Amar Akbar Anthony

Reissue Bollywood movie poster of the cult Hindi film, Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)  for sale.

Featured here for sale is a reissue Amar Akbar Anthony film poster, which was printed and circulated during a very recent screening of the old Amitabh movie. Originally released in 1977, Amar Akbar Anthony starred the greatest superstar of Indian cinema Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role along with Rishi Kapoor and Vinod Khanna.

The film is based on the story of three brothers who are separated in childhood and adopted by three families of different faiths: Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Amar Akbar Anthony is unanimously regarded as a symbol of religious pluralism and secular nationalism in Indian cinema.

Amar Akbar Anthony was the biggest blockbuster of 1977 and and won several awards at the 25th Filmfare Awards including Best Actor, Best Music Director and Best Editing. Directed by Manmohan Desai, Amar Akbar Anthony was a golden jubilee at the box office and has been catapulted to cult status over the years, establishing itself as a landmark in the “Bollywood masala” genre.

Printed and circulated for publicity of a recent re-release of the film (somewhere in 2019), this Amitabh Bachchan old movie poster was originally designed for publicity of the film but never ended up being used.

Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna are seen in large photographic close ups on the top of this Amar Akbar Anthony poster. The iconic fight sequence between the two is seen in a smaller still photograph below. The three leading ladies of the film, Shabana Azmi, Neetu Singh and Parveen Babi appear at the bottom left of this Amar Akbar Anthony movie poster. The title of the film is seen in Hindi Devanagari font in tricolor – one colour being used to represent each word symbolizing each underlying religion. Actor Pran is seen on the bottom right along with the three lead actors of the film in this Amitabh movie poster.

Songs from Amar Akbar Anthony composed by the music composer duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal became a rage throughout the nation. Tracks like “Parda Hai Parda” sung by Mohammed Rafi, “My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves” sung by Kishore Kumar and “Anhoni Ko Honi Karde” are fondly remembered and played till date.

Amar Akbar Anthony is remembered for one of superstar Amitabh Bachchan’s finest performances. The cult “band-aid mirror” scene is remembered and reenacted by Amitabh till date in numerous interviews and reality show appearances.

The film is instantly remembered for its song “My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves,” in which Amitabh Bachchan jumps out of a large easter egg wearing a black tuxedo with a top hat, monocle and umbrella, delivering the most nonsensical dialogue ever written in Bollywood: “You are a sophisticated rhetorician intoxicated with the exuberance of your own verbosity.”

Amar Akbar Anthony was ahead of its time, in that it was one of the first Indian films to exploit Bollywood merchandising to generate both revenues as well as publicity. For the film’s marketing, numerous Bollywood merchandise items were produced such as erasers for students featuring pictures of Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor. The metal cross worn by Amitabh Bachchan around his neck along with his colorful vests opened up a huge Bollywood merchandise market at the time of the film’s release.