Antha (film)

Antha (transl. The End) is a 1981 Indian Kannada-language action thriller film directed by S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu. The film stars Ambareesh, Lakshmi, Jayamala and Latha in lead roles. The film went on to become a huge success and is viewed as a milestone in Ambareesh's career.

Antha
Poster
Directed byRajendra Singh Babu
Produced byH. N. Maruthi
Venugopal
Screenplay byH. V. Subba Rao
S. V. Rajendra Singh Babu
Based onAntha
by H. K. Anantha Rao
StarringAmbareesh[1]
Lakshmi
Latha
Music byG. K. Venkatesh
CinematographyP. S. Prakash
Edited byK. Balu
Production
company
Parimala Arts
Distributed byAmee Films
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)
Running time
129 min
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada

The careers of both Ambareesh and Jayamala got a boost after this movie. Director Babu had considered Vishnuvardhan to play the double role initially but decided against it since the nature of the torture scenes would go against his superstar image and not be accepted by his fans. Next, Shankar Nag too turned down the role since one of the characters was negative which Shankar did not prefer to portray at that point of time in his career.[2] Babu decided to approach Rajanikanth instead who was well known for playing a wide variety of negative roles . When he could not get his dates, Babu decided to cast his friend Ambareesh who had just started graduating from villain roles to hero roles around that time.

The story is based on H. K. Ananth Rao's serial of the same name published in the Kannada weekly magazine Sudha. It was remade in Tamil as Thyagi, in Telugu as Antham Kadidi Aarambam, and in Hindi as Meri Aawaz Suno.[3]

Plot

Inspector Sushil Kumar (Ambareesh) is an honest Police Officer; he has a happy life with his wife Sunitha (Lakshmi), who is pregnant and his mother (Pandari Bai). Kanwar Lal (again Ambareesh) is a smuggler, gangster, cold-blooded murderer, a rough and tough man who looks like Sushil, who is at present in prison under life imprisonment. Kanwar Lal is a very important person in a dangerous gang which is creating destruction in the country. CBI officials make a plan to send Sushil in the place of Kanwar to catch those dangerous gangsters who have high-level influence in the society; Sushil decides to take up the job by informing his family that he is going to special duty. Sushil changes his getup as Kanwar and creates an image that Kanwar has run away from the jail and finally he succeeds in joining the gang and starts collecting information regarding them. Even when Sushil's mother dies due to heart attack, he is not in a position go because of his secret and he controls himself for the sake of his country.

While being with the villains, he confronts his lost sister Shoba (Jayamala), who by circumstances is forced to perform a cabaret number. Both are unable to bear the pain by looking at each other and his sister commits suicide in front of him and the villains. Sushil was unable to save or acknowledge his sister fearing of his identity and purpose, he again controls himself for the sake of his country. He finally succeeds in his mission of collecting all the secrets of the gang including higher officials of the government with evidence, but in the last minute they come to know that he is a police officer, but he safeguards the evidence he has collected. They keep him in their custody and torture him, finally they kidnap Sunitha and they kill her who is carrying a baby before him, even then he wouldn’t reveal the secret. At last he escapes from them and reaches the higher officials with evidence, but they also cheat him, then Sushil decides to take revenge against all of them, he removes all the anti-social elements and evil in the society and surrenders himself before the Judiciary with evidence and asks for Justice; there ends the film.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by G. K. Venkatesh, with lyrics penned by Chi. Udaya Shankar, R. N. Jayagopal and Geethapriya.

Antha
Soundtrack album to Antha by
G. K. Venkatesh
LanguageKannada
LabelSa Re Ga Ma

Track list
#TitleSinger(s)
1 "Baaramma Illi Baaramma" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
2 "Deepaveke Beku" S. Janaki
3 "Naanu Yaaru Yaava Ooru" S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
4 "Premavide" S. Janaki
5 "Ninna Aata" S. Janaki

Awards

Controversy

When the film submitted to Indian Censor Board for certification, the board denied to give any certificate. Censor advised to delete the torture scene of Ambareesh. But director Rajendra Singh Babu stated that it is necessary to the story. Then Censor delayed giving a certificate for the film. The film also involved in an controversy for its depiction of politicians. Ultimately the censor passed the film with A Certificate sans any cuts or muted dialogues.[4]

Sequels and remakes

The film was remade in Tamil as Thyagi,[5] in Telugu as Antham Kadidi Aarambam,[6] and Rajendra Singh Babu directed the Hindi remake Meri Aawaz Suno.[7][8] Sudeep announced in 2010 that he would direct the remake of the film with himself in the lead role. However, the project got shelved.[9][10] Upendra made a sequel for the film called Operation Antha (1995), with Ambareesh repeating his character.[11]

Legacy

The film became a breakthrough in the career of Ambareesh, who went on to become one of the top actors in Kannada film industry. The dialogue from the film "Kutte, Kanwar Nahi Kanwarlal Bolo" (English: Hey dog, don't call me Kanwar, call me Kanwarlal.) became a famous catchphrase.[12][8] The Times of India included the film in their list "Top 5 films of Ambareesh".[12] Ambareesh reprised the character of Kanwarlal in Thipparelli Tharlegalu (2010) also directed by Rajendra Singh Babu.[13]

References
  1. "Antha Cast and Crew". Oneindia.com. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  2. https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=CHAupuFL_Ec
  3. "Filmfare recommends: Top films of Jeetendra where he played a double role". filmfare.com. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. "Kannada film Antha draws flak for gory violence". India Today. 15 June 1981. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019.
  5. Pratap, Anita (23–29 May 1982). "Producers protest against unjustified censorship". Sunday. Vol. 9 no. 49.
  6. "Ambareesh's Antha to be re-released". The New Indian Express. 7 February 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  7. Singh, Chander Uday (31 January 1981). "Routine fare". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  8. "Top ten Kannada films to have been remade". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  9. "IS KANWARLAL TITLE A JINX TO PRODUCERS?". chitraloka.com. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  10. "Assembling the mighty". Bangalore Mirror. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  11. "Tale with a twist". The Hindu. 20 September 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  12. "Ambareesh's top five films". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  13. "Kanwarlal grooves on screen again - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
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