaya as Rejimon a.k.a. Durantham Regi, a middle-class unemployed
- Ramesh Pisharody as Nallavanaya Unni, a role-model for a good future
- Siddique as C.I Sethunath V. R., Circle Inspector
Production
Former mimicry artist and actor Nadirshah is making his directorial debut with Amar Akbar Anthony. Prithviraj, Indrajith and Jayasurya are reuniting after the much popular film Classmates (2006).[6] Mimicy artists and debutant script writers Bibin and Vishnu completed the film's screenplay in three years time. And they narrated the script to Nadirshah whom they know for a long period. At the end of the two hours narration Nadirshah showed interest in directing the film. After that they approached Jayasurya for roping him for one of the three lead roles. And enjoyed the script and signed to do the film. For the second lead role they considered Prithviraj, but was skeptical about approaching him with their script as they considered him as an actor who had done some films which has much acclaimed screenplays. But finally they narrated the script to him and to their surprise he was very much interested in it and signed for the role.[7]
The film was originally scheduled for 70 days with an estimated budget of ₹7 crore (US$840,000), but was completed in 65 days with a production cost approximately ₹6.70 crore (US$800,000).[1]
Sony Music India released the trailer on 5 October 2015. One day before the official release, the trailer was leaked on the video sharing website YouTube on 4 October which was later removed by YouTube.[5] The trailer garnered about two lakh views in two days.[8]
Release and reception
The film was released on 16 October 2015 in India.[9][10] The television satellite right was sold to Surya TV.[11]
Critical reception
International Business Times rated 4/5 and said, "Amar Akbar Anthony is sure to make you laugh with some fresh homage comedy throughout. It also asks the youngsters to be more reactant to the social issues of these days as in the 80's", and also commented that the film will take us back to the days of good old comedy entertainers of the late 80's and 90's in Malayalam films with modern elements of story presentation.[12] Sify.com said, "How much you enjoy Amar Akbar Anthony will depend on your liking for loud, verbal comedy. Even if you are not a great fan of such jokes, this film can keep you entertained."[13] Filmibeat.com rated the film 3 in a scale of 5, calling it "comical extravaganza" and stating that "the debutant filmmaker has succeeded in bringing out the best from his actors; without losing the grip over the high-dose comical situations." The reviewer also noted that "the rich comical situations and racy climax makes the movie engaging.".[14] Malayala Manorama rated 3 out of 5 stars and said "As the film tries to capture everything in the running time. Nadhirshah skilfully maintains a pace in the plot and effortlessly switches between fillers, comedy and thriller, like a seasoned director".[15]
Box office
The film grossed ₹5.10 crore (US$610,000) in 3 days from Kerala and ₹52 lakhs from rest of India.[16] It grossed more than ₹11.20 crore within 8 days of its release with a net amount of ₹9.02 crore.[17] The film grossed ₹16.3 crore within 14 days of release.[18] And ₹22.6 crore (US$2.7 million) in 21 days.[19] The film collected ₹28 crore from worldwide boxoffice.[20]
Music
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
The music of the film is composed by Nadirshah himself, while the lyrics were written by Santhosh Varma, Bapu Vavad and Nadirshah. The background score was done by Bijibal. The music album comprises five tracks.[21] The audio music of the film was officially launched by Nivin Pauly and Dileep by unveiling the audio CD at the function.[22] The event was held at Kochi on 9 October.[23]
The first video song "Premamennal" was released online on 14 October by Sony Music India. It was sung by Prithviraj Sukumaran, Indrajith Sukumaran, Jayasurya and Kalabhavan Shajon.[24] The song "Yenno Njanente" featuring Baby Meenakshi, sung by Sreya Jayadeep was released on 22 October.[25] The romantic song "Manjaadum" which has Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil lyrics incorporated was shot in Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. The IBTimes called it a "clear visual treat".[12]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Premamennaal" | Nadirshah | Nadirshah, Prithviraj, Indrajith, Jayasurya, Kalabhavan Shajon | 05:30 |
| 2. | "Manjaadum" | Nadirshah, Vijay Yesudas, Afsal, Samad | 04:25 | |
| 3. | "Yenno Njaanende" | Bapu Vavad | Nadirshah, Baby Sreya | 03:47 |
| 4. | "Pranayam" | Nadirshah | Nadirshah | 04:34 |
| 5. | "Premamennaal (Reprise)" | Nadirshah | Nadirshah | 05:30 |
Awards
The film won the following awards:
- Special Jury Mention - Baby Sreya
References
- ^ a b Express Features (18 November 2015). "Prithviraj Clocks Three Blockbusters With Debutant Directors". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
- ^ James, Anu. "Amar Akbar Anthony completes 50 days at box office; makers release special poster". International Business Times, India Edition. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- ^ "Mollywood's small-budget films that did big wonders at the box office". TheTimes of India. 2 July 2016.
