The much anticipated British independent comedy – Amar Akbar & Tony premiered in London last Friday night to a star-studded audience at Cineworld Haymarket, in London’s West End.
The evening was hosted by legends of Radio premiere saw stars of stage and screen join the impressive cast line up which included; Rez Kempton (Amar), Martin Delaney (Tony), Karen David (Meera), Laura Aikman (Samantha), Amrita Acharia (Richa) and Goldy Notay (Sonia) and Meera Syal (Honey).
Celebrity guests included: Kevin Bishop, Michelle Collins, Rebecca Grant, Sunny and Shay Grewall, Mathew Lewis, Gemma Oaten, Seema Pathan, Nikesh Patel, Rishi Rich and Fiona Wade amongst whole a host of other stars who had turned out to support the film and its cast.
Amar Akbar & Tony, which releases nationwide on Friday 17th April, is a romantic comedy drama depicting the lives of three childhood friends in the unique and vibrant landscape of multicultural London. The title is inspired by the 1970’s Bollywood hit ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ and also ‘takes in a spiritual influence from the film.’ says director Atul Malhotra.
A Sikh, Muslim and Irish Catholic take stock of their lives in contemporary London as the film explores the predicaments that face its lead trio. Amar is a Sikh whose promising legal career gets derailed; Akbar is an ambitious charmer with the gift of the gab and some acute observations on life, while Tony constantly finds himself in love with the wrong woman. The 93-minute movie is a serio-comic exploration of ambition and friendship being thwarted by external factors. The film identifiably belongs to the multicultural Britain of the present, and the problems faced by the trio transcend time and place.
Speaking after the screening director Atul Malhotra thanked the cast and crew for their support and efforts in bringing the film to life commenting, “Making independent films is an inevitably challenging process particularly with limited budgets and without industry backing but sometimes this adversity can be constructive. This film couldn’t have been made without the support of our unbelievably talented cast, crew and composer all of whom have really stood behind the film from the long hours of filming through to the challenges we’ve faced getting Amar Akbar & Tony into the cinemas. Hopefully the audience will get behind it too.”
