Amar Akbar Anthony

Expectations weren’t that high about Nadirshah’s debut venture as a director, Amar Akbar Anthony as the trailers and teasers looked like something very typical and outdated. But I have to say that Nadirshah has managed to understand the pulse of the audience and within the “not so amusing” plot, he manages to bring out some really good performances from his actors and he finally delivers a movie that mostly justifies the tag line of being an entertainer.

The film is basically about these lower middle class young boys. Amar, Akbar and Anthony live a very low profile life. All of them are behind this girl Jenny. I can’t say the plot in the usual way as there isn’t much of a conflict in the way. A sad incident that happens in their warm and friendly life, which shatters them first and then makes them react against it, is what Amar Akbar Anthony showing us.

Even though there is this preaching towards the end asking us to be more aware and responding, that part of the movie doesn’t really workout in favor of the film. But if you approach it as an entertainer, there is ample to make you smile and occasionally laugh. Nadirshah manages to give the treatment a good flow and that has really benefited the film. There isn’t much happening in the script except for funny instances that shows the close and deep bond of these three. The usual Udayan – Sibi style climax is a drawback for sure.

The movie is enormously supported by the actors. I was a bit skeptical about Prithviraj in this comical avatar along with Indrajith and Jayasurya(two really good actors with damn good timing in comedy). But to my surprise Prithviraj carried the role neatly. There wasn’t any overacting and the sort of natural counters his character Amar speaks helps in being simple and comical. Indrajith was good in his Anthony avatar (except for inconsistent beard.) Jayasurya once again delivers a hilarious performance in his typical style. In that one scene towards the climax, Srinda simply beats all the actors in the movie. Namitha Pramod doesn’t have much of a significant role to play in the movie. KPAC Lalitha, Sasi Kalinga, Abu Salim, Bindu Panicker, Pradeep Kottayam, Sreeraman, Siddique and many others are there in the elaborate cast. Don’t know her name, but the little one was really lovely.

As I said, Nadirshah succeeds in understanding the pulse of his audience. The humor is handled neatly and the film manages to stay in the popcorn entertainer zone. Script isn’t that unusual or surprising as it focuses more on the stardom and also the comedy. The slightly old pattern of filling humor for a large part and giving a last minute twist formula has been applied here, but the good thing here is that the humor works for the masses. The music could have been better (except for that song by little girl). The background score is impressive. Sujith Vaassudev visualized things neatly. The art could have been better in those songs.

So to sum it up, if you weren’t that impressed by the promos and songs of Amar Akbar Anthony, there is a great chance that you might end up liking it. The rating for this three star film is 3/5. Its a non boring entertainer with engaging humor.