- ^ "Mollywood's small-budget films that did big wonders at the box office". The Times of India. 2 July 2016.
- ^ a b Anu James (5 October 2015). "Watch 'Amar Akbar Anthony' official trailer featuring Prithviraj, Indrajith, Jayasurya [VIDEO]". International Business Times. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ Sreeju Sudhakaran (5 October 2015). "Amar Akbar Anthony trailer: Prithviraj, Indrajith and Jayasurya bring Three Stooges to Malayalam cinema!". Bollywood Life. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ Meera Suresh (22 October 2015). "The Sweet Taste of Success". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Sachin Jose (7 October 2015). "'Amar Akbar Anthony': Trailer of Prithviraj-Indrajith-Jayasurya movie garners 2 lakh views". International Business Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James (15 October 2015). "Multi-starrer films 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi' to lock horns at Kerala box office". International Business Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James (16 October 2015). "'Amar Akbar Anthony' movie review by audience: Live updates". International Business Times. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James (8 October 2015). "Sun Network buys satellite rights of 'Pathemari', 'Kanal', 'Amar Akbar Anthony', other Malayalam films". International Business Times. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ a b Anu James (17 October 2015). "'Amar Akbar Anthony' review: Fun filled family entertainer with a social message". International Business Times.
- ^ "Amar Akbar Anthony". Sify.
- ^ Akhila Menon (16 October 2015). "Amar Akbar Anthony Movie Review: Comical Extravaganza!". Filmibeat.com. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
- ^ Litty Simon (17 October 2015). "'Amar Akbar Anthony': Bringing down theatres". Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James. "Kerala box office: 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'LL7K' make good collection; 'Pathemari' still enjoying housefull shows". International Business Times. Retrieved 20 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James (27 October 2015). "'Ennu Ninte Moideen', 'Amar Akbar Anthony' rule Kerala box office despite release of 'Rani Padmini', 'Kanal'". International Business Times. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James (31 October 2015). "'Pathemari', 'Amar Akbar Anthony', 'Kanal', 'Rani Padmini', 'LL7K': Review of October Malayalam releases". International Business Times. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ Aswini (9 November 2015). "BoxOffice Report: How much Amar Akbar Anthony collected from 21 days?". Filmibeat.com. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
- ^ "Mollywood's small-budget films that did big wonders at the box office". The Times of India. 2 July 2016.
- ^ Nelson K Paul (13 October 2015). "'Amar Akbar Anthony' music review". Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "TALK – Amar Akbar Antony Movie Audio Music Launch Photos". Metromatinee.com. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
- ^ Sanjith Sidhardhan (6 October 2015). "Amar Akbar Anthony audio launch on Oct 9". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ Sachin Jose (15 October 2015). "'Premamennal' song of 'Amar Akbar Anthony' released online [VIDEO]". International Business Times. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ Anu James (23 October 2015). "Watch baby singer Shreya's 'Amar Akbar Anthony' song 'Yenno Njanente' featuring baby Meenakshi [VIDEO]". International Business Times. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ^ "Kerala State Film Awards 2015". Anu James. 1 March 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
