The Indian blockbuster Amar Akbar Anthony, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Vinod Khanna and Rishi Kapoor and directed by Manmohan Desai, has inspired a Harvard University press book.
The 1977 blockbuster is an escapist adage on unity and brotherhood.
Around ten days ago, Bachchan took to social media to share the look of the cover which reads: Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, Brotherhood and the Nation.
Big B captioned the image: “The Harvard University Press brings out a book on Amar Akbar Anthony, a thesis almost on the merits of the film. Amazing!”
The film is about three brothers separated from their parents and each other in childhood, and raised in three different faiths, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity.
They unite in their youth to fight a common villain. It was the biggest blockbuster of 1977 and it won several awards at the 25th Filmfare Awards including for best actor, best music director and best editing.
The film about religious tolerance became a hallmark for Bollywood masala films.
It also had a lasting impact on the pop culture, with catchy songs, one-liners and the character of Anthony Gonsalves.
It was later remade in Tamil as Shankar Salim Simon; in Telugu as Ram Robert Rahim and in Malayalam as John Jaffer Janardhanan.
The leading ladies of the film are Parveen Babi, Shabana Azmi and Neetu Singh. Nirupa Roy, Pran and Jeevan played supporting roles. The music was composed by Laxmikant-Pyarelal.
On Thursday, Khanna breathed his last in Mumbai after fighting a long battle with bladder cancer.
