My name is Anthony Gonsalves- Movie Review

Reviewed by Sneha Hazarika

Cast- Amrita Rao, Debutante Nikhil Dwivedi, Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Javed Sheikh
Director- E Niwas
Rating-** (Average)

E Niwas’s latest which introduces newcomer Nikhil Dwivedi has romance, young dreams and drama set against a typical Mumbai gangster world backdrop. His choice of hero in the subject is good in the sense that NikhilDwivedi is plain looking and he looks the part he plays – a ‘tapori’ guy who dreams of becoming a hero.

The new comer plays Anthony Gonsalves, an orphan who was picked up from the streets as a child by the kind hearted gangster Sikander (Pawan Malhotra). He is handed over to father Braganza (Mithun Chakraborty), who becomes his moral guardian. This shelters Anthony from the grim realities of life. He works as a bartender at Jimmy's pub run by the gang which also serves as a front for their illegal activities. And nurses an extra ordinary dream- to become a film star.

Anthony oblivious to the world around him naively pursues his dreams and as luck would have it (in true filmi style) bags a role in a film made by an international company, set in the Mumbai underworld with Lillete Dubey as director. Things look up for him in the personal front as well as he also gradually falls in love with the assistant director Riya(Amrita Rao) but fate has other plans when he inadvertently happens to see the gang members trying to dispose off a body. Things come to a head when Michael, Anthony's childhood friend spills the beans and inspector Khan (Javed Sheikh) starts to hound Anthony. Now Anthony is faced with a dilemma. He is indebted to Sikander and looks up to him and but has to answer his conscience too.

A couple of things in the film are realistic- like how the Mumbai Bhais and the kids raised on streets behave. Though Anthony’s landing up with a role in an international venture looks a little far farfetched, the setting of the film within the film- Julius Caesar in Mumbai’s underworld looked a little novel. However the plot kind of loses grip in the post interval portion. Anthony was in a major dilemma, a life and death situation and though there is a little twist, it is somewhatpredictable. It seems the characters (both the good guys and the bad ones) seem to take a grave situation too lightly. It becomes more comic especially in the climax with Father Briganza (Mithun) removing his robe to show his karate moves and beat up the baddies.

Nikhil Dwivedi does a good job and especially because he gels well with the role. Amrita Rao also looks the part of the cute assistant director. Pawan Malhotra does a good job as the good ganster. Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher, Mukesh Tiwari and Daya Shankar Pandey and the rest do what they are supposed to- provide support.

Pritam’s music is okay and the song ‘Jaane mere dil ko kya hua’ is romantic but the other number shot on Amrita in the director’s office looks completely out of place. The cinematography and editing is okay.The dialogues are pretty good. The presence of Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor and the Hrishita Bhatt item number helps.

The one who would benefit from this role the most would be Nikhil Dwivedi as he manages to get centre stage, showcase his talent and do a role which suits him so much in his debut film. (SAMPURN)

Amrita Rao Offical Website