"My Name is Anthony Gonsalves" is a popular comic song from the 1977
Bollywood
Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
film ''
Amar Akbar Anthony
''Amar Akbar Anthony'' is a 1977 Indian Hindi-language masala film directed and produced by Manmohan Desai and written by Kader Khan. The film stars an ensemble cast of Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, ...
''. One unusual feature of this song is that the actor featured in its picturization,
Amitabh Bachchan, provides vocals along with the
playback singer Kishore Kumar. Amitabh speaks and
Kishore Kumar sings. It is shown in a sequence which in a reception, Anthony (Bachchan) sings and performs to be close to Jenny (
Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi (4 April 1954 – 20 January 2005) was an Indian actress and model. Recognized for her roles in Hindi films throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Babi was known for her "glamorous" acting style, and was one of the highest-paid ...
), for which her bodyguard keeps him away from her.
The song was composed by duo
Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Laxmikant–Pyarelal were an Indian composer duo, consisting of Laxmikant Shantaram Patil Kudalkar (1937–1998) and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma (born 1940). He is known by the nickname “Pyromaniac” due to his flaming style of music.
Laxmikan ...
. The character
Anthony Gonsalves is named after
Anthony Gonsalves, a music teacher of
Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma who was one of the most famous music arrangers in
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
in the 1930s. He had among his students the likes of
RD Burman
Rahul Dev Burman (27 June 1939 – 4 January 1994) was an Indian music director who is considered one of the most influential composers of India. From the 1960s to the 1990s, Burman composed musical scores for 331 films. Burman did major work ...
apart from Pyarelal.
Special effects
Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...
are used for comic purposes in the picturisation of this song.
The opening line, "You are a sophisticated rhetorician intoxicated by the exuberance of your own verbosity", that is spoken by Anthony when he emerges from the Easter egg, is an almost exact quotation from a speech in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
given by British Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli in 1878. Disraeli (who was referring to
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
) used the word "
inebriated
Alcohol intoxication, also known as alcohol poisoning, commonly described as drunkenness or inebriation, is the negative behavior and physical effects caused by a recent consumption of alcohol. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main ps ...
" rather than "
intoxicated".
Institute for the Study of Western Civilization: The Long Century - Eminent victorians
/ref> Anthony Gonsalves was also the name of the arranger for the famous music director Salil Chaudhary
Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This inc ...
.
See also
* Parda Hai Parda
* '' My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves'' (2007 film)
References
{{authority control
1977 songs
Indian songs
Hindi film songs
Kishore Kumar songs
Songs with music by Laxmikant–Pyarelal
Songs with lyrics by Anand Bakshi
Amitabh Bachchan songs